The Power of a Curve

I have been working on a new small bear head and picked up one of my old reliable stuffing sticks to stuff his or her head. It occurred to me that I have not posted about some of the tools I use for my bear making in quite a while. I thought I would share this one because it’s just a little bit different from the normal ones.

I purchased this particular stuffing stick from a fellow bear artist who is also responsible for its design. I am unsure if she is still in business, but I think she may have moved on to other things now. I wasn’t exactly sure at first how well it would work for stuffing.

I had been using regular stuffing sticks, chop sticks and some I made myself which seemed to do the job but I like to give new ideas a spin to see if they work. Now I wish I had bought two. Here’s what it looks like.

It’s a gentle “S” – oh so slightly curved and tapered on both ends. It was well finished when I bought it but over time with repetitive use it is very smooth.

It works well for stuffing roundish things – like a bear’s head. Using one of the bears from my studio, you can see how it would align for stuffing a bear’s cheek

or forehead

or the back of his head.

It also does arms quite nicely too.

I think it would be possible to recreate this stuffing stick with some patience and the talents of someone who can work with wood. Maybe it is time to give that some consideration.