Rustic Camp Serving Tray --by RusticWoodArt

Rustic Camp Serving Tray

So heres my version of a rustic camp serving tray, which I also found in a burn//junk pile, just waiting to serve up some delights at the end of a hard day of logging. The main tray body is of white oak, while the handle is of birch….

....I joined the birch branch through a knot hole in the piece of white oak, by using a type of joinery which I call ‘branch joinery’....

....the first step is to collect green pine saplings and green pine cones which are then heated up in the sun. As you can see in the photo I will wrap the green pine sapling around the birch branch just as if one were wrapping with rope…..

....next I will take the green pine cone which is oozing pine sap after being heated from the sun and I will pack the knot hole, where the green pine sapling has been wrapped and filled in. If the green pine cone is warmed up properly then it will be packed into the area of the knot hole very tight. The pine sap will fill the area as a type of glue and in no-time at all one will have a tight fit that will not come out. If there is a down-side to this process it’s that the green pine cone is full of that oozing sap which in turn can be a little messy out in the woods….on ones fingers and hands….

This type of ‘branch joinery’ is one I found out about, through just sitting and taking notes on trees while out in the woods….and then there are the many trials of trying that I keep on doing as such….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank
RusticWoodArt

rusticwoodman@gmail.com
http://frank.wordpress.com/

—
”....work smart, work safe, and live, to work the wood....”

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/