# Today's work in progress



## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

I live in Indiana, and there are 2 trees strongly associated w. the state. The first is the "liriodendron tulipifera", tuiip tree, the state tree. The other is the sycamore, as mentioned in the famous song "On the banks of the Wabash." I've used tulip, aka yellow poplar, for picture frames, but do not think it would be good for a hiking stick. I've picked up a couple of pieces of sycamore. Here is a shot of piece #2.








This piece had fallen from a tree, and had many bulbous protrusions. I suppose those might qualify as burls. I've been work on it every few days. Much of the "burl" seems to rotten to include in a stick. I've been cutting out the crumbly, brittle dark wood.









You might notice in the second image that there is a bit of glint on the wood.

After a bit of sanding at 400 grit, I rubbed the wood w. a ceramic knife hone. Even soft and rather rough wood comes to a gloss w. that.

I need to fill or harden the areas where the wood hard but crumbly. The insides of the "burl." Any suggestions.

FWIW, I think sound branches of sycamore would be good walking/hiking sticks.


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## Rad (Feb 19, 2013)

That's going to make a cool stick!


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## CAS14 (Dec 28, 2012)

Love the twists and turns!


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## JD79 (Apr 12, 2013)

Great looking stick. I love the burl ball ya got there.


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## Sean (Dec 29, 2012)

Very nice, lots of unique character.


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

I've decided that because there is a small orangish ring around each void, I will save sanding dust from the yew heartwood I'm working on. Then get some "WeldBond" glue, which says it dries transparent and waterproof. Mix the two for filler. But I don't think that will work for the large hole at the top, where there remains a small wood bridge. May try to find a wave polished piece of quartz or agate from my rock garden that will fit. Epoxy that in, and fill any small gaps w. the home made putty.


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## CAS14 (Dec 28, 2012)

gdenby said:


> I've decided that because there is a small orangish ring around each void, I will save sanding dust from the yew heartwood I'm working on. Then get some "WeldBond" glue, which says it dries transparent and waterproof. Mix the two for filler. But I don't think that will work for the large hole at the top, where there remains a small wood bridge. May try to find a wave polished piece of quartz or agate from my rock garden that will fit. Epoxy that in, and fill any small gaps w. the home made putty.


This old geologist likes the rocky idea! Working on a similar thing myself with a rock that I found on an old mine dump on vacation with my family about 30 years ago. A piece will go into each of our walking sticks.


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## Paul2281 (Apr 10, 2013)

Dammit man,very sweet handle...Keep us posted on the progress....


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

Paul2281 said:


> Dammit man,very sweet handle...Keep us posted on the progress....


Will do. I'm terribly slow at this. It will be awhile before I have much progress to show. I worked on that stick yesterday, mostly more shaving to shape, and sanding. When my wife returned home from work, I could point to the pile of sawdust at my feet, and say, "Well, there's what I've accomplished for the day."


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## CAS14 (Dec 28, 2012)

gdenby said:


> Paul2281 said:
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> 
> > Dammit man,very sweet handle...Keep us posted on the progress....
> ...


I can relate. I'm relegated to the back porch, except when it's really cold outside and she takes pity on me. However, sanding in the house after her cleaning day is a no-no. I have learned to use the vacuum cleaner.


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## Rad (Feb 19, 2013)

You know, I would be tempted to leave the holes.


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

I did a trial yesterday of filling 2 knot holes lower in the shaft. Didn't work out so well. The final color and texture was almost identical to some of the crumbly knot wood I have not yet removed. I think I will probably dig the filling out.

But I am worried about how rotted the "burls" are on the inside. I'm afraid if the top was given a good rap, it would shatter. I think I will try dabbing some of the clear drying glue into some of the smaller knot holes down the shaft. If it dries matte or satin, I think that might work to solidify the bigger holes.


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## Paul2281 (Apr 10, 2013)

I use super glue..Holds everything together and goes deep into all the crevises and make it solid...I use the thick stuff so it doesn`t dry so fast....


