[MJC4]

I've been working on the closet pole St. Nick stick. I thought it was poplar, but after whittling and sanding on it I've concluded its pine or perhaps fir. The widely spaced growth rings have been giving me fits. Slow small slices or it tears/chips. Here's a pic of the progress.

 

[norson]

Q: is that a self portrait?

 

[RandyL476]

Looking at how wide the growth rings are and the color of the wood it looks like pine to me.

 

[CV3]

Your doing a nice job. Pine is not my favorite wood to carve.for the reasons you described..

 

[Rodnogdog]

Closet Claus - hmmmm... That just doesn't sound right to me.????

 

[MJC4]

A little more progress on the St. Nick Stick or as Rodnogdog likes to call him Closet Claus, LOL.

More sanding and maybe paint today. I will have to use several coats of poly finish as pine is fairly soft and susceptible to dents. This piece will be pretty much decorative only but I suspect it will get plenty of handling, specially from the little ones. Any other suggestions on a tough finish?

Mark

 

[Rodnogdog]

I hope my strange sense of humor did not offend you. I do admire your skill and creativity.

Gordon

 

[MJC4]

No offense Gordon, I have been told I have a warped sense of humor by my wife LOL

 

[MJC4]

Finished St. Nick's stick today. Tinted the stick with nutmeg acrylic antiquing solution. I like this stuff for a decorative piece like this at it allowed the painting of the holly leaves with acrylics as opposed to the mess of trying to paint acrylics over an oil. This particular piece of pine was a tough carve as the growth rings were wide spaced and made for a very chip prone piece. I don't seem to have that problem with the lodge pole and ponderosa pine I collect out west. I suspect the milled pine we get around here is plantation grown with much more water and fertilizers that accounts for the rapid growth rings. I would have liked to try and relief carve the holly leaves but the Santa figure and the hand grip gave me enough fits with chip out that I opted for wood burning and paint on the leaves. As it is there is a fair amount of wood glue around the eyes trying to smooth out the chips/splits. Good thing I intended to paint this piece!!

Thanks for looking,

Mark

 

[CV3]

Great Santa stick Mark. I like the holly too.

 

[Rodnogdog]

He came out great, especially considering the challenges of carving a soft piece of pine like that. The holly is a nice touch and, as evident in my work, I like combining carving and pyrography too. You and CV3 both like to texture the grip area - that's something I haven't tried yet but like the looks of. I'm going to have to practice that on a scrap or two.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Great looking Cane.

 

[MJC4]

Finished another St. Nick stick. This one is made from the cut off of the closet pole from the 1st piece and is attached to piece of pine rescued from the trimmings pile at the county park. After U do a piece, at least for me, there is always something I would have done different.( added the last pic for comparison) This Santa I added the fur at the closure and bottom of the coat. Also as I had fits with the eyes chipping out on the first one so, I simplified the eyes, eliminated the brows and focused on improving his hat. We have decided to do a craft show the week end before Thanksgiving, about the time Christmas decorating is getting into full swing and I am hoping these Christmas themed sticks and Santa ornaments I've been carving do well. I may make one more and instead of the holly leaves for accent perhaps Christmas trees with red ornaments?

 

[Gloops]

Nice stick,

 

[MJC4]

Originally I bought 3 pcs of closet pole. The first two made the St. Nick walking sticks. The last one I cut in half to make a cpl canes from. This one I call Santa's cane. It is 36" (1/2) of the pine closet pole and I picked up one of Norson's wood doll heads at the local craft store for the handle. Santa is carved in the middle and has a holly overhead and a Christmas tree below. A red and white braided paracord lanyard with red & white beads finish off the piece. Thanks for looking.

 

[CV3]

Nice cane. Very festive and fun. Good work Mark.

 

[MJC4]

Last piece of the closet pole makes up this candy cane. The hook was cut from a 2x6. That's enough Christmas themed pieces for now. The red and white painting was a bit much. Took 3 coats over several days to get it right. Note to self: DO NOT drink lots of coffee and try to paint inside the lines.........

 

[CV3]

Looks good enough to eat Mark.