# A sycamore stick: finished.



## gdenby

These are details of a 60" piece of sycamore. I thought I was finished w. it some months ago. Initially, most of the stick had the nicely patterned bark left on it. I'm not certain what I did wrang, but after several months, the spray on spar varnish was lifting up from the bark. It varnish was brittle, and could be chipped away. So I stripped the stick, sanded, and refined the braid like grip area. It has a couple of coats of wood tint, followed by 2 coats of tung, and 2 coats of shellac.


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## Rad

I like the carving! What tools did you use?


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## CAS14

That grip does look like braided rope! A very unusual and "groovy" effect. Practical as well.

Great job!


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## gdenby

Rad said:


> I like the carving! What tools did you use?


The basic work was mostly done with a Mora detail carving knife, #122. The first round of carving was rather sloppy, so after stripping away the previous finish, I made the cuts more regular, and inevitably somewhat deeper. I really like the knife. I mis-placed it at one point, so ordered 2 more just so I wouldn't be w/o.

Then I smoothed away the cut marks w. fine tooth steel rifflers. I don't know what the shapes are. One was just a flat cross section, but a curved length. The other was sort of like a taped fine art paint brush.


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## gdenby

CAS said:


> That grip does look like braided rope! A very unusual and "groovy" effect. Practical as well.
> 
> Great job!


Glad you like it. I came across someone saying that smooth finishes can cause blisters. I have not had that problem, myself, but am working on ways to have at least one area where the stick can grab at a slippery hand.

What I learned from this was that the cross cut grain absorbs more tint. By sanding the raised areas between coats, the surface became more highlighted. I'm sure I am just re-inventing the wheel by finding this technique, but I'm putting it on my list of "Do this again, it works!"


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## Fordj

Gdenby,

That is a very beautiful grip area. I have worked metal for many years, wood, not so much. From this post, and another thread of yours, I've found the Mora #122, and a Mora batoning knife. Thanks so much for the information on what tools you use!


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## MoroCreek

gdenby,

I have been told (when the same thing happened to me.... the varnish or shellac or poly bubbling away from the wood) that there was still moisture left in the stick when I sealed it, and the moisture escaping caused the bubbling. I was told that I had not let the stick season enough. I had to basically do the same thing you did..... refinish the stick.


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## gdenby

MoroCreek said:


> gdenby,
> 
> I have been told (when the same thing happened to me.... the varnish or shellac or poly bubbling away from the wood) that there was still moisture left in the stick when I sealed it, and the moisture escaping caused the bubbling. I was told that I had not let the stick season enough. I had to basically do the same thing you did..... refinish the stick.


I'm getting better w. stick seasoning. I have enough backlog that some sticks will probably sit 4 years before I get to them. But sycamore bark seems rather spongy. I suspect that the varnish bubbling loose may just have been from air slowly expanding and contracting.

I've tried stabilizer, but didn't know that it was better to immerse the whole stick at once. Had a few sticks split at the boundary where the wood was in the stabilizer and the portion in the air. Would love to use a stabilizing contraption that immersed the stick in a hot resin and/or a vacuum to draw the resin into the wood. But my amateur budget won't allow that.


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## MoroCreek

Amateur budget..... that I do understand! LOL !! I'm hoping that next payday I'll be able to get a Pen Sander.... looking at the Proxxon brand.


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## cobalt

Nice work and a good piece of wood


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## gdenby

MoroCreek said:


> Amateur budget..... that I do understand! LOL !! I'm hoping that next payday I'll be able to get a Pen Sander.... looking at the Proxxon brand.


My work space, so called, doesn't have an electric outlet. I've run a power cord thru a slot in a window frame so I can have a work light for both illumination and heat. For the time being, other power appliances are not available. I do have a fairly large number of files, rasps, rifflers, and scrapers. I can smooth most surfaces to around what a 320 grit sand paper would produce.


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## MoroCreek

I do have a shop with outlets, courtesy of my mother_in_law. My wife's father passed away about ten years ago, and I'm using his old shop. I was using our storage building behind our house, but the wife got tired of shavings and dust getting all over everything. Lol So earlier in the winter, I relocated up the hill a little from our house.


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## cobalt

You work outside wow what a weathered man you must be very hardy

As for tools you slowly build them up but now retired what the hell, i will have them and enjoy what i`m doing



gdenby said:


> Amateur budget..... that I do understand! LOL !! I'm hoping that next payday I'll be able to get a Pen Sander.... looking at the Proxxon brand.
> 
> My work space, so called, doesn't have an electric outlet. I've run a power cord thru a slot in a window frame so I can have a work light for both illumination and heat. For the time being, other power appliances are not available. I do have a fairly large number of files, rasps, rifflers, and scrapers. I can smooth most surfaces to around what a 320 grit sand paper would produce.


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