Making a Duck Walking Stick

In an extract from his new book Whittling Walking Sticks, Peter Benson carves a topper in the shape of a mallard duck’s head

Book cover: Whittling Walking Sticks by Peter Benson


This is an edited extract from Whittling Walking Sticks by Peter Benson, published by GMC Publications, RRP £14.99

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Table of Contents

This is a very good subject to try early on in your whittling journey as it doesn’t contain too much fine detail yet gives you the scope to be as technical (or not) as you wish. It is also a good project for learning the necessary research skills as a wide variety of ducks can be found at local parks or duck ponds so you can take your own reference photos, as well as searching online and in books.

I have chosen to make a mallard but you can obviously make any type of duck you wish, as long as you check any variations in the overall shape of the head. I chose to carve and paint the eyes on my piece as I didn’t want to just paint it; if you prefer to add glass eyes they need to be around 8–10mm in diameter and dark brown. The pattern provided here is about life size so any dimensions can match a real duck. I used a piece of lime because it is easy to carve and gives a good finish, but you can use whatever wood you wish.

You will need

  • Knife
  • Safety glove
  • Clamp or vice
  • Band or coping saw
  • Drill
  • Threaded rod
  • Gouges
  • Mallet
  • Abrasives
  • Cyanocrylic glue
  • Glass eyes (optional)
  • Acrylic watercolour paints (optional)
  • Danish oil

Marking out

Wooden craft project in progress on table.
1. Draw the pattern onto your chosen wood block and make sure the grain is running along the beak and, therefore, across the top of the shaft for strength. Cut it out using a band or coping saw
Hand holding wooden piece with drawn lines
2 & 3. Draw the pattern onto your chosen wood block and make sure the grain is running along the beak and, therefore, across the top of the shaft for strength. Cut it out using a band or coping saw
Hand holding a piece of carved, marked wood.
3.
Hand holding unfinished wooden carving.
4. Remove the waste wood with a saw or carving gouge down to the lines marked. If in doubt, leave a little extra wood as it can always be removed later

Fitting the threaded rod

Hand holding screw and nut assembly
5. You can now drill and fit the threaded rod if you haven’t already done so as it will be difficult to drill the hole after you have started rounding the block

Shaping the duck’s head

Hand carving a wooden bird sculpture.
6. Start to round off the shape and draw in any details that you can identify. Your aim is to get the basic shape to look as much like a duck as possible without any details carved, even though it may well be too fat. From now on you will need some good reference photographs of a duck to ensure that you get everything correct. Don’t use other people’s carvings as a guide as there is no guarantee that they will be accurate
Carving a wooden figure with a knife
7 & 8. Locate the position of the eyes and mark them on. Study pictures of ducks’ beaks to help you to get the basic shape of the beak as accurate as you can, but don’t forget that you can refine it later if necessary. Create a half round mound to contain each eye shape
Hand holding wood carved duck head
8.
Hand carving wood for detailed artwork
9 & 10. Once you are reasonably happy with the overall shape of the beak you can start to carve the underside using a small No.9 gouge. There aren’t many pictures available of this part of the duck’s anatomy, but the shape is fairly simple
Close-up of handcrafted wooden spoon handle
10.

Adding the eyes

Hand-carved wooden duck head sculpture.
11. If you want to carve the eye, begin by drawing the shape of each eye onto the carved mounds. Check carefully that they are both the same and in the right place – this will probably take quite a long time but that’s OK, don’t rush it
Hand holding a wooden duck carving
12. I find that, if I paint the part of the eye that I wish to shape, it makes it easier to get it right
Carving details into a wooden bird sculpture.
13, 14 & 15. Using a small gouge, remove all of the painted area and smooth to make the exposed part of the eyeball
Carving details on wooden bird sculpture.
14.
Hand-carved wooden duck head sculpture
15.

Joining the head to the stem

Wood dowel secured in a woodwork vice
16 & 17. Before doing any work on the stem, check carefully that the shaft and stem are in a straight line: any adjustments should be done now to avoid damage. Drill carefully down the centre of the shaft. You may need help to watch that the drill remains central
Woodworking with long drill bit on bench.
17.
Hand-carved wooden walking stick handle
18. To ensure that the top of the shaft is not damaged, wrap some masking tape around it, up to the top surface, add the head, rotating it until a snug fit is attained, and mark both the head and shaft with a locating mark
Hand holding an engraving tool, marker beside.
19. While the two parts are in place, draw a circle onto the base of the stem using the top of the stick as a guide. This will give you an idea of how far to go when reducing the diameter of the stem. If you are using a black horn spacer a chalk pen is very useful for making clear marks
Hand holding hollow cylindrical object
20. You can now separate the two and begin to reduce the stem of the carving. How you do this is up to you – I cut away as much waste as I can with a knife but you may need a rasp or gouge for harder woods. Keep slightly outside the circle you have drawn and make sure you don’t reduce the diameter as you move up the stem – with most heads the stem will flare out as it meets the head itself. The result should be a smooth continuation of the diameter of the shaft.

Any further reduction of the stem will be done once the two parts are securely glued together and will need to be done very carefully to avoid any damage to the bark at the top of the shaft. You can now go back and add the finishing touches to the carving of the head while it is easily moved around. If you are painting the head, you might like to leave this until after the fitting just in case the paint gets scratched, but any other texturing or finishing can safely be completed beforehand. You will probably have carved off your top location mark by now so will need to relocate the head on the top of the shaft. Once you have done this, make another mark to line up with the one on the shaft to make sure you get the two parts into the same place when gluing. Slightly hollow the matching surface of the shaft down from the edge to the drilled hole. This will give a greater area for gluing and will prevent rocking at the joint
Wooden duck head carving with rubber bands.
21. I have made a small gluing clamp from some waste wood, lined the groove with leather to avoid damage to the bark and, with two strong elastic bands, have used it to pull the two parts tightly together until the glue sets. You can, of course, sit and hold them together instead
Hand filing wood with metal file.
22. When the glue is thoroughly cured you can start to reduce the stem to make a smooth joint with the shaft. I have found that a fine, flat file is the best tool for this, being especially careful around the masking tape. You can use a small power sander but I am a bit wary about using power for very fine work as one slip can spoil the whole piece. My advice is to secure the shaft firmly in a vice with suitable padding, make yourself comfortable with a cup of tea and take your time. It will be worth it in the end!

Finishing

Handcrafted wooden duck head carving
23. Paint in the duck’s eye to finish the head. All that is needed now is to finish the stem and shaft. Remove the masking tape, sand the stem to a good finish and lightly sand the shaft to remove any loose material or go over the surface with a fairly coarse wire wool. I like to reduce any lumps or knots along the length to a smooth surface but this is your choice. W hen you are happy with the surface of the shaft, give it a couple of coats of Danish oil and a coat of satin varnish and you are done
Duck-shaped carved wooden walking stick handle

Book cover: Whittling Walking Sticks by Peter Benson

This is an edited extract from Whittling Walking Sticks by Peter Benson, published by GMC Publications, RRP £14.99

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