Replies

1. 
   pantalones868 | Dec 13, 2021 01:32am | #1

   I'm thinking cat tree type subject matter ---- how do I get it to stop?

1. FWW Editor
   ben_strano | Dec 13, 2021 11:15am | #7

   Is it not easier to scroll on by rather than to leave a comment that you don't like the subject matter?

2. 
   nsomnius | Dec 13, 2021 01:53am | #2

   When you figure it out, do let me know.

3. 
   _mj_ | Dec 13, 2021 06:49am | #3

   Cats grow on trees?

1. 
   weymouth2 | Dec 13, 2021 07:00am | #4

   Yup. It’s just like dogwood, only for cats.

1. 
   john_c2 | Dec 13, 2021 09:03am | #5

   Nice.

4. 
   lat_axe | Dec 13, 2021 10:13am | #6

   Search the forests for the right size & shape of tree. Take the cat with you so it can make sure you pick the right one. It'll keep changing its mind so get three or four trees. :-)

   **********

   Depending on the size of the branches and the trunk, you may find it best to round-tenon the ends of the branches to match a hole bored into the trunk with an auger. Veritas make round tenon cutters of many sizes that use a drill to rotate the cutter on the thing being tenoned. Ray Iles makes similar things to use like a large pencil sharpener.

   https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/dowel-and-tenon-cutters/52401-veritas-dowel-and-tenon-cutters

   https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/dowel-and-tenon-cutters/63795-veritas-tapered-tenon-joinery-system

   https://www.workshopheaven.com/ray-iles-rounding-plane-1-inch-25mm.html

   Cut the holes with a hand brace, which will ensure no broken wrist, such as you may get drilling big holes in wet wood with a large power drill.

   If you're careful with the grain orientation, you can make the tree with damp wood and the holes will shrink on the tenoned branch ends with a tenacious grip as the edifice dries out. No glue needed.

   Lataxe

1. 
   nsomnius | Dec 13, 2021 12:52pm | #8

   Great stuff everyone. I thought Lat_axe's reply was going to be as happily silly as the others but that was a lotta great insight and info, and I laughed out loud.

   The wood I chose was dead on the tree, dried maybe a couple years or so. It was nearby one of the many burn areas in CA. Right near the ravaged Big Basin State Park. 95% toast.

   I wish I took the time to identify it, it's quite spectacular after debarking. I should be okay power drilling mortises in it. I am drawn to the tenoning concept, which hadn't occurred to me.

   Thanks everyone!

5. 
   pantalones868 | Dec 13, 2021 06:18pm | #9

   So pre sho sugi baned? A picture is worth a thousand words and at least that many cats...
   Once I had to make a big bamboo display for a client for an orchid show ,maybe you could call it a booth. It's the closest thing I can think of that I ever did to what your doing. Big bamboo and little bamboo and of course no two pieces the same. My attachment was to lash everything together with cane so that's very different than what your doing. Lots of weird angles though and attaching mismatched parts. What I did was scribe the parts and cut out the curves on the band saw or the bow saw and lots of rasp work and it was trial and error the whole way until I got a fit and that was extra tricky because things had two ends and a target length. Luckily for me me this was for elitist posies for elitist people who didt care what they spent for something that only lived for a couple of days..
   You could mortise for the tenon or drill for a dowel on the center of your limbs before you cut the curve and the angle and then hand cut the mortise on the trunk once you know the angle and where it goes.. Maybe make a dowel center or a marker for the tenon to locate where to start you on the trunk side. I don't see much difference between a rectangular tenon or a dowel structurally. Once the limb it cut and fitted its not going to be able to turn or twist and a dowel would probably do it and seems easier to me. Clamping pressure if your gluing this will be a trick. Each attachment will probably be a new invention each time.

6. 
   nsomnius | Dec 14, 2021 01:37am | #10

   Ah, Pantalones, you speak the truth. I was trained as a Tategu Shi, I've cut many a mortise with chisel and genno. That was my go to, but time?... I have to draw the line somewhere. Well, not really, I want to. I'd carve the Taj Mahal out of cyanoacrylate and baking soda if I were getting paid.

   Your bamboo job sounds like time and materials. Something I enjoyed for 19 years back east.

   Thanks to all your input this is what I've conglomerated for a solution.

   I'll use a laser level on bias to trace a line between two limbs I hold in both hands. Someone else will have to actually draw the line. I have a spouse but she can't be trusted to fill in the blank : ).

   Bore holes in roughly planar hand cut faces and cope from there. The dowel, placed in either mating hole serves to align well enough to make a cope pattern and then using a 360° tooth coping blade carve out the bulk. Sand with handheld drums to better mate after any gouging needed.

   It's interesting how talking things out helps us refine our approach, you know, the one were comfortable with.

   Many thanks and happy cats and dogs.

1. 
   lat_axe | Dec 15, 2021 01:50pm | #14

   Has the cat approved this design & plan? You know - only too well, probably - that anything not quite to the beast's taste will be scorned forever......

   Lataxe, currently with dogs, which like everything and anything (except haughty cats).

7. 
   nsomnius | Dec 14, 2021 01:39am | #11

   Oh, Pantalones, "pre sho sugi baned" please explain. I'm sure it'll be a fun one.

8. 
   _mj_ | Dec 14, 2021 06:42am | #12

   It's a traditional Japanese finish where the wood is burned on the exposed surfaces as protection from the elements.

9. 
   nsomnius | Dec 14, 2021 01:20pm | #13

   I did preserve some small scorched areas as their convolutions will contribute to the overall funkiness. This tree was left largely unscathed except for being kiln dried in place. Always keep a ryoba in the trunk of your car, you never know when you'll need it.

10. 
    joeleonetti | Dec 17, 2021 01:18pm | #15

    How about dovetails to secure the branches to the base? Kind of like how many Shaker legs are attached to a Shaker candle table stand.