We finished this project a few years ago and I finally made a video about it.  The cross stands 9' tall and weighs 35 lbs., the faux rock base weighs 70 lbs.  Seems like many of my projects involve Curly Maple and Walnut, maybe because the woods are so gorgeous.  Building the faux rock was something new for me but it came out looking like a rock so I can't ask for much more than that.

 

Edited January 20, 20233 yr by difalkner

A really gorgeous piece. I imagine the church is thrilled to have it.

1 hour ago, lew said:

A really gorgeous piece. I imagine the church is thrilled to have it.

Thanks, Lew!  It was a long build but fun all the way.

Speechless David. You have been truly gifted with both vision and execution. Quite a befitting gift to honor our Saviour.

THANK-YOU for sharing the video.

13 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Speechless David. You have been truly gifted with both vision and execution. Quite a befitting gift to honor our Saviour.

THANK-YOU for sharing the video.

Thanks so much, Dave!!  I felt truly honored to be involved in the build for this cross.  Glad you like it and the video!

Beautiful David

2 hours ago, Cal said:

Beautiful David

Thanks, Cal!  We're pleased with how it came out, fun project.

I watched the video, and loved the production of it! Your voice was fine David, I prefer the level calm voice of a video like yours, we can hear you, and follow you, yet the build is standing out beyond your voice, keep up the great work with those videos.

The cross turned out beautiful, lovely! The fit of all the pieces was beyond perfect to our eyes, as if your hands were guided.

Your boulder looked wonderful!

 

I have some experience with stage sets and building faux rock panels and walls and boulders, back in the day one of my jobs as a set builder at Sea World of California, we did a lot of that for the animal exhibits and shows. If you ever do rock building again, (fat chance right? ) we used green foam blocks to carve our rock formations and hit the foam with our resin and glass chop gun, and we also hand laid the fiberglass as well. The foam is wonderful to work with, just carve it as you like.

Here's a search on the foam I am referring too:

green+carving+foam - Google Search

WWW.GOOGLE.COM

 

I think your method was more cost effective though, you had the wood on hand already, but if you ever get serious about faux rocks and boulders, this is a good option.

Also, once you apply the glass and resin, and you finish it to the point you like, you can either leave the foam in place, or carve it out, and gut the inside of the boulder, so you'll basically have a light weight shell.

This is a similar set I worked on back in the day. Those boulders are what we built, using the methods described. Like I said, you'll probably never do another rock again, but if you do, this is just food for thought is all! Those boulders you see, are fiberglass shells, we would gut the green foam out of them.

Thanks so much, John!!  I'm glad you like the videos and the way they are produced; I have fun making them.  It is frustrating to have only a whisper right now but hopefully that will be cleared up soon.  No illness but rather taking some meds to clear up a persistent cough and the meds took away my voice as well - ugh! 

 

Your faux rocks look fantastic, look like real rocks and boulders.  Hopefully ours was a one-shot build but it was still fun.  It had to have significant weight in order for the cross to be stable so lightweight wasn't what I wanted.  But if I ever have to build more I will definitely use your technique!