Hwo to Make hiking sticks wood selections do's and do nots!

     This is an portion from the how to easily make unique hiking and walking stick guides that discussed the right and wrong woods to collect to make you won walking and hiking sticks or staffs. The actual how to make hiking sticks and walking staff guides has more information on this subject and other aspects of wood carving, wood burning, rope working, ferrule making, staining and other making walking sticks and staffs.

      Try to find Aspen, Basswood, and Butternut as your first walking stick making project. If you live in Canada Sumac would be a good choice too. I have carved various and unusual wood for hiking sticks and walking staffs. Most areas of the USA have various Pines and Firs that would work great. Aspen and willow from Colorado, Utah and other states are among my favorites.

      There is no exact guide to what wood is best for walking stick making. There are pros and cons to all wood types. If you find something interesting not on the above list - try it. Do not use heavy woods unless the end product is for decoration.

       Stay away from porous woods (cypress and other trees common to marsh areas) at first when making your hiking sticks if you plan to carve the wood. These woods are harder to work with and tend to chip when carving. I have a couple of great cypress walking sticks which are extremely light and strong.

Walking stick making proper height and wood collecting instructions

When collecting your walking stick wood to make your own hiking staffs consider the style and the height of the end product. The walking stick or hiking staff should measure, when the walking stick making project is completed, from the ground to a bit under the height of your chin. If you are making power walking hiking sticks then the height should be at a 5” to 8” higher than the level of your hand when you elbow is at a 90 degree angle.

It always better to collect wood from recent fallen wood or from an area being cleared. Usually you will need to cure the wood for 6 to 12 months before you start making the walking stick. Unless you like the look of the bark peel the wood as soon as you collect it (within 1..2 days). Otherwise if you try to remove the bark from your walking stick making wood it will take much more time and effort.

When stripping the wood try to peel not pry of the bard if possible to prevent damaging the wood you plant o use to make you hiking staff.  Do not start to sand the wood until it cured otherwise the moisture in the wood will clog up the sanding paper. The how to make unique walking stick guides is a great resource of information and instructions in all phases of walking stick making.  Whether you need to know what type of wood to collect, how to cure the wood, carving wood, staining, wood burning images, creating you own ferrules, and other custom walking stick making instructions.

Self collecting walking stick making wood

Once you select the wood you want to harvest fro your walking sick making project be careful to prevent damage to you and your future walking stick.

       How to cut: First remove any branches on sticking out from the limb you plan to harvest to make your walking stick. Start with the small branches and then tackle the larger ones. Support (hold) the branches you are cutting off to prevent splinting of the main limb. Use your saw blade to slow cut the branches. Do not rush through the branches which may cause damage to the area you plan to use for a walking stick or staff making.

       Once all the branches are removed, measure how much of the limb you need and mark it with your knife. If the walking stick project sapling or branch is large you may get two sticks out of it or use the thinner parts for a different project.

       Now, hold the limb you are harvesting above and away from the cut mark firmly. Use your saw blade to start a cut straight across it - do not cut all the way through. Now, score all around the trunk (cut through the bark).  
Flamboyant Tree Limb with a cut all around the limb.
  
          Once you score the complete trunk then continue to cut through the limb. You score the limb first to prevent bark/wood ripping. The straighter you cut across the less likely the wood will splinter. When selecting the wood for your walking stick making project make sure it the right type. Not all wood is good for a quality hand made walking stick or staff. Use the how to make unique walking stick guides for reference when collecting your wood.

         Always cut away from your body!  Remember you are in the woods and a deep cut could be costly!

How to make walking hking sticks by hand guides details

Excerpt from the beginning of How to easily make unique walking and hiking sticks by hand.

Ok, we all want to rush straight into Making Your Own Unique Walking Stick. However, we need to cover a few things first. Please, before you jump into things, read this section that has important information on various aspects of the hobby that you need to know before you start. 

         The guides are assembled in a manner to progressively take you from basic stick making, through wood burning images to carving.  It is a building process and it's highly recommended to review each chapter before you get started.  Many useful tips and tricks are revealed along the way that will give relief from hassles to make this hobby a great past time.

