Wood carving: How to make walking sticks and staffs

Walking stick making is a great hobby , but just like all hobbies if you have set it a side for a few months you will become rusty. Here in South Florida the winter is reserved for most do it yourself type people for home remodeling and landscaping projects due to the summers excessive heat and wet weather. this past winter/spring was no exception - I spend most of the time time doing landscaping projects around the house so I have time to enjoy the summer. As a result, when I do start wood carving hiking sticks and staffs in late Spring or Summer I need do some practice projects before using my good wood to make walking sticks.

I usually start with simple wood carving projects and wood burning images on small pieces of wood. carving wooden knifes is a great starter because it uses wood of similar diameter as when making walking and hiking sticks.  Carving wooden knives take about 1 to 2 hours each depending upon the size of the knife and the hardness of the wood. in addition, I carve wooded vases as described in the How to making unique walking and hiking stick guides  bonus projects and decorate them using wood burning techniques from the same hiking tick making guides.

Walking stick making encompasses may wood working techniques. some people just sand, stain and then put a hole through the wood walking stick. While people who make walking stick making a long time hobby use rope weaving techniques for making handles/grips, wood carving and staining to design unique walking sticks designs and finish their walking sticks with their own hand metal made tips and caps.

Whether you plan to make this a long time hobby practicing wood carving, staining and other walking stick making techniques is always a good idea first. when collecting wood for you walking sticks project on your vacations or around your are collect a few extra sticks. Practice wood carving on the extra sticks and start with simple designs. Otherwise you may wreck one of your favorite sticks  by making a wood carving mistake. Have a great summer!

How to make Walking Stick wood carving project

In an earlier post I showed this stick when it was collect and stripped of bark. Now that it is properly cured/dried I started to make this wooded hiking stick carving of a elk. Wood carving hiking and walking sticks take practice and you should always tried on practice walking staffs and sticks first.

  The first step when making your own wood walking sticks is selecting the wood and maybe even envisioning the end product before you cut the tree branch or sapling. Branches and roots are not things in the way but added enhancements to your own hiking stick making project. Notice the way the branch was left on when collecting the willow branch to the left. I did not think of an elf before I collected the wood to carve for the walking staff or stick. But from experience I know to leave some branches on to give design options when I started to think of how to make a hiking stick.

When I collected the willow I stripped the outer layer and did a rough sand. Then I left the wood to cure for several months (this one was actually left for a year). The shape and the under curve of the wood walking stick gave me an idea of either a deer, elk or other animal with antlers type. I did a quick search on the net and selected a elk that had a big white circle around its eye area. Collecting the wood to make hiking and walking sticks is only half the fun. Learning how to stain, inlay, rope work and carve wood to make unique walking and hiking sticks is a great hobby and a way to bring you trips home with you.