I’m working on a cane for my son-in-law’s father. He’s a fanatical turkey hunter and this is a surprise for his birthday in March. John provided a turkey foot as a model for me and I took pictures and enlarged them to get the foot to a size that would be usable as a cane handle. I also modified one of the claws to prevent having a piece sticking out that might get broken. I have a glue joint fight below that toe, so I have the grain of the wood running properly for strength. The hook is also doweled and glued in. So it’s working out pretty good so far.
First is the blank roughly shaped, besides the real thing. Then some more shaping completed. Next, I’ve started burning in the scales and such. And here is most of the painting completed. I was told that the entire foot is normally the red color, but that it sometimes fades, so that is how I attempted to paint this. I've gotten the guy's measurement now, so I'm ready to glue the top to a natural bark-on shaft and cut it to length, I 've got some different techniques I want to try for blending it in to the shaft, so I'll post those when I get more comepleted. Thanks for IMG_3215.jpgIMG_3224.jpgIMG_3225.jpglooking!