# American Robin topper



## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

One of my favorite harbingers of spring is the return of the robins to the yard. Watching them hunt on the lawn and listening to their cheery song lets me know spring is here.

I've been wanting to try my hand at making a robin walking stick for awhile now. Here's the start of the topper for the stick. It's carved from a piece of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 6" basswood block. His tail was added and made from a 3/8" poplar dowel. The feather detailing is done with the wood burner. The eyes are tiny plastic jewelry beads. Paint to follow. Thanks for looking!


----------



## Batakali (Feb 28, 2016)

Lovely! Can't wait to see the finished product. What are you thinking for the stick?


----------



## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

Good progress. looking forward to the finish.


----------



## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

Batakali said:


> What are you thinking for the stick


Possibly another lodge pole pine. Can't beat the lodge pole for straightness and strength for the weight. ( all those Native Americans supporting their dwellings for all those years can't be wrong) Also have a sassafras and a silver maple that would do nicely.


----------



## Gloops (Jan 23, 2015)

Looking forward to seeing the bright red breast ll aglow on top of a pole.


----------



## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

Got our robin painted.


----------



## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

Working on the Robin's stick. Decided to go with maple. This is a piece of a red/ silver maple hybrid from our yard that was storm damaged last year. Thought it was a good choice as Robin's have nested in the tree for several years. The leaves are carved in pics don't capture that well


----------



## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

Robin and the stick look good mark. One of the things I have found makes the leave stand out is texturing around them. With paint or a natural finish it bring the leaves out. this is one I did'


----------



## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

CV3 said:


> Robin and the stick look good mark. One of the things I have found makes the leave stand out is texturing around them. With paint or a natural finish it bring the leaves out. this is one I did'


Really like that texturing Randy  May have to try that out. What did you use for that small texturing?

Need to do some additional paint on the robin as well, colors are not quite right. The head on the robins running around in the lawn are darker than the wings.


----------



## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

I used a 1/8th" carbide round burr in my flex shaft tool. Just tapping the wood to give it texture.


----------



## Whiteroselad (Dec 4, 2015)

Lovely stick and a smashing carving. You can tell that a lot of work has gone into this stick. Will you be keeping this one? N.


----------



## gdenby (Apr 27, 2013)

MJC4 said:


> Working on the Robin's stick. Decided to go with maple. This is a piece of a red/ silver maple hybrid from our yard that was storm damaged last year. Thought it was a good choice as Robin's have nested in the tree for several years. The leaves are carved in pics don't capture that well


Very appropriate to use a robin home tree. Wood looks nice, too.


----------



## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

Well I think this stick is done. Robin redbreast is carved from a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" X 6" basswood block. He is mounted on a maple stick with a brass collar. I carved the leaves on the stick and textured the area around the leaves with my dremel and an 1/8" round diamond burr per CV3's suggestion, (Tx Randy), really helps the leaves stand out. The stick is stained with Americana acrylic gel stain in oak brown & finished with spar polyurethane. I found the gel stain very similar to the antiquing medium I had been using. The directions say use straight out of the bottle brush on & wipe off. Ah no, for me anyway, to uneven a result. I found its best to wet the piece your staining then thin the gel stain with water, as its thick as sour cream, apply with a sponge applicator, wait till it starts to get tacky then wet your hand and rub it out. I think it gives decent results albeit a bit messy using your paw. As per most of my sticks the lanyard is braided paracord with craft beads on the tag ends. This one is a 3 strand camo/brown. The paint on the robin and the leaves is your run of the mill acrylic craft paints. All in all a fun piece to make!!

Thanks for looking!!

Mark


----------



## Gloops (Jan 23, 2015)

Great looking stick Mark, the texturing round the leaves was well worth the extra effort that's one you will be proud to walk out with.


----------

