Long story short, I collected this beast before I had any clue what I was doing, and I’m now left to deal with my mistakes. I have this cut, but I’m not sure the best way to smooth over the obvious hole left where I used a Sawzall to initially flatten the bottom and shave off the sides to fit into a container that I had.
Google Photo Album with all photos or individual ones below
Front View
Alternate Front View
Cut Site
Would using something like epoxy to fill the holes and possibly like a light colored stain (or anything similar) to help gloss over the cut? I keep thinking I’m crazy and there is no way to do this, but then follow that with a “Sure someone else has done this, there has to be a way. We can bend trunks”
TIA
It is going to be hard to disguise a straight cut. In the long term, it might be easier to carve it to give some undulating movement.
To patch it, I would use some wood hardener to firm up both sides and then fill with epoxy. Most of the hobby epoxies are amber colored so it should not be too hard to give them a decent gray color using some fine graphite (pencil lead is a good source) and fine sawdust from some aged wood. I might still carve some undulations into the gap before patching to help break up the straight line.
I have a trident maple that had similar saw cuts when the tree was cut back in the ground. I chose to carve it out and make short hollow trunk tree - think the walloping willow from Harry Potter.
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Is there any flexibility in the small piece? Could you close the gap with some well placed screws? It’s a lot easier to fill and hide a small cut line. Maybe you sever that chunk completely and then work on fitting it back into place so the two sides of the cut marry together nicely. Once that gap is closed up you can contour the surface of the deadwood.
Keep this in mind. If you fill with another material it will weather differently and be a constant maintenance item in need of touch up.
Ryan
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