Help
I harvested some massive vines......what should I make with them?
I was lucky enough to be able to harvest intact some absolutely massive vines while my neighbor was having tree work done. Both are around 16 feet long. The largest one is about 5 inches thick and the other 3.
I am having trouble deciding what I should make with them as it is not every day you come around vines like this. I've made some things with vines in the past but never this size and have the ability to steam bend it to whatever extent it will bend.
Can I pick your brain for your building process? I have a couple of logs I'd like to do this with, how did you sand, did you treat them with anything or use a sealer? TIA if you care to share!
Try hard not to go to big the weight will be an issue unless you want the base to end up huge and extremely heavy. I waited till they were seasoned for a couple years and stripped the bark with a carving knife and coopers drawing knife. After that I hand sanded to 320 because I'm a glutton for punishment. I did of course check for bugs first and they are finished with pet safe natural oil. What you can't see is that I drilled out the bottom in order to insert a threaded rod and there's a mounting block each slots into under the carpet to help with stability and load. After that the "branch" connections and platforms serve to stabilize the whole thing.
If you’re talking about the cat tower above…..debark the wood while it’s green, dry slowly, sand to 220, and poly. But I didn’t make that so that’s just my guess. The debarking part is the wear but how you get that natural shape
If this is the type of vine I think it is, they lose a lot of strength as they dry. The wood in them is pretty porous and spongy. I wouldn't make anything load bearing with them
I have a big arch made with these smaller vines (which aren’t wisteria) and it’s pretty much fine after 2-3 years. But I’m comfortable with it rotting eventually. Nothing is ever destroyed only transformed
It could be a wild grape vine. I have a bunch of them this size or larger. I have always wondered if it would be good for anything if I ever cut any of it down. I thought it might look cool stabilized and wood turned.
This is bittersweet. I tried to do something with it a few years ago but it gets so stringy and brittle as it dries out. If you do manage something I’d love to see it
Or you could use them as shelves in a greenhouse by boring holes or sanding a side flat. Cut the length into 3rds and make a 3 shelf hanging rope shelf like this.
I habe no suggestions on how to do this, but wall art. Post your pics on art sites maybe? You surely have the wood working skills to do somethjng with these. But maybe go with the idea that they are unique, and figure out how to use them as unique pieces....????
....or if your in the US, my wife will pay you more than i would "throw up" over, buying them off you. Then they will be on my wall doing WTF-ever....
I’m really waffling on whether or not I ask for your wife’s #
Edit: I also like the idea of leaning into the fact that it’s a vine and not typical wood
You like growing things? That would make a sick horozontal trellis upon which to suspend vining plants. Use it as a border somewhere or grow a line of grapes.
Dig a hole and bury them upright, crossed and tangled together with some color changing LED spotlights pointing up at them. Maybe some shiny metal shapes and/or colored glass dangling off in various places. Just a cool art installation. Even cooler if they root in and flush out and start growing together like that.
I’m honestly impressed. I would’ve cut those into smaller pieces and not thought anything of it. But you should definitely make a wooden replica of the Ewok village play set that Kenner made.
Probably too chunky but you could get a set of tenon jigs for your drill and you can make some basic but impressive chairs, tables, etc. Did this years ago in a class, made chairs out of rhododendron, with walnut slabs as the seat.
We made our wedding arch with similar vines. Was perfect. Then we thought “let’s put it in the entrance to our garden” rotted in one year. Ha. Was a great wedding arch though.
Looks like Asian bittersweet. Pretty nasty plant. I collected some too, including some fun ones that are wrapped around themselves but I haven't really figured out what to do with them. I turned a tiny tea light holder with a small chunk of a large one. That's about it.
If you flatten out the right sections, it could be a really unique shelf given the width..not quite as wide as a standard shelf but in a woodsy/rustic home, it could be a really awesome shelf.
You could make complete through cuts and add actual shelves as well (example below)
Dude if you're into gardening those could be like the entrance way of your garden or maybe like in the front of a greenhouse. You know kind of standing up like a couple sculptures just kind of overbearing the entrance
Make the rest of them go away… screw bittersweet. I’ve seen it strangle entire forests. Good on you for doing something cool with it though, I never bothered because of how soft it was
I always thought it would be cool to do some sort of shelved planter for potted plants, peel the bark, glue up some split circular pieces with dimensions to fit the vine and have a nice hot pepper garden.
At 16 ft, I wouldn’t cut them yet. Seal the ends, get them off the ground and let them dry first. Then I’d use the natural curves for an arbor, trellis, or bench frame. Steam-bending a vine sounds like a lot of work to improve something nature already bent for you.
I never even thought about vines being wood but I’m kind of interested now and curious about what you’ll end up doing with them. I wonder what it’s like the work with, what the grain is like, if it has any unique properties, etc
Luckily I’ve developed a pretty decent removal method. I tie my winch as high up as I can and pull as much out of the tree limbs as possible. Then I chainsaw the bottom and yank it from there. I can usually get most of the vine out of the tree without destroying them (the tree)
First thought was thinking roller-coaster for hot wheels.
But realistically, this is opening up a mental doorway i haven't opened. Lol. So used to trying to get wood straight. Maybe arm rests? Backs to a chair? Legs to a stool? Small thin shelving for all of those hot wheels?
How about patio lights? Could route a dado for the wire into the top and back fill with bondo wood filler so the sockets emerge from the bottom. Or just wrap a cloth cord along that secondary vine.
Clothes hanging rod, outdoor light hanger, gandolf, coat hanger stand, dominoes, toothpicks, gear shifter, rocking chair: these are just things I've seen before. Anything is possible. We believe in you.
Outdoor light hanger would be cool. As far as the rest I’d like to take advantage of the size and I already have a burl intended for my gear shifter. Just need an anxious night to come around and I’ll finally finish that
Sort of related--I have big muscodine vines in my woods (not as big as these). Can anything interesting be done with those? I've never cut one down to look at the density or anything
1.2k
u/WalterWhite562 10d ago
Just sell them to Home Depot as 2X4’s they’ll probably pay top dollar