How to making hiking sticks wood carve and wood burn walking sticks wood selection

Most of the wood used for hiking sticks are self collected during vacations or in the area I live. Since I live in a tropical area (Miami) I have a limited few wood types (many tropical woods are way to heavy) that carve or wood burn well. First of all I only collect wood limbs and saplings that are not rare, endangered or protected by law. I prefer collecting wood limbs to make hiking sticks from recent tree trimming. Locally my favorites are Flamboyant limbs (hard top find straight), oak, ficus aero-roots, cypress, eucalyptus and even pines to do hiking stick making and wood carving. However, I do not shy away from exotics trees that are trimmed. Each wood for hiking and walking stick making present different challenges.

I always get a few small pieces along with the longer ones to test wood burning and carving for walking stick making. The biggest draw back to being in the tropics is the moisture constant of the wood. When making walking and hiking sticks from wood you need to cure the wood first. Curing is the process of drying out the wood. Some wood cure better than others. If you are making hiking and walking sticks curing properly is important to make sure the wood does not crack or bend while drying. Nothing is more frustrating is when you wood carve a hiking sticks only to to see it crack down the middle of the carving a few months later as the wood dries out.

While on vacations I have collected Aspen (Great wood for wood carving), cedar, willow, and hickory. yes, there are many other great woods you can self collect for hiking and walking stick making. The how to make walking hiking stick making guides are a great resource for wood types, curing and all aspect of hiking stick and walking staff making.

After you collect your wood to make a hiking or walking stick do not rush right into the project. One of the great ideas from the how to making walking and hiking sticks guides is to wood burn onto the wood the wood type, month year collect and where it was collected. This serves helps you remember great hiking stick wood collecting sites and when you collect to track curing periods.

How to make a fall leaf hikign walking stick

      This hiking stick making project is great for the fall. The steps in how to make this wood walking stick project starts with a real smooth well sanded stick, The walking stick blank to the right is a willow branch collected in Utah.  Then place a image of a oak or maple leaf on the walking stick.

      Put the image around the stick and then used wood carving tools or a sharp whittling knife to cut the wood away from the image. Leave the image of the leaf as a raised image on your hiking stick making project

      This how to make a hiking stick project entails wood carving,  painting, wire wrap and then actual making of the rope handle. The image to the left is 3/4 the way through the walking hiking stick making project.

     The remaining parts of the projects are left for you imagination. When you make a hiking stick combine various aspect of wood working including wood carving, staining, wire wrapping, rope work to make a unique walking and hiking stick.

   Make you own great looking walking or hiking stick. Make a wizard stick or even a great wood spirit on your project. Learn how to make great looking sticks and get the details on this project and others.

HIking Stick Making How to Make an Elk

     It's been a few months. Here is the starting of a walking stick making project. The bark was removed from a aspen branch which was cut leaving a small branch as shown. One aspect of hiking and walking stick making is an eye for what wood to use and how to cut the walking stick wood branch while thinking about what it may look like in the future.

    When collecting wood for walking stick making it always better to to cut a bit longer stick than is needed and look for interesting branches so you have options when thinking about hiking stick making projects.

     The above stick is an easy one to imagine before you even start. It can be a deer, antelope, elk or other antler a animal. I choose an elk with a a white patch around the eye after looking through different pictures on the internet. Hiking stick making is more about imagination at first than the actual wood carving of the image on the stick.

   
    Now we are part way through the walking stick making and carving project. Now you get a better idea of what the finished woo hiking stick making project will represent.

    Once the wood carving of the hiking stick making is completed I will use paints and stains to bring out the wild of this elk project. Learning how to make walking sticks is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and to bring a vacation home with you.

Great how to make hiking sticks tips and wood burning for Beginners

One great hiking stick making idea is to use a simple wood burning to put images on your wood hiking staff. the image to the left is a free hand (no template) design for hiking stick making beginners. You will notice that the design uses lines of various thickness to create a design on the hiking stick or staff that looks like ducks flying over grass reeds in water. The size of the ducks makes then look far away.

Another great way to more details walking stick wood burning is by using templates that are traced onto the wood. Combine elements of wood carving, rope weaving and wood burning into your walking stick making project.


Making walking sticks is a great hobby. it's a great way to take a trip you took home with you. You can collect your own walking staff wood on your vacations, cure it and then start making great hiking sticks on your own.

One great way to start learning how to stain, wood carving, wood burn, make hiking stick rope handles and to avoid problems is by using  the complete A to Z guides to making great wood walking and hiking sticks with your own two hands.

Did you get on the list? Yes get great tips on how to make hiking sticks and walking staffs. Go to how to making hiking sticks site and get on the making hiking sticks list now. It's free to join.

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!

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