It's been a while since the last post. I have been busy redoing an ebook on "How to easily make a unique walking and Hiking stick" and get bragging rights "I did it with my own two hands".

The previous version was hosted by a person who is no longer so I had to redo the whole ebook. It's bigger with tons of more photos and extra information the previous version did not contain. Please note that if you are a present owner of the ebook (previous version) please let me know you want the updated one. I will confirm you previous purchase and send you this updated one at no cost.

What does it contain?

Go to the web site for an update on the guides and bonuses contents. The site was updated late last month and put up live when the guide was finished. The guides how to make a wood walking stick and hiking staffs goes from A to Z. From collecting the wood, finishing, woodburning images to carving windspirits adn more. New additions include more carving projects, using webbing for handles, and tons of more images.

If you have any questions about updates, downloads or suggestions of new topics to add to the guides please let me know.

Summer is just starting and it a great time to go out to collect wood for walking sticks. remmeber to always collect a walking staff longer than you need so you have material for other projects and to correct msitakes.

Have a great spring - Sincerely Mike Klein

P.S. How to carry you walking sticks back on planes: Use your ski bags. Take you ski bag with you and fill it up with walking sticks or staffs to check in as luggage. If you do not have a ski bag to hold your wood for the walking sticks then get one cheap on ebay!

It's the season to be ......

Another holiday season is over and the New Year started. I recently came back from vacation with several great walking sticks staffs limbs to using in the future once the wood is cured.

However, I was not done collecting wood for future walking staffs or sticks. Every year after the holidays I go hunting around our neighborhood for a few more walking sticks making material. My neighbors spent from $50 to $90 for the material and I did not want it to go to waste.

That's right - I grabbed some Xmas trees put out by neighbors. Why let all that great hiking stick making material go to waste? There are so many that I limited myself to only 5. I only want ones that are at least 7 feet tall and very straight. The straight part is usually the easy part because my neighbors were so kind to only by straight trees.

Why 7 feet tall? Because it gives me extra room to get the best out of the wood and even have some left over for other porjects.

The hardest part trying to find are ones with evenly spaced limbs so the finished walking staff will have character. Most of the trees I select are Douglas Firs which have a bunch of limbs (every limb is a knot). Knots are a pain to carve but you can used them in a design is your are creative. However, most trees have some blank knot free areas for carving a wood spirit, wolf or other carving.

What to do about the thickness of the trees.

If you pick up a few Xmas trees you will notice that the trunks are very thick. You will either need use as is or whittle down the trunk size to your desires thickness. Even if you keep the thickness once dried the Firs and pines are very very light wood. Usually I cut off a good size piece at the thick end for other wood projects. I found one great tree and turned it into a coat hanging rack last year instead of a walking stick.

If you have other ideas about what to do with Xmas trees then please post your ideas.

Have a great New Year.

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How to Polish and work Black Coral

Hi I need to understand some of the restrictions on black coral, I am a shell artist I have found black coral just laying on the beach and decided to create, not knowing the laws I have used it for Art does that make a difference. I have sold a piece, will I be able to send it by mail? I also need to understand the pricing of black coral. I have to put the price on the art piece that will incorporate the value of the coral. Also please tell me the best way to polish it

thanks so much Spirit M.

This is a willow stick collected in a manner to create an unusual shape at top. Willow is great to collect and make into walking sticks do to their tendency to grow great long straight branches.

You will notice that I cut the hiking stick above the "Y" of the branch. This was done to give me several options in finishing the stick. The bend makes a great place to carve an eagle head and the twig can be tail feathers. Another option is to use the twigg as an elephants' long trunk in a carving. In addition, I can use the curve as a mount for a brass hand.

The point is that when you self collect walking sticks look at the branches in various ways to get an idea of what to create. You can use rope to weave patterns on the stick (great way to store energency line), use a wood burning tool to draw an image on the walking stick and even carve teh wood walking sticks.

Have a great week!

The flanboyant limbs collected last week were completely striped. The wood if fibrous and it will need some extra time when sanded. After a week the wood is still heavy so I expect it to take 4..5 weeks to cure (dry out) before working on the limbs. In the meantime I started to work on the Willow walking sticks and aspens hiking staffs again.

I failed to stripe the willows right away so the bark/skin would not come off easily. I ended up soaking the limbs in my pool for two days to soften up the bark. What a difference. The water soaking works and the bark was off the two stick within 45 minutes.

Trick: Soaking wood already dried is a great way to software the wood to get bark off. If you have a pool test a portion of the limb fist the make sure the chemicals cause no harm. Then just drop them in and wait 1..2 days. The other method is using a tub to float the sticks. The wood ends need time to soak up the wood and saturate the bark to make it soft. There are many other tricks that make you life easier when making hiking sticks and walking staffs.

Back to the hiking sticks. I plan to use the willow as a wood burning hiking stick project. I believe I will wood burn willow leaves onto the staffs upper portion and then inlay a stone at the base of each leaf on the walking stick. I believe in true inlay where the end item is almost flush with the surface of the wood instead of sticking out of the wood as I've seen on some commercial sticks. When they are flush they are less likely to fall out of the stick.

Any way. If you have any photos of stick you make please fell free to add them to this blog.

Have a great weekend.

I just finished a walk/jog with my dog and I came across a pile of tree trimmings a few blocks away.

In south Florida trees are trimmed just about all year around due to our climate. I usually see ficus, oak, palms, umbrella trees, fruit, citrus and other tropicaltrees. However, this time I noticed something different.

We are home to some great tropical trees. Many of the popular tropicals were once imported from the caribbean and Central America. Some are great for stick making and others due very poor. One tree that has always been hard to collect because nobody wants to trim them areflanboyant rees. These are fantastic very large canopy trees that put on a show every year with thousands of 4" red flowers. The bigger they are the more brilliant the bloom.

We have sections of streets, many blocks long covered, with these trees and people from all around the world spending good money to take tours to see Flamboyants with they are in full bloom.

Anyway, this is the first time I saw trimmings form the Flamboyant tree with lengths of limbs in the right shape that would be great for walking sick, hiking staffs and even even wizard staffs.

I have never work this wood for hiking sticks yet. Now I will get a chance to see if it works well and proved great material for making a walking stick. I collected 2 limbs about 13 feet long (two trips). Tomorrow I will go back from some more if the pile is still there.

The first image is of the tree in bloom (yes they are blooming now). The tree in the image is just a young one about 30 feet high and a canopy of about 50 feet round. It is not the one that was trimmed. The one that was trimmed was about the same height but three times the size around (still not full grow) and the limbs I plan to use for a walking stick ranged 11' to 15' feet long with a 1" to 3" girth (thickness of the limb).

I plan to strip of the bark and start to let them cure tomorrow. I will let you know how it turns out!