We're back for another time into the woodworking series and today, I wanted to showcase something that got me sidetracked from my instrument restoration. I took this piece of wood from the beach nearby and decided to make a staff out of it. I used to play an Undead Warlock in World of Warcraft and this is a way to take some of that back to the real world and also learn more things about carving. This is the kind of project that could interest someone like @tesmoforia. Hopefully, tagging her will make the lady of the loom come around and take a look at this.
With no further a due, let's get to it!
Rough shape
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In case you're wondering, this is a piece of mangrove. These trees are amazing and they live with so little and do so much for the ecosystem. Near them, sea grass grows. This feeds fish. However, they are also a key component in the development of coral reefs. Now, that's a cool fact!
This piece had all the characteristics of a splinter of some bigger log that came floating to the shore. It was all gray from salt and sun. It also has cracks all over it and carving it revealed salt deposits inside the wood. Salt doesn't get into the mangroves by its mechanisms. It actually tends to be in their leaves and roots. By the color, I could guess this is some piece of Red Mangrove. However, I could be mistaken.
The wood has some resemblance to untreated mahogany. Its not so hard to work and doesn't chip away easily. Since it's already dried out, there's not much to worry on the side of it bending. And it gives some really good response to hand tools. I've never done so much carving without a guide. In the elements of the staff, I'm looking at some place at the top to hold some kind of rock that's supposed to be the nucleus of it. Not like it will give me power (I wish). But that's my kind of idea. Something similar to the wizards from Tolkien' stories and their big screen adaptations.
However, finishing the first day of carving after revealing the true color of the wood and shaping some more, I didn't have an idea on how to keep going.
Hoof it is
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I had a dream of holding a staff. On its top, it was very similar to the hoof of an animal. Maybe it was a goat since it wasn't as thick as a cow's or bull's and wasn't round as a horse's. But I did recall looking at it and seeing it was kind of broken in two parts.
So, I took my tools again and went on to carve a division in the middle of the split pieces of the top and also give them some style. This resulted in the new look it got. The hole in the middle works well for the purpose of holding the stone I chose for this staff.
The crystal has some history. Long ago, when I went on a family trip to La Gran Sabana, we went into this place were you could watch all the precious stones and other things that are taken out of the mines in the south of Venezuela. They sold some of these there as well. So, I bought some crystals. This were unrefined. I don't remember exactly why. However, now that I have a use for this, I can tell it works just fine with the theme of the staff. It looks like a piece of solidified salt. Since the whole theme of the staff revolves around it being taken from the sea, the crystal serves its flavorful purpose as the nucleus.
And with that, I'm getting reading for the sanding part to finish my staff. It will be part of the display in the exhibit day for the Flora Cumanensis workshop. This will go along some recollections of plants, field notebooks and experiences told by the people taking part in this whole project.
But more of this will come back soon! I took some other pieces of wood from the beach to make some other projects. Those ones I'll also showcase around there in due time!
Fotos/Photos 📷: taken by me (Redmi Note 13)
Portada/Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.
Edición/Editing 🎬: by me, made with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
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If you'd like to help the workshop grow, you can make a donation here. You can find me at discord as bertrayo#1763