# My newest stick



## dww2 (Feb 4, 2017)

Well, this is what I've been working on this week. So far it is turning out really nicely.

The handle is a bit of maple from a tree which fell during the winter. Not sure how long it had been dead, but there is very little spalting in the pieces I've looked over. There were three branches which connected at roughly the same spot, so there is some nice cross grain there. One of the branches is where it connects to the shank, of course. It was a little bit damp still when I started working it, so I popped it into the microwave for 1.5 minutes on high then let it cool, then another 2 minutes on 50% power. I'd done this trick with turning greenish bowls before and it worked so I figured it would work for this as well. Came out nice and dry.

I was going to try a curled nose but the grain worried me so I decided to do a bit of carving instead. I thought a ram's head would look good there at the nose and would be more in keeping with tradition. The breed of sheep I chose was a Scottish black face. Came out pretty good for something I'd never tried before.

There is a deer antler spacer and the shank is hawthorn. Shank is a bit thin, really, but plenty sturdy, being hawthorn. It was an early attempt at a thumb stick but I scraped off the poly and cut off the Y then formed a tenon with my Shinto rasp. (Took a good chunk of hide off my thumb's 2nd knuckle too. Damn, that thing is sharp!)

Decided to give oil a try this time. It is in the garage with a coat of Danish oil drying on it.


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## Gloops (Jan 23, 2015)

Great job, nice seeing a ram in a crook, well done


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## RandyL476 (Aug 24, 2014)

That's a nice job


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## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

Well done ddw2! Nice stick.


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## Rodney (Jun 12, 2015)

Very nice work!

Rodney


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## sickelstix (May 28, 2017)

That's neat. Good job.


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## dww2 (Feb 4, 2017)

Thanks guys! The stick has been soaking up the oil like crazy. Been oiling it every day this week, then will do once a week for a month, etc.


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