New stick designs for 2011

[Whittling]

It occurred to me the other day that I haven't posted anything for some time. I thought maybe you guys might like to see some of the new designs for this year. Actually not all of the designs are new, some are just 'upgraded' a bit.

The first was a commission for an 'eagle claw holding an egg'. I didn't know until I started researching it, that apparently, it was quite a popular motif in the last half of the 19th century. I found quite a few images of pipes carved with this design from that era. Anyway, I finally developed a suitable pattern and this is the result.


I did a commission some time ago of a winged lion. I kept the pattern because I thought at the time that the lion head by itself, minus the wings, might make a good cane topper. Finally got around to trying it.


My wife is a wild life photographer, specialising in bird photography. She often goes out and sits in the bush for hours waiting for the perfect shot. Sometimes she comes home from these bush wanderings with sticks she thinks would make good canes or staves. Sometimes she is right.... below is the finished result of one of those times.


I've been an admirer of David Stehly's work for some time. He makes the most amazing snake sticks I've ever seen. I've been wanting to try something like that for ages but after experimenting a bit realised that I needed a very fine 'v' tool to undercut the snake scales. I eventually bought a Pfiel 15/1 chisel for this purpose. About the same time, I came across a Poplar stick that had a side branch suggestively poking out of it. The branch was too low for a lizard and pointed downward which made it awkward for a snake. Then I got the idea of carving a wizard at the top of the staff with a beard that wound down the stick, morphing into a snake as it went. I call it 'Wizard at Work.


Finally, I thought I'd re-visit my old eagle pattern. This guy is patterned on the White-bellied Sea-Eagle we have here in SA. We live on a sea cliff top that is home to the last breeding pair of these magnificent birds on the South Australian mainland coast. My wife is very active in promoting the conservation of their environment. Below is my salute...

[Claw Hama]

Looking good Whit, some fun in those.

[artme]

Whittling- I could do with on of those sticks right now!! I've got some back problems - pinched nerve>

Trouble deciding which one I'd take, they are all beauties!!

[AlexHW]

They are all great, loving the eagle.

The snake reminds me of the story of Moses and his staff that turns into a serpent.

[waky53]

They are just wow, especially the eagle claw.

[springwater]

Extraordinary Whittling, love the whimsical nature of your work, you seemed to have tapped into a good variety of wood types, especially what the eagle head's on, what's that called and the snake stick what's that wood, I'll guess tea tree for the gecko

[Whittling]

Sorry for not including the details Springy... I figured I took up quite a bit of space just describing the basics... but since you asked....

The woods used vary quite a bit. I usually use whatever I have to hand at the time, although some designs lend themselves to certain kinds of wood. The 'claw and egg' stick is carved from english lime. I got some from a student who paid his tuition with it!
The dark shafts are all Jarrah. Its all from demolition sites and recycle yards etc.

The lion and the eagle are both carved from Jelutong. This is the only wood I buy as it doesn't grow locally.

The little lizard stick is a natural stick of Pink Gum my wife found on one of her wild life photographic shoots. She dragged back this small dead tree and when I first looked at it I thought... "there's another nice piece of firewood...". It was about 2" in diameter and full of rot, insect holes and dirt. However after cutting all this off with a draw knife I found a really nice heartwood just under an inch in diameter. The shape is natural... just follows the line of the stick as it grew. The round knob on the end of the handle is all that's left of the root ball.

The wizard and snake stick is a poplar shaft. Not sure which species of poplar but it is not a native and is considered a noxious weed by most local councils as it clogs waterways and is very difficult to eradicate due to its shooting out underground tendrils which rise as new trees. Most councils and farmers are only too happy to have people come and cut it. I use quite a bit of it in my carving schools as its nice and soft for those tender beginner hands. It doesn't hold detail all that well, but if you keep your pattern simple it makes great walking staves as it is very light and not much of a burden to carry for kms at a time. The snake scales were very small due to the diameter of the snake and as such were pushing the limit of the wood's ability to hold the detail. I'd like to try another with larger dimentions but might keep it to just the snake.

