Heather Gems

[koos erasmus]

Good day, My name is Koos Erasmus from Pretoria in South Africa and I find the Heather Gems clip on how do they do that very interesting and would like to try something similar with local shrubs as well. Can someone also please tell me what the density of heather wood is, is it solid inside, is it like bamboo or hollow inside.
I would also like to know what kind of glue they used before or during the pressing process. Will it be a kind of wood glue or resin type like they use when working with fiber glass. With the wood glue available here in South Africa I don't think it will be possible to machine the compressed product as the glue will become soft when exposed to heat.
Your assistance will be highly appriciated
Regards
Koos

 

[john lucas]

I found this. I hope it helps. Looks rather labor intensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4S7HnMNylw&feature=kp

 

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

very interesting video.

we have a decorative plant here in the USA called "Mexican heather" - not sure it's related, but it is a woody shrub.

I think to achieve the finished product, you would need a solid branch, not hollow

For glue - you'll have to do some searching. The video says "epoxy" - and it shows baking the wood blanks. So you would be looking for a heat (or thermal) setting epoxy.

I send an email to the Heathergems company to inquire about purchasing wood blanks. They do sell some of the end cuts on their website.

good luck, and post again if you attempt to do this.

 

[Michael Poorman]

I'd never heard of such a think. Very neat. Good luck to you!