Lunacity: Rod Handle

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One side effect of chronic pain is that some nights you  don't sleep.  "Lunacity" is my term for when you find yourself in that place.  The best thing to do is to get up and create something when you can't sleep.  Not sure if there needs to be a full moon, but it can't hurt!
The other night I was in Lunacity.  I don't usually make things for myself, but I recently broke the handle on one of my fishing rods and the pole was just sitting there lonely.  This was a rather inexpensive item in which the pole and the handle were one unit.  If you break the handle, the pole is also broke.  Unless, you fashion a handle and attach the pole to it.  Of course, you have to cut the pole from the broken handle.

Here is the handle almost ready for painting.  In both pictures, the rectangular piece attached in the groove is to hold a reel.  A screw from the other side holds the piece down so the reel is secure.



















I carved a handle out of a piece of red oak.  Fishing rod handles are generally too short for my hand.  So the one I designed was extra long to fit my hand.  I finished it with polyurethane and a blue Sharpie to get the iridescent purple color.  I've tried to preserve it but have had no luck finding something that doesn't result in a pretty, deep sea blue.  I've tested Polyurethane, its water based cousin Polyacrylic, epoxy, lacquer, enamel top-coat, and shellac.  All ruin the purple.  So, I've left the handle without additional finishing.


Here a reel is attached to the handle.  The pole has also been attached to the handle.














Okay, the reel is upside down.  But it shows the underside of the handle.








A close-up view of the end of the handle.  I carved it to be easy to hold.




Is the handle lucky?  I caught two largemouth bass in a couple of hours of very informal fishing interrupted by rain and stormy weather.


Have you ever been to Lunacity?


Hal's email is hal2009@att.net.
Use Contact at either Etsy shop
Call my cell phone, leave a message at 919-656-7166
FACEBOOK
   Timeline: facebook.com/hal.papan
   Email: hal.papan [!at] facebook.com

I blog about wood carving and most anything else at
www.stickstaffcane.blogspot.com

Proud member of the following ETSY teams:
Acorn to Oak
The Wood Carvers of Etsy
Etsy Woodworkers
NCTriangle
It's A Madcap Live
On Fire For Handmade
Promoting Treasuries With a Cause
Inspired by History

Pixies on a Double Whistle: WIP

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In progress is a pendant that has a Pixie on each side and it is a double whistle.

Thanks to Janice, my wonderful daughter, for the Pixie art work.

A wi re will be strung around the top and then run up to form a pendant loop.  There may be beads and Pixiedust!








Hal's email is hal2009@att.net.
Use Contact at either Etsy shop: www.stickstaffcane.etsy.com or www.youwoodlikethis.etsy.com
Call my cell phone, leave a message at 919-656-7166.  Listen to the whole message.
FACEBOOK
   Timeline: http://facebook.com/hal.papan
   Email: hal.papan@facebook.com
   Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/StickStaffCane/117272031678314

Nittany Lion: Carving is done. Next step is...

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I know I have several things in progress.  But, today I finished the carving part of the Nittany Lion bust.
At the end, there is always lots more sanding than I plan.  This project was no exception. 

 

















The photos show the bust just needing a lot of sanding.

After sanding and finishing with Natural MinWax Stain, I added the blue and white stripes of Penn State.  The blue is a blue stain and the white is a brilliant white acrylic.

I sanded down to a 600 level.  The surface is very smooth.  If you touch your finger on the display over the lion you can feel that it almost feels like stone! 
But seriously, since oak is so hard, the surface gets very smooth.

What is next"  The bust will be mounted on an oak rod attached to a black marble/slate foundation.  I'll tilt it forward a bit so it gives the impression of looking down at you... as in a tasty morsel?

I will put the finished project on my Etsy shop at:
https:\\www.youwoodlikethis.etsy.com

I plan to have it ready by June 15th for the Maker Faire in Raleigh.

Work in Progress. Nittany Lion Statue

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5/10: It started as a block of oak, 3 x 3 x 6-in.

I draw some milestones on the wood, then rough out major features.

5/13: I cut in layers, working on several areas at a time.  As a layer is completed, I draw some milestones as guides for the next layer.  The wood is on a print out of a picture of the statue on the Penn State campus.

5/14: Now the ears, eyes, and mouth are starting to take shape

I'll be sure to fix the right eye.

A rose is a rose, but a pendant is a bead

Thanks for checking out my blog.

I need to get back to work-in-progress updates, but today was something of an "AHA" day.

My Etsy shop, youwoodlikethis.etsy.com, was on "vacation" while I figured out how to increase
sales.  The most number of items are what I was calling "pendants."  But, it finally struck me -AHA- that what I was calling a pendant other shops called "large hand carved beads."  So I made some changes.

Now, my items are beads rather than pendants.  I will have to see if this change makes a difference.
They are the same hand carved items but they will appeal, hopefully to a larger customer set.

For example, are these sliders (additions to a necklace) or are they large hand carved beads.  People looking for a large bead to complete their necklace may not think to call it
a slider.


I hope others see the difference and the shop has a rosy future.

The Deep Blue Sea. Serendipity Rules.

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In making the deep blue sea for the mermaid cane, my intention was to use a single step using a blue dye. Woodworkers use Rit Dye to stain wood.  It is better than paint because it leaves the grain of the wood visible.  Also, it soaks into the wood rather than sitting on top of it.  A ding to the wood shows less if the color is not removed. 

One problem with using dye is that it doesn't always soak in evenly.  When I used the blue dye on the cane, there were some places that didn't take the stain.  I thought of a solution.  I would put a coat of polyurethane on the cane and then use a blue Sharpie to touch up.  The blue Sharpie is definitely blue. 

Why did it turn the beautiful shade of purple?   Is it a Ph thing?  What chemical reaction turned the color of the blue sharpie to a gorgeous shiny purple?

It is a color I want to use if I do another dragon.  But, it was not the color of the deep blue sea.

For no particular reason, I decided to give the purple a coat of polyurethane.

Amazingly to me, the purple turned a deep sea blue.  You can see the differences in the colors between the two pictures.  The deep sea blue had another interesting quality, it appeared to have depth.  So, when you look at it, it looks very much like you are looking into the deep blue sea.  It looks like the water you see in the Southern Caribbean.

Serendipity Rules.

A Mermaid, the Sea, and Friends. A custom cane

A mermaid calmly sits in a clam shell while her friends cavort in the deep blue sea.
The request was for a cane with a mermaid and a comfortable handle.  The internet is full of real life mermaids.  All you have to do is Google, "image mermaid -cartoon."  Because of copyright, I can't show you the images, but you could look up the muses at:
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/disney/images/1154345/title/julianne-little-mermaid-photo
http://chinadailyshow.com/chinese-skipper-snares-eats-mermaid/
    (I digress, but this link has an interesting article attached to it :-)  )
http://madmuch.com/photos/golden-mermaid/
http://www.hannahfraser.com/mermaid/slippages/photos_one.php?instanceid=57&p=37

and, of course,
http://blog.europeana.eu/2013/04/mixed-up-mermaids/
  where you can find the story the The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, DK.

Here is the finished cane:

                                                                                       

Up close to the mermaid.

Below the mermaid, a pair of dolphins are jumping out of the deep blue sea.

















A sea turtle looks on from below the dolphins on the shaft of the cane.



      
                 Top view                                                                           Side view from her better side

 On the backward looking side of the cane is a nameplate.  I added a mysterious creature looking out from the cane.

Tomorrow I will show some of the work in progress and discuss the process to get the deep blue sea.