How to Stretch Wood - Sculpture/Carving

I saw something like this by an amazing wood artist, Phil Young (credit where credit is due), and was fascinated by the illusion of plasticity and of wood being a pliable substance to mold and stretch. I wanted to try and see if I could recreate it. This is my attempt and how I did it.

Wood board or tree slice( approx 1" thick), barrel ring, wood stain, polyurethane, threaded hooks

Tools: sander, drill, paddle drill bit, various grinding bits, angle grinder, grinding wheel, hand carving tools, hammer, skilsaw, clamps

I used a slice from a fallen Cedar tree, but you could use any kind of wood or board. I chose this even though it was more work, because I wanted to use cedar for the color and the fact that it smells so nice when you're carving it. My slice was way too thick so I had slice it again to get it to approx 1" thick. I clamped it up and used a chainsaw to slice off the piece I wanted to use. Once it was the right thickness I sanded the surfaces to get rid of rough spots and splinters. This doesn't have to be perfect – don't worry there will be plenty more sanding later.

I drew the shape I wanted and cut it out with the Skilsaw. I vaguely followed the shape of the slice and it's 5 "arms"

I used an angle grinder with a grinding wheel to round off all the edges of the shape. This was probably the most time consuming step.

I used a paddle bit to drill holes at the end of each arm.

I used grinder bits to rough out the grooves that will create the stretch illusion. I started with the round grinding bit to open up and deepen the drill holes, then a few different pointed grinder bits to create grooves toward the center. Then I used hand carving tools to open the holes even more and exaggerate the grooves. Then I used an oscillating multi-tool with a rasp and sanding attachment to smooth out the holes and grooves and just go over everything to really smooth things out.

I used 2 colors of stain. First I stained the whole thing in a dark walnut. Then I used the multi-tool sanding attachment to sand off areas of highlight. This exaggerates the strain of stretching and adds some depth. I then sprayed the whole thing with clear polyurethane.

Attach your threaded hooks to the wood and layout within the frame (I used a metal barrel ring) to mark your holes. Drill holes in the framing ring.

Put your hook bolts through the holes in the ring then hook into the wood piece. Once everything is where you want it, tighten the bolts on either side. Hang on the wall and enjoy!

I really hope I did this concept justice and thanks for checking out my instructable.