A few sticks

[fatchap]

Firstly apologies for the p*** poor photography 

Had a couple of weeks off so managed to get some shed time in and work on a few stick orders.

This one was a bit of a nightmare as for such a big bit of antler the walls where pretty thin so had to be really careful with it.

The shank was some exotic wood from Highland horn and while it had lots of grain pattern, it refused to sand smooth, every time  I thought I had it smooth I ran my hand along it  to check only to receive an at least half inch splinter. I ended up taking it to bits and soaking it in sanding sealer. That did the trick, No idea what wood it was only that it began with a P looks nice hard to work with.

These two have just finished the one on the left with the lighter coloured shank also gave me grief, also from Highland horn, its a nice stout shank but to give it that colour its been soaked in ammonia so getting any kind of finish to stick to it has been a bit of a mare!!

Bit of decoration again tied me own fly which lets be honest doesn't look like any larvae from any creature on planet earth. Used the sand able perspex again excellent stuff so much easier than resin.

Done this one for a shooting mate of mine a lot of work went into that shank and I'm still not 100 percent happy with it. I put a neobod...neobol... strong magnet in the brass ferrel at the tip so he can pick up spent cartridges, surprised at how the brass cuts the strength of the magnet down so much but it still picks up ok an will save me mates destroyed back.

Again apologies for the p*** poor photography 

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by fatchap

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, very nice fat chap, do you make any to sell ?

[ditchman]

love these threads about people making stuff....

[fatchap]

2 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, very nice fat chap, do you make any to sell ?

I do. These have all been sold. 

[johnphilip]

Nice work the Highland horn , sweetchestnut shaft make a love stick when oiled up 

I call this one my Elephant  stick 🤣

[la bala]

Great to see this hand made stuff, nice work.

[Walker570]

Excellent.

[fatchap]

9 minutes ago, johnphilip said:

Nice work the Highland horn , sweetchestnut shaft make a love stick when oiled up 

I call this one my Elephant  stick 🤣

Very nice, what method do you use to join the handle to the shank?

[johnphilip]

Hello i use 5 or 6 mm threaded  bar and two part epoxy resin . Have done for years . I have not made a stick in a while , got into woodturning and the old sticks got pushed to one side . 

I used to go into the charity shop and get stuff to decorate my stick . I even bought a leather ladies handbag to make a sheaf  for a knife i made. I said to the lady , put that in a plastic bag quick please 🤣

[rapid .25]

Excellent craft work, love the one with the fly in and just in time, 🎅😁, must show the missus.

[panoma1]

Few of my attempts at stickmaking......

[Walker570]

Nice .......Excellent.

[derbyduck]

looking good Paul !  have you got round to doing rams horn yet ? ive had a load of ewes horn given me and theres some good colured ones amongst em! atb Tony.

[panoma1]

2 minutes ago, derbyduck said:

looking good Paul !  have you got round to doing rams horn yet ? ive had a load of ewes horn given me and theres some good colured ones amongst em! atb Tony.

I'm still delaying starting em Tony until I'm more confident/sure (have some experience) of the process, they are nice hornes, and I don't want to beggar them up bulking em etc.....and risk them flattening/collapsing!...as you know I want to make one as a gift for the friend who gave em to me! Hoping to go up to see him next season (after an enforced absence of three years!) so I'll have to bite the bullet at some stage, and have a go! 😅

I've serched, but I can't find a lot on u tube to point me in the right direction!

 

[johnphilip]

Oh they stink when you boil them . If you can weld make a jig to form them i made one a few years ago . It helps a lot .

[mel b3]

All of those sticks look fantastic 👍

[johnphilip]

3 hours ago, mel b3 said:

All of those sticks look fantastic 👍

Go on , you know you want to try 😎

[fatchap]

Very therapeutic is stick making also good for the blood pressure especially after all that prep the handle and shank just dont quite marry up. 

[mel b3]

2 hours ago, johnphilip said:

Go on , you know you want to try 😎

My Mrs already does a few sticks.

[ditchman]

panoma...................you have been hiding your light under a bushel boy............

[Old Boggy]

There really are some talented stickmakers on PW. I feel embarrassed to post my attempts so far, but with some excellent advice from Fatchap, I`m learning fast and get great pleasure in trying.

Also, it keeps me in the shed out of the way for a few hours at a time !!

OB

[oowee]

All excellent stuff. Panoma that's a heck of a collection 👍

Think I might have a go. What are the black caps used to close off the ends of the antler? 

[Old Boggy]

6 minutes ago, oowee said:

All excellent stuff. Panoma that's a heck of a collection 👍

Think I might have a go. What are the black caps used to close off the ends of the antler? 

I think that the caps are buffalo horn. If you google `thestickman` Keith Pickering sells all you`ll ever need for stickmaking. Good service too. He does sell blank sticks, but there`s nothing better than cutting your own. Stickmaking is very addictive, so when you do cut sticks, preferably but not necessarily in winter, make sure that you cut plenty, as you will find that you soon run out.

OB

[panoma1]

The black tips are Ebony, spigotted and glued into the cut off end/s of the tine, I also use other rare hardwoods to do the same job, the Spacers are buffalo, horn, bone etc. I cut all the sticks myself locally, and I also picked up all the cast antler off the hill, a year or three ago whilst shooting in Perthshire!

In preference, I tend to also use the spigot and epoxy adhesive method to fix the stick into the antler, but use steel allthread (if I use decorative spacers) but for obvious reasons, I use brass allthread, if I am including a compass in the coronet!

My stickmaking was self taught and was quite therapeutic for me during the time recently when my mobility was, shall we say, somewhat compromised! Lol!

PS...oowee......I was quite prolific....that is but a few of my sticks! Lol!

 

Edited September 29, 2018 by panoma1

[bumpy22]

8 hours ago, oowee said:

All excellent stuff. Panoma that's a heck of a collection 👍

Think I might have a go. What are the black caps used to close off the ends of the antler? 

wait a couple of months and cut the hazel shanks then 12 months get cracking