Thread: Log ends for printing

Originally Posted by spencer411

Hi everyone!

I'm searching for a bunch of uniquely shaped log ends or stumps to make prints with. I'm in WA so it'd be easiest if it were someone local but otherwise I'd be happy to look into shipping too.

You'd need to supply much more info than this.
Whats a Bunch 3, 5, 17, 124?
I assume you want to coat the ends with in and then apply paper or some media?
What do you mean by unique?
Who decides if they are unique?

Some photos of what you may have already done might be useful.

Ok so I’d say to start with 5. Yes to ink and paper. Definition of unique thanks to dictionary.com : having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable. So from that I’d say logs which are a little different in shape to that of standard jarrah, Marri logs which are generally pretty damn standard and round. A bit of character and oddly shaped would be great! I’m a pretty trusting guy and appreciate other people’s idea of unique.

The other issue is size - what size are you after.

Probably the easiest way to find something would be to wander the streets during green waste council pick up days and see what's on the verge. I work occasionally for a tree lopper but they definitely won't want to muck around sorting through trees/logs for interesting shapes. Tree comes down and most branches go straight through the chipper - time is money for these guys. Big logs get taken back to the yard and milled for timber or for firewood. I doubt the owner would allow strangers to go clambering around the log piles - it's just too dangerous. Very few log ends are left around the yard doing nothing. Don't recall many "interesting shapes", About 3 years ago there was one that was shaped like a heart and I carved it into a a more 3D (rounded) shape using a chainsaw and put it into my garden as a bit of a sculpture.

90+% of the texture of a log end will not be of the tree itself but the chainsaw marks. Surface will be super rough and jagged so there may be significant areas of the log end not in contact with the paper or could tear the paper. The effort required to smooth the end grain would be very significant. Have you tried it with a small branch offcut? Have you got any photos of what you have already done?

If you are looking for local unique shapes ,then you couldn`t go past the Sheoak and Peppi ,I doubt whether there are two alike.

I've done a couple of them before with pretty good results. We have a pretty sufficient slab surfacer at our workshop so could easily flatten them down and get the old belt sander to work! There is quite a lot of prep work to get the ends to printable quality, I've done a couple with tea tree and also flooded gum. That's a good call about going around at greens waste collection times. I'll hop in the car and start scavenging, the only issue is generally its quite crappy wood that's in the greens collection. I'll keep an eye out for some decent peppermint logs, you get some pretty gnarly shapes out of those bad boys! I'll keep y'all posted!