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.