We were at the State Fair watching the men carve tree trunks with chain saws. It was amazing the things they made.
Mike, a Pioneer seed corn salesman, casually turned to Ken and said, “I wish I could get one of those ears of corn.” Mike’s birthday was a few months away and Ken tucked that wish back in his memory.
When he got home, he did this…
I’ve never done this before. I made 2 prototypes and learned the techniques.
I moved cement pad from the base of the tree, cut down the tree, and cleared area. 1) Define a process. 2) Develop a plan. 3) Work the plan.
A box elder tree that needed cut down. I have a plan!
Start carving.
Continue carving!
Sanding.
Draw out the final layout.
Cutting out the final design.
Detailed Sanding.
Dried the wood in the basement with the wood stove and then filling in the cracks.
Seal the bottom and add adjustable legs to ventilate the base from ground moisture.
It took 3 coats of paint.
After it dries, sign and date your piece.
It took one month from start to finish.
Timeline to make corn …
- 1 day cut & clean up the tree
- 10 hours to Carve out
- 4 hours to Sand
- 3 weeks to Dry wood
- 4 hours of Painting
If you have a piece of dry wood, you could finish one of these before Christmas! Who knows, you may have a hidden talent. You never know until you try.
Ken was also featured in an earlier post, “My Frugal Friends Go Shrimping.”
For more gifts ideas, Christmas Decorating and recipes visit my Pinterest page, pinterest.com/frugalfish/.
©2009-2015 frugalfish.org. All rights reserved.
frugalfish.org 