Self collecting walking stick making wood

Once you select the wood you want to harvest fro your walking sick making project be careful to prevent damage to you and your future walking stick.

       How to cut: First remove any branches on sticking out from the limb you plan to harvest to make your walking stick. Start with the small branches and then tackle the larger ones. Support (hold) the branches you are cutting off to prevent splinting of the main limb. Use your saw blade to slow cut the branches. Do not rush through the branches which may cause damage to the area you plan to use for a walking stick or staff making.

       Once all the branches are removed, measure how much of the limb you need and mark it with your knife. If the walking stick project sapling or branch is large you may get two sticks out of it or use the thinner parts for a different project.

       Now, hold the limb you are harvesting above and away from the cut mark firmly. Use your saw blade to start a cut straight across it - do not cut all the way through. Now, score all around the trunk (cut through the bark).  
Flamboyant Tree Limb with a cut all around the limb.
  
          Once you score the complete trunk then continue to cut through the limb. You score the limb first to prevent bark/wood ripping. The straighter you cut across the less likely the wood will splinter. When selecting the wood for your walking stick making project make sure it the right type. Not all wood is good for a quality hand made walking stick or staff. Use the how to make unique walking stick guides for reference when collecting your wood.

         Always cut away from your body!  Remember you are in the woods and a deep cut could be costly!

How to make walking hking sticks by hand guides details

Excerpt from the beginning of How to easily make unique walking and hiking sticks by hand.

Ok, we all want to rush straight into Making Your Own Unique Walking Stick. However, we need to cover a few things first. Please, before you jump into things, read this section that has important information on various aspects of the hobby that you need to know before you start. 

         The guides are assembled in a manner to progressively take you from basic stick making, through wood burning images to carving.  It is a building process and it's highly recommended to review each chapter before you get started.  Many useful tips and tricks are revealed along the way that will give relief from hassles to make this hobby a great past time.

         Each How to make unique walking sticks and staffs guide Chapter will have a question and answer section. The Q & A area is reserved to answer questions by people just like you who need additional help; have suggestions; or just have a general question answered about stick making.  

         The making hiking sticks and walking staffs guides are designed to give you the knowledge to create unique walking sticks, hiking staffs or wizard staffs with little or no previous stick making experience.  If you have questions, need additional help or want to offer suggestions, please go to our blog.
 
       Many of us did not know if the walking stick wood could be worked. Is the walking stick wood the correct height? Or weight? Diameter?  We rushed home and started to work on the walking hiking stick and staffs What happened? In many cases the end result was trash. The wood cracked. It was too heavy or too short. In some cases we damaged the stick while trying to do something with it. In the end, frustration took over. Did this ever happen to you?

       Walking stick making is a great hobby or even a side business.  Who needs frustrations? With a bit of knowledge you will learn what to collect and how to work it. Let's get started!

How to hand make hiking sticks and staff ferrules

   How to make your own walking sticks ferrules takes a bit of knowledge, however, when compared to rubber bottoms they add a special finish to your walking stick or hiking staff project. The majority of the store bought walking sticks and even custom made ones that you see in specialty stores have those ugly rubber bottoms. Rubbers great  if you are walking on cement or hiking on dry asphalt but a steel tipped copper or silver ferrules add extra ground stability and added traction in when hiking.

    Metal ferrules are especially helpful when climbing steep terrain, crossing ice or water.  If you snow hike add a large metal ring right above the spike for added stability in deeper drifts.Depending upon your hiking stick making project you may want to use a steel (silver), copper or brass ferrule to accent you hand made walking stick or hiking staff. However, the tip should always be steel on your walking stick or staff.

   The image to the right shows you a finished hand made ferrule as describe in the how to make unique walking and hiking sticks staff guides.  It uses commonly found hardware items (metal pipe, screws, nuts, etc.) and simple tools to create the walking stick ferrule. Yes, over a long time the ferrule wears down if used on a hard surface, but that just gives you an excuse to work on you favorite stick again or make a new walking stick or hiking staff  for yourself.

