More pics showing the pieces of socket, cut off spear/lance head, the regular butt spike that ended up with the stick feeling a bit too short when walking and the original Hanwei component parts.

I still have a few of these spear lance/butt lance I bought from Kult of Athena and will use both butt spike and cut off sockets to use on other stick, as long as they last.

I think I will mount at least one as a full lance/spear as this seems to be a discontinued item that Hanwei is no longer making, so I should at least put one of these together on a tapering " BO " white Oak shaft.

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Butt spike with rubber crutch 1/2" diameter crutch tip.

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I less a little of the shoulder of the spear to make it wider to better hold on to a rubber crutch tip

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All the bits and pieces.

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Close up of the end of the butt spike and the lance part that was cut off next to an intact piece.

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A better view of the cross section at the end.

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All the bits and pieces from a different angle.

Jean,

Very nice proportions and workmanship on this stick, nice filework. Just a great job throughout.

Another stick in the same style as the previous two sticks using Pau Amarello for the head piece and adding two steel rings one over and one under the decorative collar.

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identific...llowheart/

The butt end also made from a cut off spear/lance head but shaped to be optimized for walking on Icy or snowy sidewalks when the rubber crutch tip is removed.: The tip is a somewhat obtuse but blunted point.

The head of the stick is slightly wider in diameter at the top and tapers a little more.

The 4 nails in the top are larger headed masonry nails instead of the much smaller furniture nails I used on the two previous stick.

The shaft is the White Oak I use about 80% of the time, and the assembly method basically the same as most of my previous sticks so no need to repeat it this time.

I made this one midway in total length compared to the previous two sticks.

The next stick will probably be very different in style, but I do like this type varying the materials and length, and will probably make others some time later.

I have in mind trying some different things in assembly methods and maybe using steel strips as decorative and structural elements but these are just at the design stage in my imagination for the moment.

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The middle one with the two previous sticks for size comparison.

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Close up on decorative collar and the two rings that look as if they are all one piece. Dremel file work.

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Sorry out of focus, but shows the bigger headed nails.

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Crutch tip.

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Blunted tip, but still pointy enough to be effective on ice, but not needle sharp: The heat treat of the spear head making the tip durable even on hard surfaces.

Very different stick from the last 3 ones.

Used a found branch of Maple after the city work crews trimmed some tree branches many months ago and I Iet the branch dry out in my basement.

My friend Ken Speed sent me a nice piece of Tiger Maple some time ago and I used this block of wood to make the head for the stick.

The block glued to the branch and also with a steel pin linking the pieces.

With a Proxxon carving tool using a circular rasp tungsten carbide blade I roughed out the shape of the block of Tiger maple to blend it's shape onto the branch.

http://www.kmart.com/proxxon-carving-disc-for...923680000P


I later added a stainless steel wire wrap in part to hide the joint making the stick look like it might have been all from a single branch, the wire wrap is also decorative and gives a very good feeling grip.

Finished the walking stick with boiled linseed oil as usual after I did some designs on the branch using a wood burning tool: The drawing is different over the stick and doesn't repeat a symmetrical design.
I used a steel spear butt purchased from Kult of Athena that aesthetically matches the shape of the head of the stick better than other type of steel butts I've used before. ( Although for use it does get covered by a rubber crutch tip ).

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...r+Butt+Cap

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Branch with block of Tiger Maple glued and pinned to branch.

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Rear view.

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Close up of initial assembly before carving.

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After carving/shaping of head of walking stick.

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Close up of head and joining line.

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Plus stainless steel wire wrap.

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Close up of head at a slight angle.

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Finished stick with wood burning pattern/drawing.

More pics of stick showing the design of the drawing on each side of the stick.

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Side 1

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Side 1 close up of head.

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Side one close up of top half of branch.

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Close up lowe half of drawing on branch.

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Steel Butt and rubber crutch tip.

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Side 2 of head.

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Side 2 close up of head.

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Side 2 upper part of branch below head.

And a few more pics including pics of stick in hand.

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Top end of design side 2

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Middle part of design side 2

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In hand head away from camera.

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In hand head towards camera.

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Back of stick.

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3/4 profile.

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Steel Butt without rubber crutch tip.

nice and natural - it brings to mind a skit from robin Williams "the invention of golf"

'NAW not a straight stick - use a &*^% up stick!" :lol:

New stick, this one with a carved MUN Ebony head in the shape of a large raptor bird roughly inspired by eagles.

The usual White Oak shaft but this time I didn't use a steel pin to do the assembly but instead did a mortise and tenon type of joinery.

The proxxon carving tool I bought really helps in accelerating the pace of the work of roughing out the shape, although the final shape is still done mostly with rasps and files before going to finer and finer sand papers and synthetic steel wool.

Some of the pics of the finished stick are a little out of focus unfortunately in the second posting of pic after these " Making of Pics ".

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The original block of wood.

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Mortise hole chiselled in.

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Close up of square mortise hole.

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Bottom view of hole in carved head.

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3/4 profile side view.

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Side view, pre-oil finish.

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Top view.

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Head, shaft and metal bits.

The finished stick with lots of Boiled Linseed Oil turns the head jet black and it seems rather harder to photograph.

