Making a Fox Walking Stick

Paul Purnell gets crafty with his latest walking stick project

Tools

  • Bandsaw
  • Rotary carving tool
  • Coarse-toothed cutters
  • Fine carbide cutters
  • Selection of diamond burrs
  • Ceramic cutters for texturing
  • Carving knife or scalpel
  • Junior hacksaw
  • 13mm wood drill
  • Cushioned drum sander
  • Split-mandrel sander

Materials

  • Special, 7mm, vertical-slit pupil, glass eyes
  • Piece of lime (Tilia europaea): 100mm x 100mm
  • Shank of your choice and size
  • 10mm spacer or several that approximate to this thickness
  • Cloth-backed sandpaper 120 through 400 grit
  • Brass ferrule
  • Epoxy putty
  • Epoxy glue
  • Sanding sealer
  • Finishing oil
  • Assorted acrylic paints

Fox head plan

Fox clever

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) belongs to the dog family. It is a resourceful and adaptable animal, which has colonised a wide range of environmental conditions, from sub-tropical to the Arctic tundra. The pupils of a fox’s eyes have vertical slits. These allow the eyes to open very wide and gather more light. Their eyes are especially adapted for night-time vision. Behind the light-sensitive cells in the eye, another layer, called the tapetum lucidum, reflects light back through the eye. This doubles the intensity of images received.

Foxes have whiskers on their wrists that they use as ‘feelers’, much the same as cats do with their facial whiskers. This helps the fox move around more efficiently in the dark. Thanks to these whiskers and good eyesight, foxes are formidable night-time predators.

Carving the head

Before starting to carve, ensure you have plenty of reference material giving a view of a fox head from all angles.

1. Prepare cardboard templates from the sketch. Use the side template to bandsaw the blank
2. Draw a centre line around the head. Mark the centre point at the bottom of the blank. Draw a 32mm square around this point. This head is for a 30mm shank with a 2mm safety margin. Adjust this according to the size of your shank. Use a 13mm wood drill to drill a hole in the bottom of the neck to a depth of 45mm. Although there is no danger of the drill breaking through in this project, it is advisable to mark the drill with a piece of masking tape to the depth required. Drill the spacer(s). For this project, I have used two padauk and two African blackwood slices that I cut on the bandsaw. You can use one or more spacers of the material of your choice
3. Using a coarse burr in the rotary tool, reduce the sides of the neck. Do not cut into the square marked out in the previous step. Draw on the rough placement of the ears. Use the same burr to define them by removing material from between and behind. Round over the back of the ears
4. Use a burr to shape the neck line then pencil in the shape of the cheek line
5. using a coarse burr, define the cheek line
6. Profile the skull in front of the ears
7. Use a medium cylinder burr to round over the snout. Outline the position of the nose and carve the indentation behind the fleshy pad of the whiskers. Using the same burr, round over the top of the head down the fore face to where it meets the snout, known as the ‘stop’. Draw reference lines of 5mm to help maintain symmetry. Redraw the centre line after every step if the carving process erases it
8. Prepare the shank for the head using the dowel method. Once you are happy with the fit, mark the positions of all components
9. Glue the spacer(s) to the shank with epoxy glue – do not glue the head. Allow to cure overnight. Temporarily replace the head on the shank. Use the coarse burr to carve the spacers to fit the profile of the shank. Do not remove any material from the neck
10. Use a flamed-head carbide burr to add some folds around the throat and neck
11. Give the head a rough sand with 120 grit paper on a cushioned-drum sander. Check how the carving looks. At this point, you want the head to be close to its finished shape. Locate the position of the eyes
12. Refine the nose shape with a carving knife. Use 240 grit paper on a split-mandrel sander to round over the edges
13. Draw on the shape of the mouth. The overlap at the corner of the mouth seen on most dogs is not prominent on the fox. Once again, draw reference lines at 5mm increments. Using a carving knife, place a stop-cut around the outline. Now cut at about 45° to the first cut and from below. This will relieve the lower jaw that sits inside the upper jaw. Sand the edges with 240 grit paper on the split-mandrel sander. Sand a small dimple at the corners
14. Return to the nose and carve the nostrils. They are comma-shaped with a split at the sides. These splits create the alar flaps, which open when the fox is running and needs to draw in more air or when scenting. Use a 1⁄2mm dental burr to create the hole. Then use a scalpel to define the split that runs from the nostril to halfway up the side of the nose. The last part of the nose to carve is the philtrum. This is the line separating the left and right parts of the nostril. Define the philtrum with the scalpel or carving knife
15. Next, define the triangular-shaped bulge caused by the hyoid bone and muscles at the base of the lower jaw. This bone is attached to the tongue and helps with swallowing food. Use a 4mm diamond ball to outline, then sand with 240 grit paper on the split-mandrel sander
16. Draw on the shape of the inner ears and open the inside with a 3mm fluted ball. Aim to open up the socket well down into the head to give the impression of depth. Sand the inside of the ears with the split-mandrel and 240 grit paper
17. Now for the eyes. These are 7mm, special fox eyes with a vertically split iris. They are dark orange. Take care when working on the eyes, as they are the most important focal point of the head. On this head, the inner edge is approximately 10mm from the centre line. Draw a 7mm line from the inner edge. Insert a coloured pin into the centre point. Use another pin to locate the other eye. Check alignment from both front and top
18. Pencil on the almond shape of the eyes and drill a 3mm pilot hole at the centre point
19. Open up the socket with the 3mm fluted ball and a 2mm diamond burr. To keep the rough almond shape, you will need to carve behind the upper and lower edges of the sockets. To fit the eye later on into an opening that is less than 7mm, you will need to insert the eye into the upper part of the socket and then push the bottom of the eye into place. Alternatively, you can drill out a 7mm circular socket and use epoxy putty to create the almond shape. Check the fit of the eye as you carve. As you will paint this carving, you can make small adjustments to the eye shape with epoxy putty once inserted. Using a 4mm diamond ball, create a shallow groove from the inner edge of the eyes towards the nose. Sand with 240 grit paper
20. Use a scalpel or knife to remove a triangular pip of wood from the outside edges of the eyes. Shape and sand to give the impression the lower eyelid fits under the top