How to make a walking stick - wood buring images

When you make a hiking sticks or walking staff you may wnat to consider wood buring images or patterns ont he wodo to create interesting designs. teh above image is a close up of a simple pattern that wraps around the walking stick.  Its give the walking stick the southwest Indian design look. Using simple geometric shapes, lines and repeated patterns will give your walking stick making project unique.

Wood burning kits come in all ranges from simple kits that start around $25 to professional ones that cost hundreds. When selecting your kit look at the wattage and the tip selection. The image to the right uses a tip that has grooves to create the parallel lines. The walking stick guides gives more details on how to create images and even free hand  wood burning not following a template.

Combine wood burning with wood carving or painting. Making hiking sticks and walking staffs if not just cut, sand and add a rope handle. Your walking stick making projects can include fancy wood staining, wood carving, wood burning, rope weaving a handle and much more. Making your own walking stick from wood collected on vacations will even bring your vacation home with you by creating a lasting memory. it's a great way to bring family members together learning how to make unique walking sticks, hiking staffs and other projects with left over walking stick wood.
 

Wood carving make a Fall Leaf walking stick

Transfer image on to walking stick to carve

   This is a project added to the walking sticks guides earlier this year. Its a Fall leaf project. Basically you transfer images on to your walking stick and then wood carve the images. The actual making walking stick project has several leaves on the stick arrange around (5 leaves). The instructions include selecting leaves sizes, how to transferring the leaves images, actual wood carving of the wood walking stick leaves, painting and a extra finishing touch of using copper wire.

     Adding copper wire after the leaves are painted gives the walking stick that added touch. The copper wire accents the leaves colors and really take the stick from an simple carving to a truly unique walking hiking stick or staff.  The project is design for people who have completed the carving section of the how to make unique walking and hiking stick guides. If you are new to making hiking sticks then this is not a project for you. It contains several steps and process that requires some basic carving knowledge. It is a beginner level  carving project for a person who has done some basic wood image carving of walking and hiking sticks.

   Making you own walking stick or hiking staff is easy if you know the process. As in any hobby, learning about the hobby is half the fun.  Why settle for a mass produce store bought stick when you can make one with your own hands.

walking hiking stick making inlay stone metal into stick

Tools how to make hiking stick inlay

    When making your own hiking sticks do not limit yourself to just staining the wood, carving an image or drilling a hole for a cord. Why not inlay rocks, a compass, metal or crystals when making your own walking staff or hiking stick?

    The image to the right shows all the tools you need to inlay an object onto a wood hiking stick. The carving knife, marking pencil and the actual item you plan to inlay.  If you know basic hiking stick wood carving techniques then you can inlay an object.

    The object to the left is a piece of agate on a Stirling silver plate. The silver plate is flat so I will create flat spot in the hiking stick first and then mark the shape of the object on the flat wood area. Next I will remove the wood from the area which I plant inlay the object. The how to make unique walking sticks and staff guides details inlay projects giving you complete step by step, picture by picture details on the process. Also, it includes special steps to make sure the object stays attached because if you just use glue you haev a good chance of losing your inlay.

Walking hiking sticks making stick woold left over project

How to making hiking sticks and staffs wood left over projects.  Making you own hiking stick is a blast especially if you collect the wood yourself. However, what do you do with the left over pieces of wood?  Why stop at just making your own hiking stick when you can make a wood knife? Wood vase? Wood tree holder or even a walking stick stand to hold your many self made walking sticks?
Some of these ideas are detailed in the wood left over project section of how to many unique walking and hiking stick yourself guides. The above wood knife  is an additional hiking stick project project that takes left over wood and a comfortable place to whittle wood.  The over all length is determined you your left over hiking stick material. I have used pieces as skinny as 2" round and as long as 14 long (Bowie design) to make my wooded knives.

There is no set rule in width, length or even if it needs to look exactly like your hunting knife. There are hundreds of styles of real knives so why limit yourself. Maybe make a wood knife that resembles a sword or a dagger?  Or use a big piece for a bowie knife design.  However, a word of warning, it can cause injury just as in the Dracula movies wooded knives/stakes can kill. When making your own  wooded knives keep them away from children. If you are showing a younger member of your family how to make them make sure you give them reminders about the danger of the knives to prevent injuries!  Enjoy your hiking stick or walking staff making hobby and  please if you have questions let me know!