How do I make a planter like this out of birch logs?

I've been saving up my birch logs, have one long straight one I scrounged and a bunch of various sizes from my tree. I can cut them to the length I want the planter to be, but have never tried to hollow out a lot. Some aren't suitable for much of anything the way they grew. I want it to be styled like this:

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wanted to hollow out the cut pieces of logs to make a few planters of various sizes and use the smaller branches for "feet", two attached perpendicularly so they will stay flat and not roll.

I don't have a lathe, don't want to buy one or learn how to use it. I have a drill. I searched the archives and read about using an adz, and Exocet, and a forstner bit. I've seen photos of how Russians make birch bowls using an adz, but this would be a little more complicanted. First the cut on both ends in a slant and rounding out into a horizontal cut, then hollowing it out.

My wordworking skills are very minimal. Can someone advise me if I can do this without buying too many more tools? I can borrow a circular saw. Maybe it would be too much to tackle a project like this. Advice, anyone?

Is there something like exacto knives only for doing bigger pieces? I don't know if I used the right terminology, but my nephew had a set of them for small projects with wood with all different kinds of razor sharp blades.

Reply to
I Love Lucy
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> I wanted to hollow out the cut pieces of logs to make a few planters of

The planter logs in the pictures aren't real wood. Birch will decay quickly if it is left outside or if the soil and moisture are in contact with the planter interior. Hollowing out a log is a lot of work. Doing it with hand tools is possible, but it'll take quite a while.

How about peeling your birch logs and using the bark as a veneer on a planter built out of a more suitable wood?

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I know. I used that as a sample of what I am going after.

That's what I was afraid of, maybe I could coat them with something? Varnish or shellac on the inside? I don't want to ruin the rustic look of the outside. Most of my logs I have dragged inside, but I threw one away that had sat outside for a couple years, no noticeable decay. BUT it wasn't subject to soil and constant moisture like a planter would.

I figured, and I don't have a whole lot of patience unless I want something really, really bad. It might make a good winter project though.

I thought about that, and don't know how to peel it in large enough pieces to amount to anything without tearing it. I did a lot of googlingand didn't see anything you can buy exactly like I would want, but I did see some pieces made out of peeled birch. I need to peel some veneer off an old table and got stuck on that; in that case I was using wet towels and a hot iron. It wasn't working. This would be a little different as I'm not dealing with old glue.

Thanks for the input.

Reply to
I Love Lucy

What about keeping the plants in a container inside the log so the soil is not in contact?

How about drilling all the way through at the 4 corners and then sawing with a buck saw. That will give you a hole going all the way through and you can put rocks under the container to get it up to the right height. Alternatively you could not drill, but make your cuts all the way through, lengthwise first, and then glue it back together

-Leuf

Reply to
Leuf

You say you have a chainsaw? Cut a slab off the log, lengthways. Cut out the inside as you wish. Nail the slab back on.

Fill with dirt, plant flowers.

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

Sat, Jun 24, 2006, 6:40pm (EDT+4) snipped-for-privacy@monkey.biz (I=A0Love=A0Lucy) doth mumble: I've been saving up my birch logs, . I want it to be styled like this:

Simple. Cut the top off. Cut the sides off. Cut the bottom off. Cut the ends off of the center portion. Fasten the bottom, sides, ends, into a trouch. Viola, instant ugly planter. No prob.

JOAT Politician \Pol`i*ti"cian\, n. Latin for career criminal

Reply to
J T

That might work if I can figure out a way to hold the log stable. I couldn't cut very accurately with the log lying on the ground in the usual manner. My inventory is very limited as to tools and equipment. I'll think about it and will figure out some thing I can improvise with and, hopefully, safe at the same time.

Reply to
I Love Lucy

Simple. Cut the top off. Cut the sides off. Cut the bottom off. Cut the ends off of the center portion. Fasten the bottom, sides, ends, into a trouch. Viola, instant ugly planter. No prob.

I just bought an ugly one at Goodwill. It was made from shallow slices of hollowed out branches of some kind and has rough paint on it which I like, could use a little touchup with what looks a little like plastic lanyard material that has come loose in a couple places but I can use it as is, plants will cover the defects. Maybe they were hollowed out after they were sliced off. That would work.

Maybe I could copy this one in different sizes; it's more of a basket but I could leave the handle off. It's laced together somehow.

JOAT Politician \Pol`i*ti"cian\, n. Latin for career criminal

Reply to
I Love Lucy

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