Fire Hose Q

[run_in_bare]

Not sure who this is goin to . But my Q is, I,m doin a firemen and a fire hydrant have drawn ,an carved a fire hydrant, and was goin ta use a pc of 3/16" elc, wire with black covering for the hose or is that not allowed and should I carve the hose out of a 1/4" pc of WOOD ?????? thanks
ED

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Ed......If you're a purist you could get buy with using Tupelo. Thats the wood the decoy and bird carvers use but it's worthless to the rest of us except for little projects like this. You can literally tie knots with it.

Here's how I've done similar projects using it. :

Get your carving scene all set the way you want it so that the hose can be placed just as you want it to appear. I always mount the figures on a scrap piece of wood instead of the actual finished base for this stage. I would carve the hose the length you want, soak it in water, put it in the microwave inside a plastic baggy with a little more water making sure there's a little opening in the bag lip so it doesn't explode and heat it up for a bit. It will be hot when you take it out so be careful! Carefully shape it to the form you want and use some push-pins to hold it till it dries. Will take at least a day to completely dry out.

Now, here's where the problems start to show up. When you put paint or a finish on the tupelo it, like all woods, will try and return to it's original shape, You'll have to use those pins again to keep it from doing that.

To hold it permanently to the finished base you could use the small metal ring off a ballpoint pen if it matches you hose size and drill a little hole though the ring and hose and then use a small decorative nale to hold it down. That way it would look like a hose coupler and not be so obvious to the viewer!

Hope this helps you out a little.

[AlArchie]

That advice from Lynni smost likely the best you can get. Instead of tupelo, though, you might try using round reed, like that used in basket weaving. I've taught basketry merit badge for scouts, and that stuff is reasonably cheap from most craft stores, comes in several sizes and is REALY flexible when soaked, and retains it's shape pretty well when dried.

Al