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## CAS14 (Dec 28, 2012)

Paul2281 said:


> I use super glue..Holds everything together and goes deep into all the crevises and make it solid...I use the thick stuff so it doesn`t dry so fast....


I think you are suggesting that he "impregnate" a walking stick! Oh Noooooooo :thumbsu:


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## Paul2281 (Apr 10, 2013)

CAS said:


> Paul2281 said:
> 
> 
> > I use super glue..Holds everything together and goes deep into all the crevises and make it solid...I use the thick stuff so it doesn`t dry so fast....
> ...


Oooops,I forgot to tell him to use protction too.....LOL...


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

Paul2281 said:


> CAS said:
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> > Paul2281 said:
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So that's what the latex gloves at the wood shops are for...

O.K. I have to share this. Some years ago, a tulip tree growing in our back yard was getting too close to the main powerline, so I decided to cut it down before a storm whipped it into the line. I saved the bottom 7', which was about 6" thick, and free from branches. The wood has been curing for at least 5 years now, and I decided to remove the bark. Not having a workbench yet, I ended up sitting astride it on a garden bench so I could use a draw knife.

My wife came out to ask about starting dinner, looked at my rather awkward position and said "Is that a log between your legs, or you just happy to see me?"

The joke starts "There was once this wood worker (nudge. nudge, wink wink)..."


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## JJireh (Feb 7, 2013)

I would not fill the gaps, I like the character they give.

As for strength, sometimes you just have to give it a whack and see what's left. I'd rather know on the front end then when I needed it. Sometimes I've actually uncovered deeper issues and sometimes I get better results than i expected.


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

continuing:

I decided that the biggest voids did need to be filled. I really like the way the stick looks, so I am trying to prevent portions from disintegrating.

The biggest void is in the top most "burl." I would have liked to epoxy in a piece of Lake Superior quartz, but none of the pebbles I have fit well. I decided to shape some wonderful yew heartwood, and use that on top of wood hardening filler. The yew is not as nice as a bit of reddish agate, but is a whole lot easier to shape.

Pic1 is the rough yew plug in the burl hollow.

Pic2 is the shaped yew plug set into the hollow.

Pic3 shows it partially sanded. I'm still not happy with the rim of epoxy filler that I placed in the gaps between the stick wood and the plug. Hope that stuff will become unnoticeable.

As I'm carving more yew plugs, I've noticed that some feel a little damp. I will put them in a warm spot for a couple of weeks before using them.


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## Paul2281 (Apr 10, 2013)

Wow,what a good idea....Keep working at it...Might have to blend in the rim where the epoxy,wood and the insert is...But man thats gonna look sweet when done..


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

Paul2281 said:


> Wow,what a good idea....Keep working at it...Might have to blend in the rim where the epoxy,wood and the insert is...But man thats gonna look sweet when done..


I do want to minimize the distraction the epoxy band makes. The sycamore is nice, but the yew heartwood is the most attractive native wood I have ever used. I have to wait at least 18 mo.s before the main branches are cured enough for carving. In the meantime, I'll practice on the odds and ends that I don't mind loosing to splitting, and/or crummy carving.


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## Paul2281 (Apr 10, 2013)

gdenby said:


> Paul2281 said:
> 
> 
> > Wow,what a good idea....Keep working at it...Might have to blend in the rim where the epoxy,wood and the insert is...But man thats gonna look sweet when done..
> ...


Maybe try to lay some brass/copper wire as a border around the inserted wood....Just an idea....


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## CAS14 (Dec 28, 2012)

Paul2281 said:


> Maybe try to lay some brass/copper wire as a border around the inserted wood....Just an idea....


Found some "soft brass" wire at a local (not a chain) hardware store:

http://walkingstickforum.com/gallery/image/203-brass-wire-bands-spaced-one-foot-apart/

They also had soft copper wire. These were in small rolls, so I didn't have to buy hundreds of feet or strip insulation.


