Ghostcaller

This morning, when I woke, a heavy fog had settled over the town. I knew I needed to finished the wand of holly before the night was full, if it was going to be of any service to the visiting ghosts, or visiting humans.

The following montage is a brief review of the process.

First, cutting a 16" length from the base of the holly branch.

The lowest portion of the branch had more curve than I wanted, so I cut the lowest 12 inches for a second wand, on a later day. Then I fastened the shorter piece to the remaining branch and returned the leafy branch to storage.

After sketching a quick design, I cut the main lines with the Dremel -- two near the base to help form a spherical shape at the end of the hilt, one that indicated the top of the hilt, and a last cut further up the shaft.

I carved the round feature at the base of the hilt.

Just this small bit of work gave me a feel for how to work the wood. It was soft and shaved away easily under the ministrations of the sanding bit.

Then I kept going, forming the shallow curve of the grip up to the line at the top of the hilt, and then started immediately on the shaft. I made it about halfway before taking a break.

I can already tell the shaft is going to have a slight curve. I try to minimize the bend as I work toward the tip. By the time the first cut of the shaft is complete, I'm pleased with the general shape of the wand.

Attack with sandpaper. 100 grit. 120 grit. 180 grit. 220 grit!

The holly performs just as the literature (internet) said it would -- the white grain is practically invisible, and smooth as glass. Since ghosts are said to return on Halloween nee Samhain to wreak vengeance, this wand yields the wielder invisible to their otherworldly sight.

Unfortunately, the attack of the sandpaper has wiped out half of the original lines at the top and bottom of the hilt. The line I cut further up the shaft was overwritten by the shaping of the shaft itself. I choose not to put it back in place. For the lines at the hilt, though, I used a special Dremel attachment:

I don't actually know what this bit is called, but it worked excellently. I cut the lines a little deeper than before, because I still have some shaping to do.

The next step is to refine the shape of the shaft. It's too thick near the hilt, and there's a bend that looks like a crook between joints of a finger where the thicker portion meets the thinner length near the tip. And the grip is too meaty. And the round feature at the base is unappealing.

I spend about an hour roughing up the shaft's surface with the sanding bit and then using the sandpaper to shape it down until the entire shaft is one long taper. Then I rough up the grip and sand that down in the same manner. For the rounded feature, I trim it slightly at the very end and then reduce its width to match the newly shaped grip.

Once the wand was complete, it was time to cut the setting for a cabochon of black star diopside.

I drew a circular line around the very bottom of the hilt to mark the boundary for the stone. I used a small bit to carefully form the initial round shape.

I worried over the shape of the setting for another 45 minutes, cutting it slightly deeper and wider until was a perfect fit.

Next step was to apply a coat of tung oil.

The sun was nearing the horizon. I painted the white wand with the oil and then hung it between two hoops of string tied on the opposite corner of my work table.

About four hours later, in the full dark of night, I brought the wand inside to finish it's drying.

When I arrived home late on the afternoon of Halloween, the tung oil was dried. I used superfine steel wool to buff away the splotchy topcoat. The resulting finish was a slight golden tint.

With about thirty minutes left until the sun set, I added the star diopside to the base of the wand. Soon after, the doorbell started to ring. Guests had arrived.

Ghostcaller is ready to receive spirits.