# Another - Tree Trunk Construction Journal -- FINISHED!!



## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

FIRST AND FOREMOST, I want to say that I give FULL CREDIT to "tyler" for this idea. For those of you who read Tyler's thread back on December 16, 2006 he did some experimentation on making a Tree Trunk with Great Stuff (GS). His thread we well documented and the photos were great. However, his project never got finished because his mom threw it out thinking it was junk.
Here's a link back to Tylers thread for those wishing to read it: http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewt ... highlight=

I am on vacation this week for Christmas break and I thought I'd give this idea a try myself. I took some of tylers ideas inpart and revised some of it to my own ideas and came up with my own version. So, I want to thank tyler for inspiring me through his GREAT work to give this a try. So tyler, this one's for you! :lol: 

I decided that I'd use a PVC pipe as my main vertical trunk and I only wanted half of a tree trunk to mount against the back wall. So I took a 4-inch diameter PVC (lighter weight drainge type PVC pipe) and cut it in half with a bandsaw and cut it off 14-inches long. This will be going into an 18-inch Exo Terra Cube.

I then cut some random pieces of 1/2-inch thick extruded polyiso. blueboard to resemble the buttress type roots. I then hot glued them onto the PVC pipe. I found out that it's better to apply the hot glue onto the PVC pipe first, let it cool a few second and then place the extruded polyiso. blueboard root onto it. I found that if you apply the hot glue to the polyiso. board first it melts the polyiso. and it won't attach properly.

Next, I attached all of the buttress roots and then applied GS working in vertical strokes. It took me over the course of two days to apply GS on all of the surfaces.

Here are a few photos of the trunk.

Front View:









Rear Views:

















Top View:









Bottom View:









Left Side View:









Right Side:









My next next step will be to apply a cover coat of some sort. I'm almost 99% certain that I will just apply the usual silicone and coco bedding to it. I figure in about 3-6 months time algae, moss, and/or plants will cover most of it up, so there's no sense in trying anything real elaborate for the outer covering. I am up in the air whether I should sand it down to a more smoother surface though.

Any input is more than welcome.

I hope Tyler my attempt has done your idea some justice. I cetainly encourage you to redo your trunk and post the jounal as well.

All the Best!


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## joeyo90 (Nov 5, 2006)

looking nice


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## roberthvalera (Jun 9, 2006)

cant forget bbrocks tree as well.


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## dustin_grey (Mar 8, 2006)

After seeing these turn out good for a few people, I'm tempted to try it. Damn my poorness.


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

Looks really good so far Lon. I'll re-make another larger one when I have the time and space... my room is getting a bit small with vivs and aquariums lol.


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## joeyo90 (Nov 5, 2006)

i think we will be seeing alot of these trees popping up on the forums soon... :lol:


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## Anoleo2 (Feb 1, 2006)

I have been thinking about this kind of set-up since I was interested in darts.......I just couldn't think up a way to do it.... :? 

I think this will look really sweet when it's done....I'm gonna have to steal it from whoever came up with it for my new 33 cube!!!  

Good luck!


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

*Re: Another - Tree Trunk Construction Journal*



> So, I want to thank tyler for inspiring me through his GREAT work to give this a try. So tyler, this one's for you! :lol:


Awww, I feel so loved. :lol: I originally got the idea from Brent Brock. His came out pretty amazing once it fit into his viv and grew in.


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## krowleey (Sep 21, 2006)

pretty darn good work there, thank you i now know how i will be doing my 75 gallon.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Very cool keep us updated...


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

while i forget what you can use, somebody said once you can use non-toxic acrylic paint. That would be a somewhat less messy option compared to the silicone method.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

Actually, I read an article about making these tree trunks on a euro website or something months back... it's nice to finally see somebody trying it! I did see Brent's trunk a while too... good work guys!


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## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

Well, I guess I'm not the only one working on this project this Christmas! I am working on a construction journal now, so I'll start posting it pretty soon. I opted to go with Brent's mortar covering idea and have come up with a few little tricks, so hopefully it will look good when I get done. I finished the mortaring part and am preparing to paint so after that I think I will post some pics.


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

Hi Folks I didn't forget about you, just busy working on this project.