Finally, the spacers are various contrasting coloured offcuts that I keep in a box for just this purpose. Mostly they are Jarrah, Kangaroo Thorn, Huon Pine, Acacia Wattle and Tasmanian Sassafrass.

Mostly I use a multiplebladed pocket knife, with the blades shaped into 'carving friendly' shapes. That way I can carry 3 or 4 (depending on how many blades the knive has) carving tools in my pocket at all times... you just never know when a good piece of wood will come across your path! I also use power, especially on some of the harder woods and for carving complex shapes that blades don't get into easily. I used power and a carbide burr to rough shape the claw and egg. I also used it to lower the surface of the wood around the lizard in the pink gum to give myself the elevated mass of wood to carve the lizard from. The lizard itself was mostly done with a knife as were the other carvings. I use chisels about 10% of the time when a knife just won't give me the shape I'm after.

The claw and egg, lion and eagle are all carved from 2-view patterns I developed myself and cut out on a band saw. The wizard and the lizard are carved into 'found' sticks from designs I drew on the wood freehand with a pencil.

Two of the sticks were commissions and have since been delivered. The 'Wizard at Work' stick sold last weekend at a country fair in Mt. Barker SA. That just leaves two more to find homes for...

[springwater]

That's beautiful Jarrah, I've still got some bits of old Jarrah floor boards tucked away somewhere which is very dark but not as the eagle shaft I'm amazed you achieve so much with just a pocket knife. I suppose you've got lots of prize little bits of wood for the spacers but if your running low I have some to share from the treasure chest, do you cut them with the grain or against it if you know what I mean If you're travelling to Victoria give us a yell I'll take you on a stick walk You may want to see if you can get some Horizontalis from Tassie, good shaft wood I'd say

PS Have you got time to enter pallet challenge, love to see you transform some pallet wood

[Whittling]

Thanks Springwater for your kind offer. I am a full time carer of my wife who is ill so travel that far is unlikely anytime soon, but I do appreciate your offer of a 'stick walk'. If you're ever south of Adelaide with a few hours to spare the offer is reciprocated!

I must look into 'Horizontalis'. I'm ashamed to say I've never heard of it.

The Jarrah comes from a floor joist that was once part of an old church, built some time in the early 1900's in a northern suberb of Adelaide and demolished in 2005. It has been replaced with a straw bale structure. I'm told its the first public building so constructed in SA. The photo doesn't show them but the shaft is full of nail holes from where the floor boards were nailed to it. I left them in to represent the old Jarrah fence posts which were drilled for wire. Kind of like the eagle sitting on the old fence post (which they do).

The blades on mondern multi-bladed pocket knives (with good steel) can be ground into 'carving friendly' shapes. Thus you can have 3 or 4 tools in one with all of the blades folding into the handle for safety. Carving with one of these is no more technically challenging than using conventional carving knives, but it is a lot more versitile and portable. The technique of whittling (holding your work in your hand rather than bolted down) lends itself to blade work because the tool and the work can move in conjunction with one another. There are still things that chisels do better so I have a few of them to but I only use them about 10 -15 % of the time.

The spacers are off cuts, usually about 30mm square and around 150mm long with the grain running the length. I put these in a lathe chuck and centre drill the length with a 10.3mm twist drill. I used to also turn these cylindrical but recently I've been leaving them square. When I need a spacer, I choose the appropriate colour woods and cut a 3 - 6mm section off the end of each piece I want to use. Thus I have a number of wooden 'washers', each with a 10.3 mm hole through the middle. I use 10 mm aluminium rod as a dowel to secure the shaft to the handle, sandwiching the spacers between the two and glueing the whole assembly with 2-pack areldite. When the glue is dry just sand and file the whole thing into line. Thus the grain in the spacers is going in the same direction as the grain in the shaft. Grain direction in the handle varies depending on the style.

I did consider the pallet contest, but right now I'm fully committed with what I've got on my plate at the moment. Maybe next year.

[springwater]

Waitpinga, how'd you end up there, I've been close to that area but more on the coast, I'm thinking you've found a pretty good part of Australia to spend your lives. I'm so sorry your wife isn't well, I can't help but say is there anything I can do for you both, now strongly hoping she can get well.