Display Bases

[Dale]

Anyone have a source for wood display bases? I've googled around, but come up short. I like the bases the company www.dinostoreus.com uses for their gift-shop items, but they're all made in China.

DK

[evaldart]

What kind of work are they for, what venues? This will narrow it down.

[PTsideshow]

A base and a plaque are the same thing, the only difference is the orientation!
Try wood plaques in google thousands of choices come up. From retail to manufactures
wood plaques unfinished
wood plaques wholesale
the list had at least 10 different items.
Remember google is your friend, or ask or any of the assorted ones.
:D

[Dale]

I've been googling for a couple days now and come up with a couple options like: www.thewoodcraftsshop.com and www.nationalartcraft.com, but I don't think either are wholesalers. It has helped to search for both "trophy base" and "display base." I've also looked at plaques, but they are a bit different in that they are typically .5 to .75 inches thick and I'm after something a bit more sustantial...like 1 inch. That way I could mount a brass nameplate on the side. Some bases, like those at woodcraft shop, have a recessed top which would help in setting the cast sculpture into the base.

Dk

[PTsideshow]

Then you will have to contract it out to wood worker or get a router table and do it yourself. with a couple of molding bits you can cut all you need. most of the trophy bases are bottomless frame boxes(low cost) with the plaque on top. you also can router a section out to mount the item.

Looking for a custom type piece and hoping you will stumble on to it. Could take you years.

You might find somebody locally at the local woodcrafters store or other wood working supply and tool.
:D

[Dale]

Yes, it could take years...and my eyes are bleary already. It is interesting to note that I got a lot of google-hits from woodworkers in the UK. I'm thinking...how quaint, some old time craftsperson in a little English village. Then I continue searching and see the same display bases...at least the same photographs...being offered by manufacturers in China. So those quaint English craftspeople are really just a middle-men.
I'm not a woodworker and so making them myself is out, but I am thinking of buying one from a retailer, making a mold, and casting copies. Anyone have any experience in a wood-like casting material. I've also heard something called "Winterstone" is easy to use?
DK

[suburbanartists]

Go to a good lumber yard.
buy your favorite piece/ board of wood.
take it to a local wood shop/ neighbor
have them cut the pieces to size and route the edges.
very simple really
anyone with basic wood tools can do it.

or buy you buddy a router and give it to him/her for making you some bases.

If you bought me a really nice one ( my 2 are not that great), i would do it for you if lived near me.

[EJB]

In addition to the above suggestions, try a local cabinet maker. Many trades are slow these days and would welcome some quick cash. Making your own bases might not turn out as perfect as you might like but often can add some unique character to the work as a whole. If you demand the store bought look, check out bases4all.com

[arcdawg]

Craigslist dude.

I got 4 beautiful pedestals from a gallery that was going out of business. I had to repaint them but it was well worth it. They ended up costing me what one new one would cost.

Make sure you check the nearest city to your location.

[rderr.com]

Use your imagination--we are sculptors after all and should have solutions beyond the white-walled-collectables-with-mdf-crap-painted-black-or-white. This was a few bucks for the welds, some re-bar, and scrap metal. The wood is scrap off the beach--000000000000$$$$$$$$$$.

Sculpture bearing sculpture--kill two stones with one bird.
rd

ps The piece is by Carrie Olsen, one of G3's members and is green sand cast aluminum and ceramic--a post unto itself. Just ask me.

bob

[Dale]

Creating the one-off bases is not a problem. What I'm looking for is a reliable source of simple wood bases on which to mount the more mass-produced items I make. Price is a major consideration. China is probably the most likely source. There are companies there that make a good looking painted MDF base. Problem is they usually only source to resin-casting factories, not individuals.

DK

[desertrock]

I use www.basesforall.com
Quick shipping, good prices.

Mark

[Dale]

That's a good site, but they don't seem to carry rectangular shaped bases.

Dk