DIY Fake Wood...the cheap way!

[John]

I'm very impressed Johnny. I'm in your customer line.

[BJnMe]

How much time do you have in a log made out of say 2" 12" long.

Your work is awesome.

[SludgeMunkey]

I can knock out the carving at a rate of about a foot per hour. Painting usually adds a few days to the process. Lately my "real" job has been interfereing, since I injured both hands repairing a broken steam line.

On that note, a few of you have orders that will be shipping out next week! I will contact you via pm/email this evening once I get my inventory finished I apologize for the delays some of you have experienced...demand has been significantly higher than I had ever expected. I have actually resorted to adding two assistants to the project to get things caught up.

New photographs showing paint schemes and the addition of quite a few new products will follow in the very near future, as will a website with automated ordering. (I am quite behind on this aspect as I have been swamped as of late!)

Many thanks to everyone that has shown interest in this project...it looks like my critters will be eating very well!

[fatfrog]

I'm an unemployed glass blower with all the time in the world...want an apprentice?

[SludgeMunkey]

Pm me, if you want, you can take over! I am an over employed technician with no free time anymore...LOL

[dinosaur]

Hey! Im new on this forum but not new to herps. I have not had an amphibian setup in about 7 years and have been tossing around the Idea of getting some frogs and setting up a few vivariums. I saw this post and thought it was genius. I just figured I would try to make a pvc log out of some scrap pvc I had laying around borrowing your idea. Heres a pic of my rough log. I still have to clean it up and paint it. Tell me what you think for a first try. Any pointers?

[dinosaur]

Ok. Well, someone told me that they would be concerned about the release of dioxin from the burned pvc. I did a little research and It is only released as the pvc burns. I didnt want to chance it so I sealed the entire piece with non toxic shellac. After a second coat of shellac I dusted the piece in and out with coco fiber and let it dry for a couple hours. I then brushed it gently to remove loose coco fiber. The next step will be to add a epiphite or 2 and some moss for effect. Here is what I have as of now.

[SludgeMunkey]

Brilliant! Looks great to me. I bet once it settles in with the humidity of a pet enclosure, you could even get some live moss growing on this version of the project. Good on you!

[dinosaur]

Thanks. I am going to try to get some live moss to grow on it once I have my viv setup. Now the wheels are turning in my head. Thats a scary thing.

[willtilian]

if your selling i am buying

[SludgeMunkey]

Thanks. I am going to try to get some live moss to grow on it once I have my viv setup. Now the wheels are turning in my head. Thats a scary thing.

That is the problem with DIY projects like these. They quickly become an addiction. One of these days I will get around to finishing the four foot tall PVC "tree" I started for my Hyla chrysoscelis and post up the pics. My problem is my "real" job gets in the way of everything else.

[dinosaur]

I hear that. I am in the process of building a big encolsure for my mangrove monitor and I think I am going to try some pvc branches in there for him to climb on. Maybe mimic some mangrove roots or something. More wheels turning.
I just got home from my herp society xmas bbq that we had at "Reptile world serpentarium" in St cloud fl. I brought my pvc log to show a couple of the frog guys and everybody thought it was a real log at first. I think that means I did somethin right. They want me to do a presentation on how to make them at a meeting. They also told me to bring a few to sell. Once they see how much work is involved, idk if they would make them anyway. Well, im going to make a bunch of these things and see if I can speed the process up and try to come up with a price for them. Thanks again sludgemunkey for the inspiration.

[SludgeMunkey]

It is really not that much work I feel, just messy. I knocked out most of the pieces pictured here on my lunch breaks at work. LOL

Please feel free to use my pictures in your presentation if you so desire. (I can e-mail you hi-res originals if you like. Contact me via PM)

I am very excited to see that others are expanding on this project. All I ask is that you plug that you found it here on FrogForum.net!

[CrazyAirborne]

So what ever came of this? Are you still taking orders? These logs look awesome.

[Dwhiteman11]

Brilliant idea. What did you use to make all the indents and lines to make them look so real?

[Judy S]

I know that this thread is old, but I just came across it today...am very..very new to the herp world and am doing a lot of reading..these "logs" are wonderful...the split ends and hidey holes are great...how do they get made??? The brands of paint --are they USA available...and what kind of techniques do you use for the actual paint part? Have you ever tried to attach a "branch" using a predrilled hole or adhesive to further your log science??? Hopefully you will read this message...Thanks, Judy

[Sunshine]

These are awesome! I want one.

[kueluck]

That is AWESOME!! Looks like ALOT of time put into one piece.

[Lady medusa]

Man those are awesome! Im kicking myself for not thinking of that sooner! Sludge monkey Your right about not using most yellows, red, green, and blue paint especially anything that says cadmium! But id figure one it was sealed it wouldnt leech anything. Have you looked into soy paint? Its supposidly completely non toxic/ eco friendly and is made of soy beans! It comes in all colors too. Im using it at the moment to make a fake coral reef for my crazy idea of a cal king enclosure( i figure since they look like sea kraits why not make a terrarium reef). I cant wait to see your tree! have u thought of using an air brush to paint some of your stuff? As u asked about finding a zoo job look on AZA website. They publicate job listings for zoos there. I worked at OKC zoo for quite a while and i can say our graphics and design crew never made anything nearly that impressive. Our mangrove tree in the aquatics department was a sad sight i must say! Super duper fake looking and falling apart. We made a "rain screen" to help cover the eyesore. In the herp department they made their own stuff but like most of us they used the traditional stuff. My department wasnt so lucky to do even that because of our constricting overhead

[Judy S]

The wheels in my head are turning...

Even crazier, I just discovered I can get the pipe in diameters all the way up to 24 inches!

With that range of sizes , heck, one could make a whole dead tree!

I am going to have to crunch some numbers here. Time is the hard part at the moment. However, the long boring winter will be here soon...

Sludge Munkey...are you reading these posts??? I'd love to ask you a few more questions and probably some new posters would as well...