Thread: Roots - dollhouse

Originally Posted by paulsmithx

I'm going to show my greenery here, my first post.

We've decided it's time for a dollhouse and would like to make something a little hmmmm, rustic. What I'd like to do is to use a clump of tree roots for the main structure and use flat sections (about 250mm diameter) for the "rooms" inserted into the structure. We'll then make stairs and maybe a ladder or two here and there.

So what I need to know is:

a) which kinds of timber, readily available in NSW, have roots that are sufficiently hard (as opposed to fibrous) to use for such a project
b) how one goes about sourcing such timber

I've not been able to find any such cuts of timber.

We live in the Blue Mountains, so anyone local knowledge would be a great bonus.
Many thanks,
Paul

Paul,
You could try the local green dump. What you are looking for is opportunity more than anything else. The species doesn't matter so much, but a useful shape does matter. Remember, with such free form shapes, making the horizontal parts actually horizontal is the hardest part.

paul exactly like pete said the local green dump,or get in touch with a local tree lopper.the only way you will get the root ball intact is if a machine is to push a tree over. a bloke dropped a pile of roots on my burn pile the a mate came in and dragged one out. now it's a whale (chainsaw carved) i'll try and get a pic of it and post it.

Probably too far away for you to consider but I pulled a couple of rosewood stumps out of the bush the other day. I'll post a pic if your interested. Might be too good for a doll's house though. I intend to offer them for sale on the forum soon.

cheers
Steve

I am a local tree contractor in the blue mountains, i'd suggest, like the others, to go to katoomba tip. They get a big tub-grinder in every so often (maybe once a week or fortnight?) which they feed all the green waste into with an excavator, if you watched for a bit you might(?) be able to get them to put a piece you want to the side... or maybe even straight in your trailer? Remember that beer lubricates all transactions! at least worth having a look around the greenwaste pile any time your there. All the best finding a suitable root in katoomba... .

jezup ,if your knocking over a few trees why don't you give paul one of your roots...

Charlsie i'd be happy to, but being a contract climber, 99% of the trees i remove are in a confined area, so theres no room to excavate the stump out, generally we either stump-grind them or cut to ground level and leave them. What paulsmithx wants is only usually done on a land-clear site. Then again I automatically assumed it is a large stump being sought.... what kind of tree diameter were you thinkin of paulsmithx?

Thanks for all the replies.

Today I had a truly Dickensian moment at Katoomba tip. A rather dour, late middle aged English woman was on the gate, with a very lower London accent:

Me: I was just wondering of I could have a look in your green waste for some tree roots.
Her: Whaaaaaaat?
Me: I um, need to....tree roots...
Her: You can't do that. No scavenging allowed!!!

So it seems that approach to the tip is out. I've previously been allowed to salvage "firewood" from the building timber pile. Seems you have to pick your day.

The diameter of the tree doesn't need to be huge, perhaps 300-500mm.
Thanks again,
Paul
ps - Dorrigo's a little far away for me, and I think Rosewood could be put to better use. Thanks anyway - a fine offer.

Yeh i was going to fore warn you about that place... like for a 'Recycle Centre' they're pretty nazi when it comes to reusing anything. Maybe try throwing a few bags of rubbish and a tree limb or 2 in a trailer and sneaking in that way... ....Also i guess its only fair that i now mention to you the bedraggled evil troll that lurks around those desolate and stenchswamped moors(usually on a back-hoe)- as i innocently rinsed the boggy crud from my tyres with the council hose facility supplied explicitly for that reason, with his piggy eyed stare fixed on my from over 100m away, i made the cretinous mistake of swirling the hose nozzle briefly to the mud on the trailer body, whereapon the cro magnon trollthing shrieked at me in an eerie neolithic bellow-"it's not a bloody car wash". you have been warned.

jezup i think you might have to hang around a while. i quite like your descriptive prose on day to day life at the tip (sorry refuse recycling facility)