I decided not to sand it and to do the silicone and coco bedding as a covering. I'm actually glad that I did not sand the GS I think it would've been a wasted step in the process. If you've ever done the silicone and coco bedding process before you'll know that you loose some of that "peaks & valleys" of the texture of the GS when you're done. You have to put the silicone on thick so the coco bedding gets pushed in hard enough to have a good bond for it to stick well. So, by laying down a thick silicone base it fills in the "peaks & valleys" and kind of smooths things out.

So, I'm almost 90% done with covering it. I personally work in sections and then let it cure for 24 hours before moving on to the next section. I'll be sure to post pictures soon!

Have a Happy New Year!


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## tha3rdman (Nov 2, 2006)

I love it, and when I started on the Big tank I originally wanted a base of the tree look (note this is before I found all the resources on the "net") I went down to the lock house museum here in HDG and found a great specimen in the water the perfect trunk, the problem is it was attached to the rest of the tree, floating in the water. I went back to the car whipped out my Handy 18 volt Sawsall took it down to the water and got 1/2 way thru and blahh dead batt. After fighting for another 30 min trying to hatch a plan i gave up. the foam would have been so much easier!


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

OK folks ................ I'M FINALLY finished!!!!!!!

Well, I'm pretty pleased with it. I know it's not a bbrocks piece of art, but it's a start. I just lacked the confidence to try the mortar thing. Maybe I'll get enough nerve someday and try it. Until then this will do.

I will say the finished tree trunk has more texture to it than the photos really show. I know it looks rather "smooth", but it does have "ridges" and a "bark-like" texture.

Front View:









Left Side View:









Right Side View:









Thanks again for all of your comments! If anyone cares to add any comments, good or bad, please do so.


All the Best!


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## Fishinfl321 (Aug 10, 2006)

Looks good to me. I'm with you on the whole mortar thing too.

Troy


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## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

It looks great! Maybe you could also do some jungle vines in a darker color to give it a more contrast look.


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

I like that idea Tyler!

Do you, or anyone, have any idea how I could make vine(s) and how to attach them?


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## KSchow (Oct 23, 2006)

You tree trunk is inspiring. I want to try this idea and silicone on the trunk cork bark with coco fiber in the cracks. I've seen it done before and it looks good.


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## Raymond (Aug 26, 2006)

It looks good Lon. 

A good tutorial for making vines can be found here: (Scroll down towards the bottom.)

http://www.bbrock.frognet.org/Making%20 ... 0vines.pdf


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## stuckonfrogs (Oct 27, 2006)

DartMan said:


> I like that idea Tyler!
> 
> Do you, or anyone, have any idea how I could make vine(s) and how to attach them?


DartMan,
I just finished making several vines to add to my newly created tree trunk (mortar method) using silicone II, coco fiber, and aquarium tubing. At first I tried to smear the whole tube with silicone and apply the fiber...didnt work well. so on the next section I layed the tubing down on the table and applied the silicone to the tube only to the half way point and then pressed the fiber into it. Let it cure. Then turn it over and do the same. When the whole thing is cured and covered, I cut one end at a sharp angle to attach to the stump. Like its growing out of it. I saw this part on bbrocks explanation of vines as well - I added the "roots" to my larger vines with some twine. I took about 6" of twine and unravled it. Keeping the ends together, I only used about 10-12 of the strings. Spread silicone on them (yes, its messy but worth it) then lay that down in coco fiber, make sure its covered well. I then attached one end to the vine using some coated foral wire wrapped around the tubing then I covered the exposed wire with silicone/fiber to hide and protect the wire. These roots usually grow off the bottom of the vines. I hope this helps.


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

stuckonfrogs, I understand the aquarium tubing part, but a little fuzzy on the string things for the roots????

Do you have any pictures of the steps involved or even the finished product?

Also, after the aquarium tubing is covered and cured how do you attach it to the GS tree trunk?

Thanks!


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## stuckonfrogs (Oct 27, 2006)

dartman,
This picture is a close up of the roots off the vine. This was taken before the final attachment to the stump. I cut one end of the tubing back at a sharp angle and used a brass screw, then put silicone and coco on the screw head. If you want the vine to drape across your stump in a certain place, (I have a blemish that I just can't get fixed, so I hid it with the vine) you can cut a small "X" in the top of the tubing and run a screw thru it the same way, and "bury" the screw head inside the tubing. Caution: the 3/4" tubing will be inviting to smaller frogs, so be sure to get some silicone or other stopper in exposed ends  I hope this helps.


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