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| 105 - A sturdy blackthorn stick with a cow-horn knob. |
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| The customer contacted me with a request for a strong blackthorn knobstick. He
has a damaged knee which has rather curbed his sports activities, and intends
to replace running with rather more sedate country walks. I have been having great difficulty in obtaining suitable pieces of blackthorn to make good one-piece knobsticks, so we settled for a separate knob. I made this from a piece of French Charolais cow horn topped with a slice of Texas Longhorn. |
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| I used a brass bullet case (.45 Colt, for anyone who's interested in that sort
of thing) as a dowel to reinforce the joint between the two pieces of horn.
This sits in a hollow which was then filled with clear polyester embedding
resin before working the horn to shape. The result is a smooth polished
surface, giving permanent protection to the brass against tarnish and corrosion. The light-coloured horn provides a good contrast with the dark blackthorn bark. The Charolais horn has flecks and streaks of white in it, while there's a matching layer of white in the Longhorn. |
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| The blackthorn shank is thick, heavy and very strong. I just rounded over the thorn-knots, preserving the natural knobbly appearance. The bark buffed up very nicely and looks very smart after finishing with linseed oil and Tru-Oil. | ||
| SOLD (a commissioned work) | |||
