Decay in Closed Crotches
A closed crotch is a bad enough situation to have to deal with in a potential piece of caving wood; but they are nothing compared to one which has developed decay. Previous discussion has dealt with determining the extent to which a closed crotch can impair the use of a piece of wood for carving, but if no decay is present, that extent is predictable and calculable. When decay is present however, it is not.
Returning again to our digital tree at left (illus. 15), the exterior appearance belies what may be hidden in the interior which in all likelihood would eliminate it as a sculpture candidate. If the stump were cut off at the indicated spot (section A) it would perhaps reveal what is shown in ( illus. 16 ) below.
Illus. 17 above show the true extent of decay likely to be revealed if a sculpture is begun with this stump.
The major problem with a closed crotch is it's ability to trap water. If the crotch is located in the trunk as is illustrated here, it becomes an even greater problem because of its vertical positioning. The crotch in effect forms a funnel with it's end plugged. Because the crotch cannot drain the moisture trapped there soon causes the bark to decay. Complicating matters, leaves, twigs, and other debris become lodged there , accumulate and also decay. The tree continues to attempt to grow around this mess but actually worsens conditions by increasing the height of the funnel sides thereby trapping still more moisture. This material ultimately leads to the decay of the wood directly beneath. The amount of decay is deceptive as indicated by across section of this area shown in Illus. 16. The reason for this is that as the decay penetrates deeper downward in the tree it creates a pocket for the moisture to collect. This pocket allows a place for the water trapped by the crotch to accumulate in a lower area it acts as a reservoir draining the moisture away from upper areas. This helps upper areas to remain drier resulting in less decay. This means that the visible are show in Illus. 16 appears small buy comparison to the area directly below. The deception is that one might expect the decay to lessen as wood is removed, while in all too many cases the reverse occurs. The deeper the moisture penetrates into the tree, the less chance it has to dry out...EVER! The constant dampness in the interior allows the decay in the trunk to run rampant, spreading everywhere similar to that illustrated by Illus. 17. What this means for this tree trunks chances for becoming a sculpture is ominous. If a carving is begun without chasing out all of the decay a lot of time and effort could be wasted.
It should be understood by this time, that no project should be undertaken without making a thorough examination of physical signs which would lead to one or more of the hazards sighted here. It may be concluded that any exterior signs, no matter how small should be investigated since they all have a tendency to lead to more major problems in the interior. I have had the misfortune to have this occur many times in the past. This is not to say that a carving can't proceed if there is decay present in the tree in question. With some thought to logistics it is possible to position a sculpture within even severe decay. But even this demands knowing e x a c t l y where the decay is located.
Illus. 18 at left shows how a carving might be positioned within our digital tree trunk. This can only happen however if the extent of the decay indicated, can be determined. If the trunk were simply cut off slice by slice from the top down until the decay was eliminated, too much of the stump might be lost to even have a life sized human figure made, let alone one with an arm extended above the head. You may first think it to be less than ingenuous to extend the arm with sword above this figures head to utilize the sound wood, perhaps even a contrivance. But then you would miss the point. If you will notice, by extending the arm of this figure, I have forced the head of the figure away from the center of the trunk. This places the head of the figure into solid wood, while at the same time allowing for a full height, life sized figure. The point is that something needs to happen within the orientation of the figure to skew it to one side and away from the decayed area.
Of course I need to know first that the decay ends at the point I am showing it to end. To find out before I have committed myself to the figure shown, I would first cut off the left member of the crotch, about half way to the head of the figure. From there I would cut the decay out by notching the juncture of the crotch. Literally chasing the decay down the trunk until it disappeared.
It should be obvious by now that patience in determining viability of a stump to produce a sculpture will pay dividends in the end. Without a thorough examination, the result could be huge frustration and a bunch of wasted time. Or perhaps worst of all, a horribly misshapen figure from "forcing" it.
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