DIY driftwood

[OsciTheOscar]

So ive been pondering making my own driftwood. Theres different ways for people to do so but heres mine...

Went on a walk with my daughter through the trails. Found a whole bunch of branches and logs that i kept in mind for my walk back. On the way back i gathered probably 6 or 7 branches. Got back home, put her down for a nap and i began stripping the wood of its bark.

Next i will sand it down so to make it more even looking without all my knife marks. Next is where i take a couple different angles at it. I have some wood thats clearly ready to go and some thats still a bit green. The stuff thats ready to go, i plan on either breaking it down to smaller pieces to make boiling an easier task. The green stuff is going to sit on my back porch and dry out for probably a month as well as sit next to my fire pit as i burn woood to try and make the drying out process faster.

Next after i get everything broken down to manageable pieces and boiled im going see what i can do to make them look as one piece. Possible fishing line or maybe just wedged together kinda with a rigged jointing.

Heres 3 of the 6 or 7 pieces im working with.

 

[_Drago_]

Keep us all updated on how the process goes! Very creative

 

[OsciTheOscar]

Will do. They are drying out as we speak. May try to start the boil on my first piece tomorrow.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

The adventures of yesterday. Broke down the pieces unfortunately to get them to fit in the pot to boil. Boiled for 2 hours each end. Left them outside in a tub of water overnight. Now i am boiling them again this morning to help get whatever tannins could be left as well as helping to water log the branches.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

So im boiling the pieces that have shown to be closest to sinking on their own. I did something i didnt expect to do.

I used the back of a butter knife to scrape off any extras on the wood. Since its now soaked in water and moist the extras come off a lot easier. So this step kind of took the place of the sanding i was going to do.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

I decided to just let it sit in the tank and 20 minutes later they are starting to sink.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

This is NOT the final product but i have the sinkables sunk and the ones that are still semi floating anchored under the sinkables... once they catch up and are good to go ill make it look better!

 

[OsciTheOscar]

Got some cooler pieces of wood today. They are giving off a ton of tannins so ill have to boil the pieces A LOT!
In between boils i am soaking them outside in a tub to try and water log them!

 

[OsciTheOscar]

new arrangement with new driftwood

 

[Aluk3s]

Loos really nice! If you have time you can go to the woods and maybe find some wild roots from a tree, for example from wild cherry and than put it in the tank... Ofc if you want