PRESERVING charred and heavily burnt branches

Hi everyone,

I would love some advice on how to preserve two beautiful branches I collected on my way back from QLD just after the bushfires this year.

They are very black and burnt on the exterior and I would like to keep them as close to their current state as possible. Ultimately, I want to stop any black ash or fragile wood falling off or staining hands.

The end goal of this is to hang the branches on my wall.

Is there anything i can apply (i think a spray would be the least destructive??) to seal the branches and stabilise them for display?

Any help and advice would be most appreciated!

please see picture below:

Attachment 472629

You dont mention what diameter or length these are but my 2 bobs worth
1 CA glue
2 find a storm water pipe they would fit into, cap one end, pour in litres of clear resin.

wont be cheap
hopefully others come up with more sensible ideas.

For my 2c, I'd use some artists fixative spray to keep the fine stuff on.

As for stabilising the whole log and maintaining the look that it has at the moment, I suspect that will be an exercise in futility. You will likely just have to accept that it's gonna do whatever it's gonna do and hope that what it does do is not too bad.

THE chance of keeping the bark on are slim to none. Even when sealed the contact between the bark and wood cannot be reached by the sealer so as the wood shrinks and expands it will lose contact with the bark. Maybe keep a tube of glue handy to reattach bits of bark that fall off? Unless it is completely saturated in something like CA long term the bark will disintegrate and turn into powder.

The resin idea is actually a pretty cool one... You're right though, it would be a pricey project!l

CA... I'm a real newbie, I'm afraid. What is it please? A glue of sorts?

"exercise in futility" is a brilliant term. And you are probably very right. I've been waiting for a miracle it seems and perhaps I should just get it up on the wall!