095 - An outstanding decorated t-handle walker stick with boxwood handle and twisty silver birch shank.
Maximum overall length 39.5 inches / 1 metre.
Just now and again I will come across a piece of wood that is so individual it inspires me to do something that extra bit special. In this case both the handle and the shank fell into that category and complemented each other so well I just had to combine the two into one very special stick.
The materials used are of premium quality and it took a lot of work, so I have to put a premium price-tag on it. I think you will agree it's worth it - but those of a nervous disposition should remain seated and keep well clear of anything breakable or valuable.
The log would yield some nice wood for stick handles - but it was a bit long. So before cutting it into handle-sized pieces I sawed a thick slice off the end, thinking it might come in handy for something or other. Waste not, want not! Now, one wouldn't normally think of making a handle from a transverse slice like this; the whole handle would consist of short end-grain, the weakest possible configuration. But this was boxwood, which has the strongest short grain of any wood I know. That's why it is used for carved chess pieces, and screw threads as used in corkscrews and nutcrackers. It was even used for gear wheels in old machinery. If anything could take the strain, it would be boxwood.
Well, I thought about it and decided to leave the slab of wood for a bit to see if the newly-cut face would develop any splits. A year later there was no sign of any problem, so I cut it into a handle blank, fitting the shape within the circle of wood. This produced a most interestingly exaggerated shape. I put it aside once more; partly to see again whether the work would provoke any splitting, and partly in the hope that a special shank would turn up to match its qualities. That was a couple of years ago.
Earlier this year I came across the shank I had been waiting for - a big twisty piece of silver birch; light in weight but very strong and ideally proportioned. This was well-seasoned and was being offered for sale by another stickmaker at a country fair. It didn't come cheap, but I knew straight away that it was just what I needed.
Box, being a very hard and close-grained wood, is not easy to work with. I had to abandon my usual Dreadnought files and rasps and do most of the work using carving chisels and scrapers. In addition, apart from the end faces, the whole of the shaping had to be done across the end-grain which was tricky and unfamiliar work. It took me nearly four months to complete the work (with interruptions), doing a little bit every day.
The result, however, was worth it. The growth rings are centred around a point just under the angle of the handle, the pattern radiating through the whole piece. Since the grain runs across the handle from side to side, it follows that any marking running along the grain will appear on both sides of the handle, almost perfectly matched. The darker spalting pattern is therefore symmetrical on each side. Most unusual.
I inlaid a roundel of tortoiseshell substitute into each end to relieve the rather plain appearance of the only bits of conventional-looking grain in the whole handle. I also embedded a brass rabbit charm in clear resin in the top of the handle on a painted background.
I joined the handle to the shank via a spacer of white opalescent Perspex acrylic sandwiched between layers of brass-filled epoxy resin. The knobbles at the top of the shank were worked down to blend into the shape of the handle, revealing some very pretty grain effects and complementing the pattern of the spalted boxwood.
The twisty shank is nicely proportioned, the twists appearing in just the right places, prominent but not destroying the physical or visual balance of the stick.
As a finishing touch I added the little ladybird pin which you can see above right.
This stick is good-looking, strong and supremely comfortable in use. It would make a fine addition to any collection, and if I were to enter it in a show I'm pretty certain it would be in the running for the top prize.
SOLD