Free, at Last

Roots 2" has been fully liberated from the earth, and moved to a temporary resting place for cleaning, bark removal, and drying.

Removing the bark will allow quicker drying, and will also prevent tiny bugs (bark beetles ?)  from attacking the stump and carving small holes in the trunk.

The drying process is the easy part - simply set it out in the weather and let nature take its course.

Judging from the experience gained with Roots 1, Roots 2 will be ready for finishing in about a year, or so.  That's when the labor-intensive tasks of scraping, sanding, varnishing, and waxing will begin.

No need to look for Roots 1 . . .

. . .here is a photo of Roots 1 atop the mantel in the living room.

As a reference of scale, Roots 1 is about one fifth the size of Roots 2.

The Digging is Done

06 August 2010

The Digging is Done . . .

. . .so now the roots and trunk must be taken to a place for "processing". 

The roots are no longer in the earth; they and the trunk to which they are attached are suspended by a couple of pulley arrangements that make it possible to lift them out of the excavation.   The block and tackle shown here were once part of the rigging for a sailboat that was my home for a few years, but that's another story.

The trunk and roots still contain lots of water, which makes them much too heavy to be lifted without some sort of mechanical advantage, such as the two block and tackle arrangements shown in the photo.  The two-tackle arrangement allows for lifting, tilting, and rotating which makes the removal process possible.

Notice the tight quarters in which this evacuation of Roots 2 is taking place.  It is not going to be easy to liberate and move this rather heavy object.  There are nearby storage boxes, shelves, etc. that must be moved out of the way before the whole thing can be fully removed and placed somewhere to be washed and dried.  

It will require several months of drying before the roots and trunk are ready for finishing.  Once the drying is finished, the outer covering on both the roots and trunk will be removed to reveal the wood, which will be sanded, varnished, and waxed before it is ready for display.  I estimate the whole assembly will finished and ready for display in about a year, or so.