Did you know?

Foxes are born blind and deaf. Adults can climb trees and settle on low branches

21. Use a 2mm diamond ball to define the eyebrow ridges with 240 grit
22. Refit the head to the shank. Wrap a turn of masking tape around the shank for protection. Sand with 240 grit paper
23. Remove the head. Add some folds around the back of the cheek with the 4mm diamond ball. Add more definition to the neck folds. Sand with 240 grit paper
24. Fix the eyes into their sockets with epoxy putty. Work the putty on the outside of the eye to achieve the required shape. This finishes the shaping of the head. Sand with 240, 320 and 400 grit paper to prepare for texturing. Use a combination of the cushioned drum, split-mandrel and hand sanding
25. Use your reference material to draw on the flow lines of the hair. Using a 2mm cylinder, blue ceramic stone, start the texturing with the ears. Use small ‘C’ and ‘S’ strokes. Next, texture the distinct hair flow around the eyes
26. To protect the eyes while texturing, use a piece of plasticine, modelling clay or you can cut a piece from a self-adhesive, anti-scratch pad used to protect furniture
27. Texture the folds behind the cheeks. Move on to texture the muzzle to join up with the cheeks and eyes. Now work the top of the head to join up with the texturing of the ears. Texture underneath the lower jaw and the back of the head
28. To add an extra dimension to the thicker fur around the neck, using a blue ceramic, inverted cone to apply deeper cuts. Use the 2mm cylinder to apply another layer of texture on the neck. Check over the head for any area missed. Finish with a soft brush in the rotary tool to remove any dust or tiny particles. The texturing is now finished. Apply two coats of sanding sealer to the entire head

Painting and finishing

Paint mixes


Quinacridone
gold +sienna +
Titanium white

1 +hint of
Payne’s grey

1 +extra
Payne’s grey
29. Now it is time to paint the fox using acrylic paints. Apply several coats with the consistency of skimmed milk. If you apply the paint in thick coats, it will fill up the texturing. As there are only three
colours, I have included the paint mixes in the script. Alternatively, you can use a colour swatch.

First, use Titanium white on the underside of the mouth and down the chest area. Apply the orangey-brown base coat to the remainder of the head. This is a mix of Quinacridone gold, raw sienna and a hint of Payne’s grey. Add a touch of Payne’s grey to the above mix and darken the colour around the eyes. Add varying amounts of grey to this mix to add random highlights. Add further highlights with titanium white. Use Payne’s grey on the nose, the smudge across the muzzle, ears, around the eyes and for other random highlights
Handy tips

When texturing the head leave a small section – around 15-20mm – untouched at the bottom of the neck where it joins the shank. This will differentiate your stick as being a unique carving from wood and not resin.

30. A view from the back showing the detail of the fur and the colour change on the ears

Further reading

All About Walking Sticks

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAUL PURNELL

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