Walking Hiking Sticks Blog

          Thank you for visiting my site. In conjunction with this site on how to make unique wood hiking sticks and staffs, I created a blog dedicated to walking stick making. What's a blog? A place to communicate with me and other people with similar interests.  It's easy to sign-up with blogspot at NO Cost what-so-ever. 

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         Here some recent comments/articles straight from the blog!!

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     This is a willow stick collected in a manner to create an unusual shape at top. Willow is great to collect and make into walking sticks do to their tendency to grow great long straight branches.

     You will notice that I cut the hiking stick above the "Y" of the branch. This was done to give me several options in finishing the stick. The bend makes a great place to carve an elk, deer head and the twig can be tail feathers. Another option is to use the twig as an elephants' long trunk in a carving. In addition, I can use the curve as a mount for a brass hand.

     The point is that when you self collect walking sticks look at the branches in various ways to get an idea of what to create. You can use rope to weave patterns on the stick (great way to store emergency line), use a wood burning tool to draw an image on the walking stick and even carve the wood walking sticks.

     Have a great week!

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     It's the season to be ......

     Another holiday season is over and the New Year started. I recently came back from vacation with several great walking sticks staffs limbs to use in the future once the wood is cured.

     However, I was not done collecting wood for future walking staffs or sticks. Every year after the holidays I go hunting around our neighborhood for a few more walking sticks making material. My neighbors spent from $50 to $90 for the material and I did not want it to go to waste.

     That's right - I grabbed some Xmas trees put out by neighbors. Why let all that great hiking stick making material go to waste? There are so many that I limited myself to only 5. I only want ones that are at least 7 feet tall and very straight. The straight part is usually the easy part because my neighbors were so kind to only by straight trees.

     Why 7 feet tall? Because it gives me extra room to get the best out for the wood. Plus, it leaves some wood for other projects.

     The hardest part trying to find are ones with evenly spaced limbs so the finished walking staff will have character. Most of the trees I select are Douglas Firs which have a bunch of limbs (every limb is a knot). Knots are a pain to carve but you can used them in a design is your are creative. However, most trees have some blank knot free areas for carving a wood spirit, wolf or other carving.

     If you are a carver then this will not be the perfect wood because of the heavy sap content. However, the many limbs means you will have tons of knots to create an interesting stick. Also, the smell of the fir is great while working on the project!

     What to do about the thickness of the trees.

      If you pick up a few Xmas trees you will notice that the trunks are very thick. You will either need use as is or whittle down the trunk size to your desired thickness. Even if you keep the thickness once dried the Firs and pines are very light wood. Usually I cut off a good size piece at the thick end for other wood projects. I found one great tree and turned it into a coat hanging bar  last year instead of a walking sticks.

     If you have other ideas about what to do with Xmas trees then please post your ideas.

    Have a great New Year.

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        Wow, I just started to create a unique hiking sticks from the Aspens collected last month in Colorado. This is the second time I work on this type of wood. The color of the wood is white with some yellow and light brown streaks. It is used by carvers and turners. I actually stripped the aspen before I left Colorado and place the sticks in a fishing pole bag for transport home (checked-in luggage). I forgot my ski bag so I was limited to collecting one 9 walking sticks wood while on my trips (5 Aspen, 3 Willows and one Fir) While in Steamboat I picked up a turned vase about 20" in height and 8" round with an area that had area with a dressed look along one side. After looking at the vase I decided to search the area for saplings (I took a 7 mile hike). The saplings were dense in the 8,000 to 9,000 feet range. there were some higher stands too. I collected 5 saplings of various lengths. Most were straight but I was able to collect a couple snow pressed ones where the root ball will make a great handle. The current stick of Aspen has a natural "Y" as the top. I plain to wood burn on the walking staff image. Afterwards to make it a trail walking sticks I will put a brass collar and spike on the bottom. I usually use metal for collars/spike for trail sticks and rubber for one used to walk on pavement. I create the spike it using a copper or brass end cap that fits the diameter of the end of the stick. Then I use shaped bolt to create the spike for the walking stick. Then I use a electric grinder to shape the bolt into a point. I use two or three pins to connect the end cap to the stick (sometimes I harden the wood first). This is a great way to make custom walking stick ends. I will post the final stick once completed.

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The Flamboyant limbs collected last week were completely striped. The wood if fibrous and it will need some extra time when sanded. After a week the wood is still heavy so I expect it to take 4..5 weeks to cure (dry out) before working on the limbs. In the meantime I started to work on the Willow walking sticks and aspens hiking staffs again. I failed to stripe the willows right away so the bark/skin would not come off easily. I ended up soaking the limbs in my pool for two days to soften up the bark. What a difference. The water soaking works and the bark was off the two stick within 45 minutes. Trick: Soaking wood already dried is a great way to software the wood to get bark off. If you have a pool test a portion of the limb fist the make sure the chemicals cause no harm. Then just drop them in and wait 1..2 days. The other method is using a tub to float the sticks. The wood ends need time to soak up the wood and saturate the bark to make it soft. There are many other tricks that make you life easier when making hiking sticks and walking staffs.

      I plan to use the willow as a wood burning hiking stick project. I believe I will wood burn willow leaves onto the staffs upper portion and then inlay a stone at the base of each leaf on the walking stick. I believe in true inlay where the end item is almost flush with the surface of the wood instead of sticking out of the wood as I've seen on some commercial sticks. When they are flush they are less likely to fall out of the stick. Any way. If you have any photos of stick you make please fell free to add them to this blog. Have a great weekend.

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Self collecting wood while on trips is a great way to bring wood hiking sticks projects home. However, you need to know your wood types and collecting laws. Not all national forest or state parks allow collecting of saplings or even dead wood. Many times you can collect one type but not another. Private land is a different story. If you own you own land its up to you. In fact, I have grown my cedar on land I own in Tennessee and even used Ficus aerial roots in my area in Miami. Ficus tends to be heavy so I mostly use it for short walking stick that need great strength (I made one for my neighbor who has a bad leg). Either way learn the walking sticks and hiking staff wood types and how to work them. Also, you need to check the wood of insects and wood boring worms. There are methods to get rid of worms inside of wood. In Montana, there is a carver outside of Bozeman that has made a business of making things from wood with worm holes. The holes and bores give the wood a great look (he collects old fence posts and turns them on a lathe).