How to making hiking sticks and walking staffs

Proper and staining of your walking stick making project is a critical step. When making a walking stick or hiking staff you need to protect the wood from the elements such as water, snow and dirt. However, once you stain and coat the stick are you finished making your hiking stick?  have you considered other techniques of sanding off stain for contract or making images on you walking stick by sanding off stain? these are just a few methods shown in the walking stick making guides.

First before you do any staining make sure you walking stock wood is very smooth. I recommend to sand the wood in three steps starting with 80 grit, 220 and finish with either 400 to 600 grit.  I always go to 600 grit on my project to give me a better surface foe staining and painting. Yes, you can use an electric sander in the first rough step. However, I recommend hand sanding 220 and higher so you have better control on your walking stick making project.  After you sand the wood use your bare hands to feel the wood surface for imperfections in the are you plant to carve, paint or other aspect to make your walking stick project unique.

The image on this post uses a method of  blocking stain from certain areas of  walking stick to make a design on the wood. There is a trick to this method of preventing stain from adhering to some areas of the wood and not other areas. Beyond circles you can create whole images on your walking stick making project and create great shading effects.  Combine this method with other stain colors or paints to recreate scenes and add more personalized touches to your walking stick project.

How to make walking sick and hiking stick scout wood burning project

This is a follow-up on last months post concerning when to put on your walking stick making project.  Wood burning images on your hiking stick and walking stick project is a great way to add uniqueness to your project. You do not need to be an artist to learn how to make a hiking stick with wood burnt images. What you will need is a wood burning tool which can be purchased from as low as $15 or a professional grade wood burning tool for over $150.

The first step is to get he wood ready by sanding it to very smooth finish. You need to sand in steps from rough to very fine paper. The how to making walking sticks guides is a great reference and how to guide for all steps of wood preparation, staining, wood burning, carving and much more. Next determine the image you plan to create and transfer it onto the wood using transfer paper if you are not an natural artist like me or free-hand wood burn the image. Yes, I do free hand simple images but for more complicated images I always use the template method to create my walking stick project image.

The above image I did using a template transfer method.  The wood burnt area is approximately 1.5" x 2.5" which is a typical walking stick making project image.  I did not use any wood burning shading or other fine details you see on larger wood burning projects due to the size of this image. Also, this was done using a very simple low cost ($12 on Ebay) wood burning kit. Learning how to make walking sticks is a great hobby hat you can do on a very low budget. Yes, some tools can be very expensive but you do not need them as a beginner. However, the walking stick guide makes it a point to demonstrate all aspect of walking stick making using very low costs tools just as a beginner would own.

Scout decorating ideas fro hiking stick and walking staff making

      We get many requests from scout leaders concerning ideas for walking stick making projects. Some of the best ideas how to decorate walking sticks for scout comes from badges received, individual personality of the scouts and utilities added to the hiking sick or walking staff project end result more useful in the wild.

    Scouts earn badges that symbolize certain achievements. One great way is to add the badges to the walking stick or wood burning badge achievement. For example for hiker burn a mountain image or forester wood burn trees. Wood burning is a great way to accent walking stick projects. You can even carve or wood burn the entire Boy Scout oath on the walking stick.  Remember to put your scout troop number too!

     I’m not a great painter so I usually do not paint on walking sticks. However, if you have some artist skills paint scout images on the walking stick project. Remember to put a clear coat on the walking stick first or the paint will soak into the wood and spread out as you paint destroying the image. In previous articles we discussed adding a compass, rope and other useful tools to your walking stick project adding outdoor items that you may need in an emergency.

   Adding a compass to the top of the walking stick or to the lanyard gives you an added outdoor tool. Also, weaving rope onto your hiking stick making project is a great way to carry extra rope when need. If you need instructions on these ideas and much more get the walking stick making guides. Other useful walking stick making add on include whistles, small knife and cutting wire.

Making hiking stick scouts how to make handle

One thing that makes a walking stick more unique hand is the actual weaved hand hold area. When making a walking stick you can use the standard drill a hole through the walking stick, slide a rope or leather through the hole and then tie it off or you can make a truly unique hiking staff or stick using rope weaving techniques. 

