Walking stick making and carving woods and methods

Walking stick making has developed a great hobby for some and for others a part-time/full time business. They make great holiday gifts and specialized help for people who are not as young as they use to be. Making my own walking sticks and actually using it if one of my hobbies has given me many hours of enjoyment. 

 Relatives and friends continually ask me for help in making their own sticks over the years has been making hiking sticks for fun, gifts and my own use. I try to collect unusual woods over the years and even make a few out of Queen Palm fronds. The last one I make (two weeks ago) was from birch I collected over 3 years ago. I have birch, aspen, pine, flamboyant, oak, bottle brush, drift wood and other wood ready to work. Some of the hiking stick and staff making wood is over 6 year old. 

Remember to cure your wood before making your walking stick and some wood such as diamond willow I would wait a good year before creating a handmade hiking stick. Why cure the wood?  Wood will shrink and even possibly crack so it you make your hiking stick from uncured wood you are asking for problems in the future.  Think about the time you will spend only to find out late that a crack has developed in the middle of your carved hiking stick.

My current project is using cedar limb and I’m carving the walking stick! Cedar smells great while carving but you need to wear a mask if you are using power tools!

How to make walking sticks, hiking staff or wizard staffs wood spirits carving

How to make your own walking stick wood spirit.

Hand carving your own walking stick, wizard staff or hiking staff jsut takes a bit of practice and patience for a beginner. the image to the left is starting to show the shape of the face. when designing your wood spirit face do not worry about if it looks just like the one you are trying to copy.  Many people who learn how to make your own walking sticks are in too big of a rush to go from not ever carving anything to right to hand caving a face or similar carving.
 
You need a bit of experience on simpler wood carvings and how to use wood carving techniques.  If you go straight to carving a walking stick wood spirit then expect to ruin some of your sticks collected or producing a less than satisfactory result. Learn the basics first including all aspect of how to hand make unique walking and hiking sticks.

  The wood spirit to the left is a simple design about 20% completed done an a piece of Aspen wood about 2.5" in diameter. 2.5:" diameter means you are working on a carving area about 1.5" wide. That is a very small area to put great details of a complete face. If you are just learning how to wood carve walking sticks keep the design simple at first. Remember, many of the images you see in books and on the web are faces that are several inches across don by master carvers.

Just think how easy is it to make a pencil drawing of a wood spirit. If you are not artistically include your pencil images are not that great. Now try doing it on wood. its easier to use a pencil than a wood carving tool. However, with the right training just able anyone can make a good looking walking stick wood spirit. Just the how to make great unique walking and hiking sticks staffs by hand guides for step by step easy to follow directions. Remember this is a hobby and even a possible a side income opportunity. Enjoy it and take your time to learn the how to make quality unique hiking sticks and wizdard staffs  by hand.