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| 114 - A thumbstick made from a naturally forked ash stem. The ends are capped
with tiny coronets from a pair of roe deer antlers. Maximum overall length approx. 53" / 135cm Height to thumb notch approx. 48" / 122cm | 
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| This is another of those natural thumbsticks I don't make! :-) In fact I have a number of very suitable pieces of wood which will make fine
thumbsticks, and it would be a shame not to use them to their best advantage
for those who appreciate this sort of stick. This piece of ash was an excellent
example, having a nice wide fork and being light enough not to affect its
weight distribution unduly. Ash has a rather drab grey-coloured bark, so I like to liven it up a bit by
partially stripping the bark, revealing varicoloured layers of underbark and
wood. I then apply a chemical stain which reacts differently with each layer,
producing the effects shown here. To add further interest I capped the ends of
the "fingers" with the coronet sections from a pair of very small roe deer
antlers. |
  
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| The surface of roe deer antler is covered in a sort of "pebble-dash" of
rough-edged little nodules, which makes it generally unsuitable for walking
stick handles. However, I applied my technique of filling the rough surface
with brass-filled epoxy resin then working it down to a smooth finish, and this
did the trick nicely. The joints are reinforced with dowels of brass tube and
decorated with spacers of mock tortoiseshell. The brass can be seen faintly
through the spacer, an interesting effect. The coronets were then finished off
with "Parisien eyes" in brass and black resin. |
   
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| Here you can see the dappled effect of the surface treatment and the wide
comfortable shape of the thumb notch. Rather than straighten the stick
completely, I left a slight "wiggle" towards the bottom which enhances its
natural appearance. |   
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| Ash doesn't have to be boring! This is a good strong, attractive thumbstick and
the balance is very good as a result of the relatively light weight and minimal
taper over its length. |
SOLD |