What you need for cord working and weaving:

        Para cord           Matches or Lighter       Knife
        Clear Tape         Needle                       Dental Floss (not the plastic type)

                          

         Before you start making your walking or hiking staff handle use a match or lighter to melt the end of the cord. We do this to prevent rope frays and unraveling.  Yes, it can catch on fire and drip if you are not careful. The end of the cord is hot. Do not touch it until it cools when working on your hiking stick making project.  Now using rope working weaving techniques for your walking stick making scout project to create various patterns.  If you are scout or you need instructions on how to weave a walking stick  or hiking staff handle you may consider obtaining the walking stick making guides that walks you through weaving a handle such as the one below. Weaving rope on your hiking stick project adds uniqueness. 

          The first image shows just a few of the rope colors (para-cord) available for just a few dollars. The above image and below are two different weaves. Weaving is not hard once and most people can master at least one weave in 30 minutes with proper instructions. Have fun making your walking stick and hiking staffs!

How to make scout walking sticks and hiking staffs unique

Boy Scout walking sticks ideas and projects.

Walking sticks give hikers advantages and a great project for Boy scouts is making their own unique walking stick. Beyond the basic walking stick making method of just sanding, drill a hole for a cord and coating the wood you have many unique options to make your hiking stick a real work of art.

First, you do not need extensive training and years of work to make a remarkable walking stick.  Simple decorations add much to your wood walking stick scout making project such as adding a metal scout badge to the wood, or using a wood burning tool to create images of eagles, trees or other nature item. Drill a hole on the top and add a compass.

Use rope knot techniques to make a woven hand hold rope. Learn simple wood carvings to your scout walking stick making project.  Even using different staining techniques makes an ordinary walking stick to a work of art.  Many scout masters and leaders have obtained the walking stick making guides for ideas for their scout group. Making walking sticks unique give your scouts more pride and desire to create more elaborate wood walking and high sticks.

Making walking staff, cane or hiking sticks: which one?

    There are countless number of walking sticks, hiking staffs and gentleman canes styles. The majority of articles on the internet are on hiking sticks or walking staffs usage and basic making.  Gentleman canes used for support or more elaborate evenings out are rarely covered when making sticks. Which one is best for you depends upon the usage of your wood hiking stick. The main techniques to make a hiking sticks, walking staff, gentleman cane or wizard staff are the same when working with wood.

    If you plan to use bamboo freshly cut then you will need to know how to properly heat the cane to bend it to the right shape for a gentleman cane. If you plan to make a hiking stick or staff our of the bamboo then it works similar to regular wood sticks when making your walking stick. What's the difference between a walking stick and a hiking staff? Very little. Walking sticks usually uses in-town, not on trails, usually have rubber ferrules verses metal ones for trail dirt usage. The lengths, type of wood and how to make the walking stick or hiking staff is the same.

   One option usually reserved foe hiking sticks and staffs is the need to make then portable if you plant to travel. Most people use metal screw inserts in the middle of the hand made walking sticks and staffs so you can unscrew then into two parts for packing into luggage. Store purchased metal walking sticks are collapsible.

Make your own hand made walking stick holder

Create a Walking Stick Holder

        What do your do with all your walking sticks you made? How do you display or store them? This section will give you a couple of ideas on how to display your walking sticks or staffs with a bit of class.

Step 1: The idea is simple idea of how to store your hand made walking sticks and you have two ways to do it. Find a log slice that is at least 10” thick and 20” in circumference. If you have many walking sticks you will need to get slices with larger circumferences.     

      The thickness is needed to give it some weight. When the log section dries it looses 40% or more if it’s weight due to water loss. yes, you can add weight to your walking stick and hiking staff holder to keep if from tipping over.

Step 2: If the bark is interesting then do not remove it. If it is damaged or you like to see the wood grains then strip the bark and sand the wood.

Step 3: Get a wood drill bit that is larger than the measurement of each sticks circumference. You are going to drill holes into the top of the wood section to hold the walking sticks made by you upright. Placement of the holes is critical so all your sticks fit in place and provide a pleasant arrangement. Make each hole location with a pencil.

        Do not overcrowd the holder or it will be an eye-sore. The best holders hold odd number of sticks. Create a circular pattern with the hole marks and then place 1 or 3 in the center.

Step 4: Now drill the holes 7” to 8” deep. Then test each hiking stick or walking staff to make sure it fit in the holes. Making walking sticks presentation holders is a get add-on to your hobby,

 

Step 5: Finish the wood with stain or other finish. Now you have a completed walking stick holder for the wood staffs you made by hand.