Make Walking Stick Fall Carve Leaves, Wire and Paint

The holidays just finish and I wanted to post a project that combined fall leaves with copper wire for your walking hiking stick making project. This is a beginner level walking stick and hiking staff making project.You do not need fancy wood carving tools for this walking stick project. Just a good whittling knife, tracing paper unless you want to free hand the leaves shapes on the wood, some 16 gauge copper wire, paint, paint brush sanding paper and clean shellac finish.

Here are the very basic steps to make your wood walking stick and hiking staff:
1. Remove the bark and sand the stick up to 220 grit paper.

2. Use tracing paper to trace a couple different fall leaves for a picture, book, etc. Keep it simple for this walking stick making project. Or you can free hand your fall leaves.

3. Now transfer the images onto your stick. Put an odd number of leaves on the walking stick. Odds numbers always look best.

4. Wood Carve around the leaves about 1/4" deep.

5. Wood burn your hiking staff leaves veins.

6. Paint the walking staff leaves using various colors. Let the colors blend to give it a true fall look on your wood hiking stick.

7. Finish the wood with a few coats of Shellac or you favorite wood walking stick making clear finish.

7. Drill a hole above and below the leaves area for the copper wire ends.

8. Insert the end of the copper wire into the top hole and wrap the wire around the project. Insert the other end into the the bottom hole. Copper wire is a great artistic addition to any walking stick or hiking staff.

9. Optional work: rope wrap your hand grip area and put on a hand loop for your walking stick and hiking staff.

If you need great complete details on how to easily make unique hiking sticks and wood walking sticks get the guides. It's a complete A-Z guide to hiking stick making. It has hundreds of pictures and complete very through how to make walking sticks easy to understand instructions. You will carve, stain, rope wrap, inlay, create you own metal tips, handles and details several projects.

Join out tips lists on how to make unique wood walking sticks and hiking staffs.

Happy walking stick making and wood hiking staff carving!

copywrite all writes reserved by Michael Klein and this blog.

Walking Stick Making With Bottlebrush Wood

Here in Miami, Florida the Bottle Brush (really a tree) is used in the area as an decorative tree. Its thick curved bark is an attractive enhancement for wood carvers. Also, it good for hiking stick making and staff making. However, you see very little done with it with walking and hiking sticks making people.

One main reason it is not a popular wood for walking stick making is because it's hard to fine good straight section that is not to thick. Also, I takes a while to cure due to the hardness of the wood. But if you do get your hands on a good hiking staff Bottle Brush limb section then you will fined its provides hours of walking stick making enjoyment.

The actual wood is very attractive with a darker heartwood cores which gives great contrast when making hiking sticks. If you plan to completely peel the walking stick give yourself some time because it does not peel well. Once peeled start with 80 grit paper to get all the makes off your walking stick or staff.

Now what should to do with you Bottle Brush walking stick or hiking staff to make it unique? The contrast with the bark makes it a prime candidate to make a walking stick wood spirit. You will need to make sure you have sharp wood carving tools for you hiking staff due to the woods hardness. It does wood carve in most directions well and once finished is a very strudy walking sticks or staff.

Another option is to stain your wood walking stick using a pattern technique or wood burn images into the wood. Or create an decorative rope wrap as handle or around the stick for your hiking staff hand grip area.

if you have any questions concerning making walking sticks with Bottle Brush or other woods please post your question here. Happy holidays and remember to grab a couple Xmas trees before they get picked as trash for walking stick making in January.

It's been a while since the last post. I have been busy redoing an ebook on "How to easily make a unique walking and Hiking stick" and get bragging rights "I did it with my own two hands".

The previous version was hosted by a person who is no longer so I had to redo the whole ebook. It's bigger with tons of more photos and extra information the previous version did not contain. Please note that if you are a present owner of the ebook (previous version) please let me know you want the updated one. I will confirm you previous purchase and send you this updated one at no cost.

What does it contain?

Go to the web site for an update on the guides and bonuses contents. The site was updated late last month and put up live when the guide was finished. The guides how to make a wood walking stick and hiking staffs goes from A to Z. From collecting the wood, finishing, woodburning images to carving windspirits adn more. New additions include more carving projects, using webbing for handles, and tons of more images.

If you have any questions about updates, downloads or suggestions of new topics to add to the guides please let me know.

Summer is just starting and it a great time to go out to collect wood for walking sticks. remmeber to always collect a walking staff longer than you need so you have material for other projects and to correct msitakes.

Have a great spring - Sincerely Mike Klein

P.S. How to carry you walking sticks back on planes: Use your ski bags. Take you ski bag with you and fill it up with walking sticks or staffs to check in as luggage. If you do not have a ski bag to hold your wood for the walking sticks then get one cheap on ebay!

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 using 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 of the wood and even have some left over for other porjects.

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.

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 desires thickness. Even if you keep the thickness once dried the Firs and pines are very 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 rack last year instead of a walking stick.

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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How to Polish and work Black Coral

Hi I need to understand some of the restrictions on black coral, I am a shell artist I have found black coral just laying on the beach and decided to create, not knowing the laws I have used it for Art does that make a difference. I have sold a piece, will I be able to send it by mail? I also need to understand the pricing of black coral. I have to put the price on the art piece that will incorporate the value of the coral. Also please tell me the best way to polish it

thanks so much Spirit M.

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 eagle head and the twig can be tail feathers. Another option is to use the twigg 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 energency line), use a wood burning tool to draw an image on the walking stick and even carve teh wood walking sticks.

Have a great week!