[Rad]

Here is what I worked on a little over my vacation break.

This one is a simple ash cane -- finished with rub on Poly.



This one is a work in progress -- this particular stick has been hard to turn (Red Oak) the grain is both hard and soft in spots which has led to a lot of chipping out! Maybe soft is not the right word -- the grain in spots is wider, more open -- I've not had anything quite like it before.

 

[CAS14]

Looks like you're having fun! I like both.

 

[Rad]

Always! Thanks CAS.

 

[Creation Carvings]

Stick making and Cane making is quite addicting isn't it?

 

[Rad]

Stick making and Cane making is quite addicting isn't it?

It is!

 

[gdenby]

The ash cane is quite nice. Clean, straightforward, and shows the natural beauty of the wood. But the red oak looks destined for pomp and circumstance.

But red oak really is rather spongy, with all the big pores. Perhaps a pre-turning treatment with a wood stabilizer would help. I have no lathe experience, but I've liked the carving texture of the sticks I've soaked.

 

[Rad]

The ash cane is quite nice. Clean, straightforward, and shows the natural beauty of the wood. But the red oak looks destined for pomp and circumstance.

But red oak really is rather spongy, with all the big pores. Perhaps a pre-turning treatment with a wood stabilizer would help. I have no lathe experience, but I've liked the carving texture of the sticks I've soaked.

Thanks "gdenby" for the input! Your right, it does rather spongy (I guess) -- it does have areas of wide open pores. I may try the wood stabilizer even yet! I haven't been able to get back to it since I took the pic.

 

[Rad]

a wood stabilizer

Yes ---- A good idea!

 

[CAS14]

I'm not recommending the Pentacryl because it is damn expensive. However, the two honey locust sticks (Janka hardness 7.0) that I've completed (well almost completed for the rock hammer stick), these were cut in December I think. Very soon thereafter, I soaked each of them for a week in a PVC dip tube filled with Pentacryl. Then they dried for months. Before I began working them, I re-soaked each for just a couple of days. The wood seemed to soften some, they were easy to work although the softer material filled up the sandpaper very quickly.

So, I figured a 100% Tung oil application would be hopeless, that the Pentacryl-saturated wood could take no more. WRONG - on two successive days, two applications of Tung oil were soaked up like a sponge.

I am just learning about all this stick making, but so far I like using the Pentacryl and I like using the 100% Tung oil because I don't want a shiny finish that will necessitate lots of sanding and refinshing when scratched. I see lots of pros and cons on the internet, but for me "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies.

 

[Rad]

Yes CAS -- I also use the Pentracryl, in fact, you may have gotten me started on it? I don't remember! Or was it the other way around? (it's terrible when the memory starts to go) -- but I was thinking of one of those wood stabilizers you use for wood that is getting soft or rotting - that you apply before you paint to harden the wood.