Bobs Stickmaking Pages - Carved bearded collie knobstick with birds-eye maple shank #092


	092 - A carved bearded collie knobstick with birds-eye maple shank The customer has a bearded collie dog of advancing years (Bruce) and wanted a stick with a carved head as a permanent memento of the times they have spent together. I don't do carving myself but I know a man who does by the name of Stan Randle. I have admired his animal carvings since I first became involved in stickmaking and knew he would do a first-rate job.
Stan himself wasn't so sure - he had never done a bearded collie before and claimed he wasn't too happy doing "hairy dogs". Nonetheless he agreed to "have a go at it" and I passed some pictures on to him. A couple of weeks later he phoned me. "Well", he said, "I've done what I can with it. Have a look at it and tell me what you think... if you don't like it I could have another go...".
	Well, what do you reckon? Would you send this back and ask him to try again? I certainly didn't, I called him and told him what a great job he'd done! Stan had used a piece of spalted sycamore, which I think nicely reflects the "wild and woolly" appearance of the breed.
	I mounted the carving on a turned birds-eye-maple shank, making the spacer from two pieces of black buffalo horn with a piece of (reclaimed) red acrylic sandwiched between them. This represents the colours of Bruce's collar.
	The birds-eye-maple displays all the lovely patterns one expects from this wood. I gave the shank a quick wipe down with potassium permanganate solution to make the patterns stand out. However, this is really Stan's show; all I did was to stick the pieces together. So here are some more shots of his remarkable carving:

Sold (a commissioned work)

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