Practice piece for a walking stick

[bmfore]

All,
I am brand new to the site, so I hope this is the right place to post.

I have a piece of white oak with a really cool twist in it from a vine that is destined to be a walking stick. I plan to cave a wood spirit at the top but carved the attached piece out of a scrap from the same stick for practice. He is about 2/3 done.

I'd appreciate any input or suggestions but would speciffically like to know how to sand and finish as I'm not sure how sand in all the groves.

Thanks!

[JJireh]

You are in the right place . Looks good! Sanding is a tricky question. Some people would say that if your knife is sharp enough, you can get lines that won't need sanding, when you start to get pulling, just strop. Sanding can be done with a strip of plastic (old credit card) with the sanding paper wrapped around it. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Question: did you free hand this or did you draw it out on the wood first?

[bmfore]

Good idea on the credit card. I'll give that a try. I've read that about not needing to sand before, but my knives are brand new flexicut and are stoped often....I think it's just user error.

Per your question, it is mainly free hand, though I did a rough sketch to get the proportions right before starting. It is loosely based on a pattern in a "how to carve green men and wood spirit" book.

[mpounders]

I hate sanding so I usually use some type of power assisted method. I like the Scitch-brite bristle discs used with a flex shaft tool. I also am using the Ceramcut blue stones a lot for texturing, and I like the way it works on some wood. I also have a Sand-o-Flex wheel taht is handy, but the bristle discs let you have a lot of control.

[Waitpinga Whittler]

I rarely if ever sand my carvings. The advantages of using a knife as my primary carving tool I guess. I think its easier to get a really sharp blade than it is a gouge or V tool. The other factor is what I call 'clean cutting'. Much of blade carving involves opposing cuts that form a 'wedge' of some shape. If done properly the wedge falls out, but somtimes the oppsing cuts don't quite line up and part or all of the wedge stays in there. The novice will try to 'scrape' or pry these bits loose, causing the carving lines or edges to become 'furry' The secret is to repeat your opposing cuts until they do meet up. Resist the temptation to pry or scrape, thus avoiding a lot of work with sanding. A lot of my students struggle with this but practice puts you right.

[Kenny_S]

Suggestion on your piece, I don't know how long it is but if it is long enought to cut it at the bottom of this piece and use a all thread rod and attach this piece to a stick. Looks good. Sometimes washing and a denture brush will rid the piece of fuzzies.
Good job on your practice piece.

[Marvin Little]

One hint on sanding. Do all of your knife work before you sand. The sanding dust will do a number on your sharp knives.

Marvin

[deweyrf91]

Small diamond files and rifflers do very well. I also use the small fingernail files from the drugstore. I cut them into long narrow shapes as needed. Plus I have wrapped thin pieces of sandpaper around toothpicks too. Woodcraft sells a small handheld belt sander, not the power kind, but a very small hand tool that comes with many grits of sanding belts.

[bmfore]

thanks everyone for the hints. If I can ever get a couple more nights to work on it, I should be ready to put some of them to the test.

[Clifford_Parker]

I buy the multi packs of emery boards (fingernail files) at the dollar store and cut them into shapes for sanding in small areas.