How I Came to Make Hairsticks
I was hanging out at the river, it was very hot and I had forgotten my hair clip. So first I French braided my hair and tried to stuff it under the braid with some success. That would probably have worked very well except my hair is cut in layers and so it doesn't braid tight. I thought about it some and decided to whittle a stick for my hair, a crude thing, but it worked. I braided it again and pulled it up and stuck the stick in to keep it there. It worked so well that I decided to do it up fine and whittle a nice one. I chose a splinter from a dead tree that was twisted slightly and started to whittle. I decided to leave the twist and whittled till it was around the size I wanted. I then scraped the wood with the edge of my knife. At first I thought I would use sand to smooth it and that did help some. Then I decided to use the stone I was using to sharpen my knife (just a small palm sized stone that I found flat and smooth enough to use). Ha! It worked wonderfully! It smoothed it nicely. If I pressed moderately hard it very finely sanded, but if I just rubbed it lightly it buffed it… Then I decided to rub the stick in my hair to oil it… worked fairly well. When I got home I rubbed olive oil on it to make it shine. Now I make and sell them...
Finishing magic today:
After the wood has been shaped with a belt sander and dremel tool, I prepare the wood for finishing. I start sanding with 100 grit paper, then use exceedingly finer sandpaper until the wood is very, very smooth. Then I use clear gloss enamel. I chose this type of finish because I personally found that sometimes I would put my hair up while wet or I would sweat while the stick was in my hair. I wanted a finished that the water or sweat wouldn't ruin my hairstick, although the finish isn't waterproof, but rather water resistant.
Enamels are interesting. They are petroleum based varnishes, which are basically a plastic type finish. Many varnishes used at the turn of the century were basically very similar to these finishes. The enamel material has a special quality as it dries. Exposure to light and heat cause the molecules to interlock, making a very tough and chemically resistant surface. The clear gloss I use produces a nice clear coating that is water and oil resistant and brings out the wood color and grain nicely.
After the enamel has been applied to the wood, it is left to dry until very dry to the touch. Then I go over any serious runs with fine sandpaper. I then rub with a plastic polish that smooths further and makes the stick shinny and very smooth. After, I polish with a beeswax based polish.
Please remember, because these are handmade, they have small imperfections and should be expected. This is not necessarily bad. It adds character and is part of what handmade is about.
