Arts & Crafts

['thul]

Local stores do not (for some reason or other) supply such, therefore these beings made it on their own. a combination of hairs, one match and some duct tape.
Unlike regular brush hairs, human hair doesnt hold the paint very well... At least not this type of paint. (enamel)

the length was actually 1cm off, just checked. the exact length is 164cm.

The slightly older staff these made earlier last year, is 2m long (actually 199.3 cm, but close enough). It recently had to be glued up after breaking into three parts, but looks fairly good now... Unfortunately it split partially in several places as it dried...

also unfortunate is that both staves are somewhat twisted, but thats mostly because of not choosing straight trees to make them from...

[Nuytsia]

Wow everyone's busy with creativity!

thul I have a walking stick made from a grasstree flower spike! I didn't make it myself, a friend made it for a present.
grasstree
Is yours varnished? If not, how do you stop the bark from coming off in bits? (or don't you?)
I'd love to make things from fallen eucalypt wood - we have STACKS! Trees often come down as well as branches.... (don't worry I'll leave some for future hollow logs for animals!)

I wonder if animal hair is better for brushes than human hair? (I know of the pig bristle one as Farseer mentioned)..... if you have any pets maybe you could get some of their hair.....?

['thul]

the bark on one of them is all gone (removed it upon creation) while on the other it is still there partially... and it aint coming off anytime soon... (stuck firmly on)
two reasons for that may be that it was harvested fresh (not already dead wood) and that it was roughly 5-10 degrees below freezing... Its also stored in a (fairly) dry place, so moisture doesnt affect it much currently...

some animal hair might work better, while others might not work so well... hairs from animals that do not get frost in their fur (like some wolves) might work nicely, but not sure... after that it'll really depend on the specific need it is for... (some paint jobs might need stiff hairs, while others need soft hairs...)

[Nuytsia]

Interesting...... the trees we have are stringybarks and the bark comes off no matter what (as far as I have been able to tell).
http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/eucl...escription

When we get trees come down in storms, we can pretty well get the wood the next day so it's still 'fresh'.

['thul]

When these beings want a piece of wood for something like a walking stick, they go out into the forest and chop it down... either using axe or a unique, long-handled knife...

The knife is about 50cm long, of which the blade makes up 21cm.

[Farseer]

they go out into the forest and chop it down...

Do you all live far from a forest, 'thul?

Also, when you say 'forest' what do you mean exactly? I have a picture of a forest in my mind but imagine it doesn't match at all with what you are intending to convey. Do you call 'forest' what we in Australia (or, at least, me, knowing Nuytsia and others may call it something different! ) would call 'scrub'...any small or large area of land simply covered with trees and undergrowth etc?'

A true 'forest' in Australia, to my way of thinking, is something I would find only on the coast somewhere, in the form of a rainforest. Even a structured planting of trees, like is seen around Beerwah down near the Sunshine Coast, I personally would probably term as a tree plantation or such. Aside from a rainforest, I picture a forest as something found entirely overseas, unassociated with Australia at all, and forested, mountainous regions of the US and Canada come to mind.

Sorry...everyone who reads this is probably going to go ...a forest is a forest, Farseer!

ps 'thul, with your new measurements, your walking stick is my exact height (yes, I think I mentioned in my 100 questions that I need a step-ladder for everything!).

['thul]

mixed growth of trees naturally growing there. these beings live in an agrarian metopolis, but farly close to forested areas.

[Nuytsia]

This is our 'forest' but it's not pure forest..... it would have been cut in the past and partially cleared so it's 'modified forest'!
If it was true mature forest of Eucalyptus obliqua there wouldn't be as much grass and there'd be more trees with much thicker trunks.
[Image: n1249962217_49922_1632.jpg]

['thul]

not bad-looking, that forest...

['thul]

These beings are now working on peeling a 2.12m long wooden pole, in order to create a custom flag pole...

Unfortunately its not too cooperative... so peeling it takes time... especially to get a smooth, even surface on it...