In Colin Lewis' book The Art of Bonsai Design, pg., 55 the caption related to the top picture (1986), references soaking the driftwood in a wood preservative, "soaked the driftwood in brand-name timber preservative (making sure it was a type safe to plant
s when dry) and treated it with lime sulphur." To repair a rotten inner trunk I have used a wood hardner however when dried, the hardner left a 'sheen' on the wood. Knowing this I am hesitant to use this same product on my driftwood base due to the sheen
the wood hardner leaves on the surface and the assumed reduced absorption of lime sulphur due to the finish. If anyone else has soaked the 'base' in a wood preservative? If so, what brand of preservative was used? Did you need to 'rough up' the surface so
the surface would readily absorb lime sulphur?

Thanks -

Randi Sharp

Richmond, VA


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Hi all,

In Colin Lewis' book The Art of Bonsai Design, pg., 55 the caption related
to the top picture (1986), references soaking the driftwood in a wood
preservative, "soaked the driftwood in brand-name timber preservative
(making sure it was a type safe to plants when dry) and treated it with
lime sulphur." To repair a rotten inner trunk I have used a wood hardner
however when dried, the hardner left a 'sheen' on the wood. Knowing this I
am hesitant to use this same product on my driftwood base due to the sheen
the wood hardner leaves on the surface and the assumed reduced absorption
of lime sulphur due to the finish. If anyone else has soaked the 'base' in
a wood preservative? If so, what brand of preservative was used? Did you
need to 'rough up' the surface so the surface would readily absorb lime
sulphur?

I tried to use MinWax Wood Hardener as in Colin's book, but I had the same
results. Later, Jim suggested to first apply lime sulphur and then a thin
coat of MWWH. I had to sand very carefully all the surface before I could
use lime sulphur, but in this way I had much better results. MWWH can be
thinned using some acetone. If you try several times, you will get with the
exact MWWH:acetone ratio.

I would like to add a small question. Does old lime sulphur is less
effective than newly home-made lime sulphur? Or its effectiveness depends
on the type of wood? I have been trying to bleach a large piece of dead
wood of bougainvillea and have had some difficulties.

Kind regards

Samuel

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I would like to add a small question. Does old lime sulphur is less
effective than newly home-made lime sulphur? Or its effectiveness depends
on the type of wood? I have been trying to bleach a large piece of dead
wood of bougainvillea and have had some difficulties.

Kind regards

Samuel


I use commercial lime sulfur straight out of the bottle, old or new. I
find it does not bleach as much as coat the wood. The coating turns white,
but the wood color shows through. You need very clean wood to start
with. In California many use (horrors!) white artist's colors with just a
touch of black to tone it down. We do this for shows not for protection or
permanence. I find a bit of metallic luster paint added to the white paint
really duplicates the desert patina found naturally on California Juniper.

Kitsune Miko

PS.

Pheonix, Bird from Greek Mythology, from the flame returns to life
Tanuki, Badger from Japanese mythology, shape shifter, trickster, usually male
Kitsune, Fox from Japanese mythology, shape shifter, trickster, usually female

Why are we using a Greek symbol to describe something we do in a Japanese
art form?

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