As some of you know, I was getting bored with rock work, so I have been branching out but I am and probably will always be involved in stone work to some degree.
I blame insanity for some of the really strange things I put together but almost everything I make is unique and completely out of sight from the box. I have recently seen that Frank @lithicbeads and @kent share some of these traits but they take the quality level up a notch or two from where I land on that scale.
The proof is in the pudding so here are some examples of my recent work on walking sticks and canes. Not counting the walking sticks I have given away I believe I am at 10 sticks and 14 canes, some of which I believe I posted before so bear with me if I repeat some.
Pretty mundane cane that is probably plum tree but not sure.
Wood from a letter rack I found dumpster diving. I glued the boards into a glue lam then cut boards off the edge.
My son has broken two phones by having them in his pants pocket. Inspiration for a cane with hip pockets.
I have had the pieces of wood from two outdoor glider rockers for a couple of years and could not figure out how to use them in some way. This cane is made from the arms of one of those chairs. Spent over an hour on the floor moving them around until they made something.
Walking stick from the back of the same rocker. I added eye bolts to some existing holes to fill them up and figured they could be used for attaching a dog leash or water bottle.
I made three canes and one walking stick from one high back dining room chair parts. I split the two back legs that were also the chair back because they were too heavy to use as one piece. Ended up putting two of those together to make the walking stick. The third cane is made from the chair back cross pieces and it ended up being the heaviest cane I have made to date. For big dude only.
Ended up with a coffee table leg that carved into a nice cobra for the top of a walking stick. Maybe someday I will cut the scales into it but for now I just have the head defined.
I bought some tree parts from a friend and one I picked out had branching from the root or base of the trunk. After looking it in the eye for six months I thought I could see a dragon in it and went to work. Countless hours later and some painting by my daughter it is almost finished. She is going to paint the mouth and teeth tomorrow but I thought I would show it now since it is so close to being finished.
Stayed up all one night doing the scales not counting the spikes on top of the head.
Added a welo opal.
One of the chair seats I had reminded me of a wide guitar so my plan was to cut a narrow piece off both sides and make a guitar cane. I was worried about weight so I just used the seat for a pattern. I had scraps laying around to make most of it and I used one of the glue lam boards for the neck. A round about grand son (son of my son's best friend) is an incredible guitar and drum player and he supplied the strings and tighteners. I am going to go see him today and have him tune my cane. It will play some so I am going to try to get a video of him playing my cane. I have zero knowledge of guitars but my son plays base and had a band at one time. If it would not have been for him I would have put the strings on in reverse order.
The neck marks are from thin stone slabs that I core drilled.
These are just some stone slab displays that I put together recently trying to catch up on old projects.
Bull Canyon tube agate. I think. The wood is cottonwood bark.
Same stone on cedar.
Labradorite.
Limb cast.
All woods I made for a friend.
I have just started making pot pipes from stone, brass and wood so I will be showing some of them soon.
I will try to get back more often to check out what everyone else has been doing. Got real bored with the computer too.
Jim
