carving a eagle for a walking stick how to make project

How to carve a walking stick eagle head

Carving designs onto a walking stick does not need to become a major project. Some of the simpler designed such as a carve eagle head  creates a great hiking stick making project. The image attached to this post is the top of the walking stick and the carving was created using just a pocket knife. Yes, most wlakgin sticks are thicker but the concept is the same. The image does not show the completed eagle head wood carving for the walking stick about it is 90% completed. 

It's a simple design and when finished it adds a rustic look to the stick. Beyond the image the carving needs to be sanded and finished with a few coats of clear shellac or other wood finish. Yes, you can paint the eyes black or drill a hole to give it a more depth. This is a great project to do while at a camp site or a quick hiking stick and staff making project in the evening.

One aspect not covered here is the shape of the walking stick top. When you collect your walking stick material to make a hiking staff  think about the finished project. I prefer curved tops to give movement to the eagle head or other animal that I plant to carve. May times I leave branches on the collected walking stick until I determine the final design stick making design. Also, the hardness of the wood needs to be check before starting your hiking stick making project.  The walking stick guides gives good details on wood selection, what to collect, carving, staining, deigning and other aspect of walking and hiking stick making.

Hand make your own wood walking and hiking sticks

When walking or hiking trails with a single walking stick, hiking staff or pole can give you an extra point of stability. If you are in the desert it even gives you added protection against snakes. Many people travel with their walking sticks so a two part stick is convenient. When creating your own wood walking stick or hiking staff think about making a comfortable grip, use strong light wood, and even mount a compass. Inserting a compass into a walking stick you make is easy!

If you hike in wet climates you should consider the type of finish you use on your walking stick project. When making your hiking stick put several layers of shellac (natural resin) or other clear coating on the wood to protect it from the elements. If possible stay with natural resin finishes instead of marine poly based ones which add weight to your walking and hiking stick projects. In between coats lightly sand the stick with fine steel wool when making your walking stick.

When you cross streams rubber bottom walking sticks are a hazard due to slippage. It's much better to have a pointed metal tip for better support on slippery rocks and on loose gravel areas. Rubber bottoms walking sticks are good for cement trails and level dirt trails. Just like football players, spikes give you traction when you need it while hiking with your own made wood walking sticks.

Scout hiking stick making project

     Creating your own hiking stick is a scout tradition. Here is an another idea of a possible new tradition for hiking stick making for your scout troupe or competition between states. Why not have a group hiking stick making pass around walking stick project.  Many wood carvers create projects where each persons puts their own individual style on the project.

    This is how it works when doing a hiking stick making group project. First, select around 3 to 10 people who want to make a scout hiking stick. Each person is assigned a portion of the hiking stick to add their own personal touch. The catch is that you will need one hiking stick blank for each member who contributes to the project.

    If you have 5 scouts making a hiking stick then you need 5 hiking sticks. Each person is assigned one section on EACH of the 5 walking sticks. If you are doing the hiking stick making project between 3..5 troupes then assign each troop one section and the put the EXACT same design on each of the walking sticks. This way after  all the sticks are passed around they will all have the same design on each stick.  This way each troupe or person who participates in the project will have a group made walking stick to call their own. In the end, each troupe or individual scout will enjoy a group walking stick making project and get design ideas from others for other walking stick making scouts areas.

   We recommend starting with simple designed and progress with more complicated walking stick making techniques. Start a project with troupe emblem. Get a group of scout masters from your state to commit to adding their emblem suing the same techniques (paint, stain, drawer, or wood carve). Each troupe is assigned a section and a completion date. Each group gets one stick of the same type and does the design. Then mail/pass the stick to the next group until the walking stick making project is completed.

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!