Ready to Ship

Well the dog head market stick is ready to ship.  The client left the head unpainted and went for the black horn foot, which were the choices i would have made.  I am very pleased with this stick, it involves several things that i have not done before, a stripped hazel shank (more work than i expected) and a carving on what i like to call the forehead of the stick.  I really like carvings in this spot because i think they stand out and they don't interfere with the utility of the stick.
I know when i have done a really nice job on a stick like this, a custom stick or one with some interesting features, because i don't want to let them go.  This falls into that category, i would be more than happy to keep this stick for myself, just like the wolf head stick from before Christmas.  In the UK many of the traditional stickmakers would sell very few of their sticks.  Instead they would give them as gifts and trade them with other stickmakers.  By the time a nice stick is finished you have put so much of yourself into it that its like selling a friend.  So if anyone out there would like to pay my mortgage and other bills i would be happy to make sticks purely for the love of the work :).  Now its time to get to work on rebuilding my inventory as i am down to about a dozen sticks on hand and that just wont do if i am going to take them to shows this summer.

Back to Work

Well i have been very remiss in keeping up with this blog, what can i say, i got holiday fever.  Anyway i'm back to work now ( have been for a while actually) and i have just about finished the other stick i was working on before Christmas.  Here are several views of it.  There are a couple of issues to resolve with the client, should the dog head be painted or left natural like it is now? and should the foot on the bottom be a standard brass foot or a black horn foot to match the black horn collar? So i would like to hear from those of you reading this what your opinions are on these two issues, then ill tell you what was decided and what my choices would have been.

Repairs and Alterations

These sticks are not indestructible and from time to time one gets dropped on the wrong surface, bashed overly hard, sat on, driven over etc etc and needs to be repaired, sometimes they can be fixed and sometimes they cannot, and sometimes they can but its more work than its worth. Peoples needs and preferences also change over time and requires a stick alteration.  The most common alteration is a shortening of the shank, a simple job for a stick with a brass foot, a harder one for a stick that has a fancy foot that it is desired to retain.  Here is one such job I just finished.  The stick had a really nice horn foot but it wasn't going to be a nice fit once the stick was shortened so i used a sliver of black horn to make the transition smooth.

Maple Burl Sanding

While I really like the look of the maple burl heads i have to say they are an absolute bear to work on.  Due to the hardness of the wood, the lack of direction to the grain and the variability in hardness due to all the knots sanding them takes 2-3 times longer than any of the other wooden heads i do.  Add to that the risk when i cut one out that there will be a big flaw that i could not see before cutting and you have a beautiful material that is a lot of trouble to work with.   that being said the commissioned maple burl stick is approaching the home stretch now.  The stripped hazel shank and water buffalo horn collar are fully sanded and finished as is the neck with the rest of the head still needing an evening or two of sanding to finish up.  This stick is short and very light and was intended to have a brass foot, but looking at the collar i think i am going to recommend a black horn foot to match the collar.

Wolf Head Walking stick is almost finished

Well I have been working non stop on finishing the wolf head stick,Raven painted in the eyes on the wolf, and then I added new coats of finish as soon as the previous one was dry.  It took two rounds of extra sanding to get it just right. And then another 5 coats of finish after that.  I have to rub it down with steel wool to make sure its really smooth then add one last thin coat of finish and I will be done,,, well almost done, it still needs a foot put on, brass in this case. Anyway when it is all finished the head will not look any different than it does right now so here it is.  I do believe it may be about the nicest stick we have made to date.