         Each How to make unique walking sticks and staffs guide Chapter will have a question and answer section. The Q & A area is reserved to answer questions by people just like you who need additional help; have suggestions; or just have a general question answered about stick making.  

         The making hiking sticks and walking staffs guides are designed to give you the knowledge to create unique walking sticks, hiking staffs or wizard staffs with little or no previous stick making experience.  If you have questions, need additional help or want to offer suggestions, please go to our blog.
 
       Many of us did not know if the walking stick wood could be worked. Is the walking stick wood the correct height? Or weight? Diameter?  We rushed home and started to work on the walking hiking stick and staffs What happened? In many cases the end result was trash. The wood cracked. It was too heavy or too short. In some cases we damaged the stick while trying to do something with it. In the end, frustration took over. Did this ever happen to you?

       Walking stick making is a great hobby or even a side business.  Who needs frustrations? With a bit of knowledge you will learn what to collect and how to work it. Let's get started!

How to hand make hiking sticks and staff ferrules

   How to make your own walking sticks ferrules takes a bit of knowledge, however, when compared to rubber bottoms they add a special finish to your walking stick or hiking staff project. The majority of the store bought walking sticks and even custom made ones that you see in specialty stores have those ugly rubber bottoms. Rubbers great  if you are walking on cement or hiking on dry asphalt but a steel tipped copper or silver ferrules add extra ground stability and added traction in when hiking.

    Metal ferrules are especially helpful when climbing steep terrain, crossing ice or water.  If you snow hike add a large metal ring right above the spike for added stability in deeper drifts.Depending upon your hiking stick making project you may want to use a steel (silver), copper or brass ferrule to accent you hand made walking stick or hiking staff. However, the tip should always be steel on your walking stick or staff.

   The image to the right shows you a finished hand made ferrule as describe in the how to make unique walking and hiking sticks staff guides.  It uses commonly found hardware items (metal pipe, screws, nuts, etc.) and simple tools to create the walking stick ferrule. Yes, over a long time the ferrule wears down if used on a hard surface, but that just gives you an excuse to work on you favorite stick again or make a new walking stick or hiking staff  for yourself.

How to make a walking stick - wood buring images

When you make a hiking sticks or walking staff you may wnat to consider wood buring images or patterns ont he wodo to create interesting designs. teh above image is a close up of a simple pattern that wraps around the walking stick.  Its give the walking stick the southwest Indian design look. Using simple geometric shapes, lines and repeated patterns will give your walking stick making project unique.

Wood burning kits come in all ranges from simple kits that start around $25 to professional ones that cost hundreds. When selecting your kit look at the wattage and the tip selection. The image to the right uses a tip that has grooves to create the parallel lines. The walking stick guides gives more details on how to create images and even free hand  wood burning not following a template.

Combine wood burning with wood carving or painting. Making hiking sticks and walking staffs if not just cut, sand and add a rope handle. Your walking stick making projects can include fancy wood staining, wood carving, wood burning, rope weaving a handle and much more. Making your own walking stick from wood collected on vacations will even bring your vacation home with you by creating a lasting memory. it's a great way to bring family members together learning how to make unique walking sticks, hiking staffs and other projects with left over walking stick wood.
 

Wood carving make a Fall Leaf walking stick

Transfer image on to walking stick to carve

   This is a project added to the walking sticks guides earlier this year. Its a Fall leaf project. Basically you transfer images on to your walking stick and then wood carve the images. The actual making walking stick project has several leaves on the stick arrange around (5 leaves). The instructions include selecting leaves sizes, how to transferring the leaves images, actual wood carving of the wood walking stick leaves, painting and a extra finishing touch of using copper wire.

     Adding copper wire after the leaves are painted gives the walking stick that added touch. The copper wire accents the leaves colors and really take the stick from an simple carving to a truly unique walking hiking stick or staff.  The project is design for people who have completed the carving section of the how to make unique walking and hiking stick guides. If you are new to making hiking sticks then this is not a project for you. It contains several steps and process that requires some basic carving knowledge. It is a beginner level  carving project for a person who has done some basic wood image carving of walking and hiking sticks.

   Making you own walking stick or hiking staff is easy if you know the process. As in any hobby, learning about the hobby is half the fun.  Why settle for a mass produce store bought stick when you can make one with your own hands.