How to collet walking stick making wood Make hiking stick

Do you plan to make your own walking stick from self-collected wood? Before you start your walking stick project you need to collect the wood. First determine the correct size of the stick you need before collecting wood from a forest for a neighbors tree cuttings.

We recommend that you collect the wood for your hiking stick making project longer than what you need by about 12” if possible. This gives you the ability to cut off bad ends or to adjust the height before you add the ferrules.

First, look for fallen wood or wood  cut form the trees.  Check to see if the wood is stiff and will support your weight. Do not collected wood that is protected or in a place where it is not permitted.  If you are in a desert look for fallen cactus with hard skeletons that make great walking and hiking stick making projects.  In the forest, know you wood because some wood is very difficult to carve if you plan to cave on your hiking or walking stick.

The how to make walking stick making guides is a great resource on what type of wood to collect, how to get the right length, how to carve your waling stick, how to add  weave para-cord onto your walking stick and other aspects of walking stick and hiking stick making.

 If you are taking wood that is alive from a tree or a sapling for your walking stick making project try to get it from an area that is overgrown with the same type of tree. Do not collect rare or protected trees even if not in a nation forest. If possible, when collecting a sapling try to leave a portion of the sample intact so it can regrow.   

How to make walking sticks inlay insert rocks, magnets adn crystals

Inlay cut stone or magnet in walking hiking sticks and staffs

Here is another inlay of a stone into a walking stick.  When making your own wood walking stick or hiking staff you can insert stones, crystals, magnets and add top handles will a few techniques. Are you learning how to make hiking sticks or staffs for Boy scouts? why settle for the ordinary hiking stick when you can make a unique personalized walking staff or stick by adding wire, rocks, rope, wood burning designs or staining.

It not hard to learn how to make unique walking sticks using simple instructions in the How to make unique walking and hikgin sticks by hand guides.

When collecting your walking stick wood look at the dimensions of the wood. The skinner the wood the harder it is to do things to it when making your hiking staff especially when carving walking sticks. The walking stick image with the inlayed  lagoona agate is approximately 2" x 3" in size. It tapers down to 1.5" inches. depending upon the wood selected you may need thicker wood. If you collect hardwood for your walking stick making project then it can be thinner. However, if you are working with pine, aspen, willow try to get ones that do not taper down to beyond .5" in diameter.

Making hiking sticks with magnets or compasses on the tops require the same though. Get the magnet or compass and then collect your wood to make a hiking stick or walking staff. guides to making walking staffs and hiking sticks out of wood using carving, wood burning, rope work, inlay objects, staining and other techniques is a great way to enjoy the hobby. Collecting hiking stick wood and then only to have it ruined makes for a frustrated hobbyist.  Just as in any hobby there are techniques and methods to working with the material and the surest way to prevent frustration with a new hobby is to get guidance. The inlayed stone above uses wood carving, staining and stone anchoring techniques. No the stone is not just glued to the wood (gluing stone to wood does not hold!). It uses simple techniques learning when making unique walking staffs and hiking sticks.