Making a walking stick from exotic wood such as the rainbow eucalyptus collected after the hurricane. Hopefully, the hurricanes are done for the year and new we can get back to our businesses, families and hobbies. Presently, in SE Florida there are piles of broken trees, limbs and other wood waiting to be picked up. It could take months to pick everything up which means I have time to collect wood for walking stick making.
South Florida is a place to find many exotic woods and plants for walking stick making not seen in any other part of the USA due to our Tropical climate. One exotic species is rainbow eucalyptus with its multi-colored outer stick that sheds its outer skin in layers. The leaves of the eucalyptus can be crushed to use as insect repellent or the wood pulped for paper. The colorful out skin of the wood is only a few layers deep and its these layers that at shows green, browns, reds and other colors. Its a beautiful wood and I recommend to leave as much of the outer layer alone when making your hiking stick if you are lucky enough to get a hold of this exotic wood!
I was able to collect about 6 branches. A couple of the branches are thicker than I would normally use but its an exotic wood so I will take what I can get. Presently, the wood is curing before I work with to make some hiking staffs. I did spray them with a thin coat of clear shellac to help preserve the color and prevent any further skin peeling. You need to do a bit of research when collecting exotic wood for hiking stick making projects. The wood is very light but strong and carves well.
I collected other wood too while walking my urban jungle. I hope you do not have a hurricane in your area but if you have a storm it may be a great time to collect wood for walking stick making.
South Florida is a place to find many exotic woods and plants for walking stick making not seen in any other part of the USA due to our Tropical climate. One exotic species is rainbow eucalyptus with its multi-colored outer stick that sheds its outer skin in layers. The leaves of the eucalyptus can be crushed to use as insect repellent or the wood pulped for paper. The colorful out skin of the wood is only a few layers deep and its these layers that at shows green, browns, reds and other colors. Its a beautiful wood and I recommend to leave as much of the outer layer alone when making your hiking stick if you are lucky enough to get a hold of this exotic wood!
I was able to collect about 6 branches. A couple of the branches are thicker than I would normally use but its an exotic wood so I will take what I can get. Presently, the wood is curing before I work with to make some hiking staffs. I did spray them with a thin coat of clear shellac to help preserve the color and prevent any further skin peeling. You need to do a bit of research when collecting exotic wood for hiking stick making projects. The wood is very light but strong and carves well.
I collected other wood too while walking my urban jungle. I hope you do not have a hurricane in your area but if you have a storm it may be a great time to collect wood for walking stick making.
