Check out how I made these pine trees. Go to my profile & look under the album "Tree Maker Device" Any one who needs lots of trees, you will want to look at this!!
Making trees with wire in the "bottle brush" method is not so new, but the bracket and the frame for making them is certainly new to me. Our member "Colonel" had an article in N Scale Magazine about this method. I saw him do it in Australia and one of the akward parts of the method was setting up the wires. Your technique solves this. Colonel also used an electric hand drill to twist the wires. I don't know if that is something you might consider. Also, I was imagining 2-3 people doing each phase of this technique. You might really turn out a lot of trees using your device! Good idea. :thumbs_up:
It really was a neat process to watch. It really took no time at all and he built his tree maker for under $10.
Nice little machine for making trees you have. I recently have seen one of these, very very similar in design, in the recent issue of the November/December 2010 Ztrack Magazine. It's called the McKenzie Brothers Tree-making Machine to boot, and retails I believe for $120.00. I believe it is a package kit and comes with "the machine itself, or a kit with wire, hemp rope, the little kerf tool, and a DVD". http://mckenziebrotherstimberco.com/
I make mine on a scrap 1x4 with a drywall screw placed near one end of the board. The cost is pennies. I then use green florist wire and twine very similar to that used in a hay bailer. And then a drill to wind it up. I ad the ground foam while the paint is still wet and then use spray adhesive and then more ground foam and then I top off the job with a blast of hair spray. I love the bottle brush method for making cheap trees. Craig
The machine you are refering to demonstrated at the train club I belong to. I didnt want to spend $120.00 for the devise so I figured out how to make my own for under $10.00. It might look crude but the out come is the same. I can turn out 20-30 trees per hour depending on my speed. I used a nylon rope pulled apart. I have had no problems getting paint or ground up foam to stick on using spray adhesive & hair spray. I do plan on using hemp rope as well.
Economical method that you should do more detailed step by step pictures. Show us pictures of how to put the rope and wire together. This is very ingenius method. Brilliant, show us more ! fatalxsunrider43
ooo very nifty! thanks for sharing! but FYI, those trees on ebay (if you want to deal with ebay) are about 20cents a pop if bought in the larger quantities. but im sure with this method you could probably get your trees cheaper depending on the wire you get. im bookmarking this thread though! will do it when my ebay trees run out haha
Synthetic fly tying fibers work well too and they are available in a wide assortment of colors so you dont need to spray paint, just add foam.
