Thunderbird pendant

I made this pendant for a very good friend of mine who has been fighting a battle with cancer for the last few months, pleased to say that the cancer is now in remission. He has had a lifelong interest in the American Indian and had always wanted a Thunderbird pendant but never been able to locate one. He downloaded a photograph of one and with a little magic I proportionately reduced it to a pendant size, produced a drawing and made him what you see here in these two photo’s. The piece is laminated from different species of timber; back was made from Goncalo Alves veneer; core was Japanese Sen; Face was Amboyna Burr; the button centre is Ebony. The complete pendant is only 5 mm thick and cross laminated to provide strength. The item is small, no more than 65mm square and laminated by hand using PVA adhesive, fret cut by hand using a small piercing saw fitted with a very fine blade; finally carved by hand using a small amount of Bluetac to hold the pendant to a flat surface and a 60deg Vee shaped carving chisel. The item took about two hours to make including cleaning up, it was finished using 3 spray coats of acrylic clear lacquer. A small amount of time for a good mate, the look on his face when I gave it to him was priceless. He has now threaded it with a leather thong and wears it proudly on a daily basis. Nice to know that you can use your skills to give someone so much pleasure.

-- Bill, Nottingham. Remember its not waiting for the storm to end, but learning to dance in the rain that counts. If you dont make mistakes, you make nothing at all.