Thread: inerchangable carved toppers for hiking poles

will look forward for the pics and thanks for the comments always useful. I have looked at the rings around the eyes at lest I know how to distinguish the sexes now. a final decision has to be made before I put a protection varnish on once this is one it doesn't paint to well . the shank has had 8 coats of Danish oil and has a soft sheen , I don't use varnish on the shanks as it chips and flakes once this happens water ingress get sin and will turn black and unsightly . and it just needs a odd coat at the beging and end of seasons it then should last a life time .The eyes at bigger than the ones I use for water fowl at 10mm diameter usually use 8mm trouble is glass eyes over 8mm doubles the price of them . but don't like the cheap plastic ones

I need to get these birds finished as have a series of the eider duck to do .the spectacled eider , king eider. common eider are weird looking birds just found in the northern hemisphere
1kingeidermale.jpgspecticaled eider.jpgeider1.jpg

Cobalt, I had to do a double take on your pictures and then realised that the third picture is one of your stunning sculptures!
Those eider ducks are amazing and seem to belong to a group of birds that already look like carvings? Some are almost cartoon-like such as puffins and Gouldian finches......

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.... whereas others like those eider ducks, seem to defy the rules of nature by having 'unnatural' geometric patterns and unexplained lumps and bumps?
Are the eider duck carvings for you or a commission?
fletty

The eider you refereed to was made by a friend who carves decoys we exchange ideas and photos .He carves some great stuff and his work is in demand . He only takes commissions and is booked up for a couple of years with work .He wont work to a time limit as he like me only does it for interest .But his work makes top dollar.
and exhibits his work regular
The puffin is a favourite topper for quite a few people and have carved a few of them and always went to Flamborougth head to watch them during breeding season. there quite comical when coming to land with a beak full of fish them scuttling into there burrows to feed there young
There at 4 different eider ducks the head I am trying to do at the moment is the common eider and your right about the lumps and bumps look totally weird
The other carved topper I intend to do is a duck billed platypus but haven't completed research on it yet but doubt if I will get a chance to start any of them for a while

the kookaburra will get its final coat of paint will lighten the head and mix some pearlised tint in with it to give it a bit of a sheen before I seal it with a satin wood varnish to weather proof it.
I will check the eyes again on the web to see if there is a need for modification . but what is as important is to ty and catch the essence of the bird

I have noted the comments on the eyes and have adjusted them also lightened up the kookaburras head
the horn I was playing around with hoping to do some scrimshaw didn't work out as well as I wanted tried several different approaches from engraving with a needle and scribe , also tried burning into the horn which sort of works . but after spending a couple of hours messing about decided to abandon the idea for now .To much to do .
I just simplified the letter and hopefully epoxy it on if wanted .it does stand out well and reasonable pleased with the trial piece.
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How disappointing , thinking about it now- scrimshaw is a bone & not a horn technique .
In medieval times it was like medieval plastic & was heated over a mould & then cooled to the shape. Maybe there might be mileage
within those techniques that could be adapted ?

i think there is some mileage with scrimshaw , but need to spend some time on it , but at the moment its in short supply. think horn is adaptable to personalise sticks with horoscopes signs initials etc. but a touch of colour would add to it
Maybe enamels would work better

I worry that enamels would look a bit gross or garish & not in keeping with the traditional natural stick materials otherwise used.
Sorry,
Mike

Sir, Just come across this thread and WOW you are one clever, creative craftsman.....

Its good to hear others opinion whether they agree or not .it sometimes has a beneficial effect. , and always like to hear constructive criticism.
I don't agree however .
I use any material I think which will enhance the stick ,but that's purely taste .
The interchangeable toppers I make is a new idea , I have never seen it done before , it gives the opportunity for people to have a range of toppers , its more difficult to get the transition right from topper to stick , but I hope that this method becomes part of tradition after all they tradition starts somewhere.
I am pretty sure a lot of people will question it, some will adopt it .The materials to do it was originally adapted to fix wood together just a extension of that
The only traditional stick really I suppose comes from the staff. The Shepard adapted it to catch his sheep with a crook then it was further developed to the leg cleek to catch them with the leg. .Drovers used the cleek to heard there huge flocks of geese from the fen land to the city so they could catch turkeys ,geese by the neck , which is where Nottingham got the name for its fun fair (Nottingham goose fair) just a adaption so we all do it in different forms and innovation and adaption has to be a good thing.
Enamelling has been around for centuries probably 1st with glass making and it does give a harder finish than acrylics , its denser in colour and harder wearing .
I do like stained wood however which shows the grain ,to me it dose enhance the look on good woods but for Lime wood and alike its a pretty boring plain wood and needs enhancing, and you cant get a good representation of some of the water fowl I carve without that colour.

Always interested in different points of views

finished a couple of projects jus a ferule to add to the water fowl stick to do. Then time to move on to the next
Finished work
a brace of mallards and a surf scoter
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Hmmm very nice. I'm kind of surprised you do foreign species of birds but don't know why really when I think about it !
I never do foreign birds but think nothing of crocodiles , lions , elephants ETC. !
Mike

Originally Posted by Mike the knife

Hmmm very nice. I'm kind of surprised you do foreign species of birds but don't know why really when I think about it !
I never do foreign birds but think nothing of crocodiles , lions , elephants ETC. !
Mike

I doubt that Michelangelo met Moses nor David either?