I sort of rushed taking the pics, and they turned out a bit out of focus, but the previous pics do show the details more accurately.

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Close up of the harware: Copper inner collar and outer decorative collar with file work.

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Head just put on shaft before final assembly to check fit.

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The usal pic of the whole stick.

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A bit too dark, close up.

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A little too much lens flare on the very polished and oiled surface.

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3/4 profile of the side and rear of head.

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Sorry about the fuzzy pic !

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Side, underneat view.

I love these sticks you make Jean!

They are great. Ever thought about making/selling some?

Jean has shipped the new stick to me so, barring any customs issues, I should have it in a few days or a week.

I think Jean is right about selling his sticks I don't think he can compete commercially but I have suggested that he should get them displayed as works of art. His sticks get more creative and more accomplished with each one that he makes.

Jean does most of the work by hand, for example, he chopped out the mortise in the bottom of the handle by hand with chisels. I think he told me it took hours just to cut the mortise because the wood is so very hard.

In any case, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the stick and plan to comment further when I have it in hand.

I have to say Jean that your carving on this last one shows quite a progression from earlier ones. simple and stylized yet also complex in showing the features of the creature.

I agree with Daniel, I think this stick is a real step forward stylistically and technically. Jean has really produced a piece of art with this one.

Not that I'm knowledgeable about Mayan or Aztec art, the style of the bird's head brings some of the carvings and figures from those cultures to mind.

I received the stick yesterday and have had a chance to handle it a little, it feels wonderful in the hand. I hold it with the beak pointing towards me and my index finger and thumb just naturally close around the back of the head. The stick has a very solid feel and satisfying heft without feeling clumsy.

This is a very generous gift and one that I'm very proud to own.

New stick using the same eagle's head theme but a bit differently.

The whole thing is fairly massive with the eagle's head maybe 25% bigger in all dimensions, the shaft is oval in section and carved from Cocobolo.

The head is Osage Orange, and both pieces are assembled using the mortise and tenon method as the previous stick, the tenon is at least 3/4" wide by 1 1/8" long and 1 1/4" tall: So this is not going to break very easily to say the least.

Any slop in fit is filled with clear epoxy in which I mixed in a lot of the very fine Osage Orange powder produced by the Proxxon carving tool so that the epoxy takes on the colour of the head for what looks like a more perfect fit than I can achieve at the moment.

The Cocobolo was carved by hand firstly to an oval section and then a wide and rounded spiral was carved with round rasps.

The two narrow spirals where carved into the wider spiral but only using narrow rough files and the borders left sharp and not widened and rounded like the main spiral.

The Proxxon carving tool was only used on the shaft to rough out the tenon that was reduced to fit using a flat bastard file to produce square corners.

And as usual I sanded up to using 1200 grit sand paper and used undiluted Boiled linseed oil to slowly hand rub the oil finish: This is still a work in progress with daily oiling and rubbing in the oil.

The first pics are a comparison pic with other sticks I made before and with the head just put on the shaft before assembly.

The early " in progress pics " are before final sanding and oiling. The last batch of pics following the first post are of the finished stick.

The carving on the upper shaft is also of eagle's wings to harmonize with the design of the head but is slightly different on each side to blend into the curves of the main spiral that are higher on one side than the other, so although the length of the wings is basically the same on each side they terminate differently on each side.

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The stick is just test assembled here, and is shorter than when finished with the added steel butt.

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Head not yet glued on.

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Tenon.

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Showing wings carved in.

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Close up of lower part of wing, side1 of shaft.

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Tip of shaft before being fitted for the steel butt.

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Really nice grain pattern on the Osage Orange.

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Mortise hole.

More pics of in progress shots, and showing the other side of the stick and head from various angles.

Also the first pics of the finished stick.

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Top view of head.

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3É4 profile of head showing back.

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Tenon and top end of shaft with carved wings before sanding and oiling or assembly.

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Another angle.

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Top of tenon.

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First pic of finished and assembled stick.

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Close up of head and upper shaft with carved wings.

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Sort of a repeat of previous pics but after sanding and oiling.

More pics showing the other side of the shaft and head as well of pics in hand to better show scale and the way I use the stick with the wrist strap: Basically my usual way I prefer with a reverse grip on the head and with a wrist strap so that I can have a relaxed grip on the stick when using it.

The flat rear part of the top of the eagle's head make for a very comfortable hold with palm well supported and the eagle's beak gives finger control over the angle of the stick when walking with it.

Oh, this time I used paracord that I braided for the wrist strap instead of the usual leather laces I was using before: Mostly because I found some and it's less likely to break than the leather.

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Wings on side 2 of shaft.

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Rear view of shaft and head" Note that the stick is oval in section making it a lot less massive than if it was round and as thick all around.

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The front view of where the wings almost meet on the beak side of the stick.

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View of side 2 of stick head and shaft.

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View of side 1 of stick head and shaft.

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Stick in hand for scale: Big big massive stick .... LOL.

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My preferred way to hold the stick when using it for walking.

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The " You wouldn't like me if I was angry " look of the eagles head in 3/4 profile.

Your exponentially increasing skill as an artisan is wonderful to see. I think I may borrow some creative ideas here to finish off a raven-themed tiller I've been working on for our Viking Ship the Sae Hrafn.

Incredible work!