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

The 53" sycamore is almost complete. Still have some work to put a "foot" on it, but I've smoothed it, plugged the holes I thought needed it, fussed w. the fill around the plugs, and given it 3 coats of tung. Feels good in my hand, altho given the irregular shape, it is a bit unbalanced. Weighs about 20 oz.

The images attached show the whole stick, close ups of the handle area, and 1 of a nice figure about half way down the shaft.























I spent a lot of time trying to come up w. a way to fill the gaps around the yew plugs I inserted. (There's 1 small bit of what was supposed to be Baltic amber, but there's a chance it might just be plastic.) My first attempt was mixing white glue w. yew sanding dust. Just looked like a coarse brownish mud. Cut that stuff out. Tried some brown Krylon. A little too glossy, but the hue reminded me of the red clay often glimpsed under gilded frames. I had earlier decided that the gaps were to irregular to fill w wire, but a golden line seemed worth trying. I bought some Krylon "gold." Just looked cheesy. Scraped that away. Tried mixing some old bronzing powder I used to touch up gilded frames. Mixed it w. "natural" stain. Didn't look any better than the "gold" Krylon. Remove again.

As I had worked on other areas, I noticed that some of the figure elsewhere was almost black. I decided the filler around the plugs should also be black. Worked in some stainable wood filler. Tried some Transtint black wood dye. Didn't work too well. Ended up just painting it w. India ink. I had an "idea" for filling one of the larger holes that was too small for any plug I could cut. Mixed some graphite w. white glue. Unfortunately, it didn't mix too well, and when I went to buff the area, the graphite "stained" the surrounding wood. More work sanding that away, but I think I will use graphite as a stain on a piece sometime in the future.

Tried some Elmer's "ebony" wood filler. Very nice black, but would not take a gloss at all. Ended up coating it w. ink, which does have a slight gloss.

Learned a lot that will help w. the stick I am farthest along on just now. Sassafrass w. about a dozen voids where crumbly knots were.Cutting the plugs will be tedious, but the result should be worth it.


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## CAS14 (Dec 28, 2012)

Learning what not to do, and to avoid the same in the future is often more useful than the "how to" columns.

Thanks for sharing the trial runs.


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## AAAndrew (Jul 19, 2013)

Nice work. I like the idea of the wooden plug. Fortunately, yew is pretty stable wood, so you shouldn't have any problems. But I'd careful about some other woods that have great expansion rates in heat and humidity. You might find cracks after all in areas you wanted to stabilize.

Just remember, wood expands and contracts perpendicular to the grain, so a board made of most woods will get wider and thicker (and narrower and thinner) over the seasons, but will not get appreciably longer or shorter. That's why when you nail planks to a fence or a barn wall you only fix them in the middle of the board and leave a gap. If you screw or nail them in in two places along the width of the board you will most likely find a split as the board expands or shrinks.

I'll remember that plug idea.

As a great artist once said, "Good artists steal from other artists, great artists steal from everyone."


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## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

I really couldn't resist adding the yew heartwood. I had some shrubs that had become very overgrown, and when I found that yew would come back even after being cut to the ground, I did some very vigorous trimming. I was astonished at the rich color of the heartwood, and how brilliant it became just w. fine sanding.

I was a little concerned about the different expansion rates. Hopefully the multiple coat of oil will limit any moisture passing in or out of the wood.

I had a friend who once made a table out of various kinds of wood scraps as a class assignment. He didn't know that the different pieces would swell/contract at different rates. When he went to present the work for mid-semester review, he found the top cracked apart, and the piece unpresentable. I've never forgotten that.


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## cobalt (Nov 14, 2013)

The handle already looks good why not just burnish it with a rotary tool treat it with wood hardner and leave it as it is its a nice find

Sycamore is a nice wood oftern used to make cardigan crooks with .


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## Paul2281 (Apr 10, 2013)

CAS said:


> gdenby said:
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LOL, I`ve sanded a few times in my home(I live by myself) and noticed how much that dust gets around on everything...And I vac.everyday because of a cat and my old hound dog...So I`ve just been doing my sanding outside now....


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