Hello whittlers

[MikeEngland]

Hello whittlers and wood carvers! Havn't been to this page much, but I like it! Whittleing a stick was job #1 when I got my first pocket knife, and I've enjoyed doing it ever since.
I like to say "a stick that's not sharp on the end has no point." Sorry, i think it's funny.
Any who, i havnt turned out any of the great art pieces that some of you guys here have, (great work around here btw) but I love to pull out my shave box and go to town on any old piece of wood just the same. Here's a couple pics i like that are whittle related. Keep up the good work fellas, and keep those sticks sharp!

[knives-are-quiet]

I myself am no artist when it comes to whittling.
But I do dabble in it a little making walking sticks for hiking in the forest.
Carving a piece of art is great and a beautiful thing to look at but I like making something useful like walking sticks and or the smoking pipes you carved. Something that is a tool or something you can use instead of just looking at.
Nice work..........."Mike E"
Here are a few sticks I created.
I have a bunch more I made also.

JW

[MikeEngland]

Those are great sticks. what kind of woods do you like to use? One of my favorite things to do outdoors is "stick hunting". I'm trying to learn how to identify different kinds of trees. The pic of my sticks shows two finnished hickory sticks and a new maple that I havn't started yet. I like to soak them for a week or so, strip em, then let em dry naturally fer several months.

[knives-are-quiet]

Those are great sticks. what kind of woods do you like to use? One of my favorite things to do outdoors is "stick hunting". I'm trying to learn how to identify different kinds of trees. The pic of my sticks shows two finnished hickory sticks and a new maple that I havn't started yet. I like to soak them for a week or so, strip em, then let em dry naturally fer several months.

Any kind of wood will do.
Doesn't really matter to me.
I find it better and easier to make the sticks with wood that is already dead but not too far cured.
The bark comes right off very easy and you don't have to worry about the wood shrinking and cracking like you would with freshly cut wood.
More into the shape of the stick.
I like looking for those spiral sticks formed by vines that have grown around the tree.
They are pretty hard to find and you really have to go off the trail and into the thickets to get them.
From left to right in my first picture:
#1-> (walking stick completely made out of a large vine)
#2-> (spiral walking stick made out of bitter nut hickory)
#3-> (hiking staff pieced together out of three different woods - very aged piece of spiral hickory - willow and large piece of honey suckle vine.

I have a bunch more I made which I'll post when I find the time.

JW

[Gunstock Jack]

Walkin' stix are COOL !!!

I like makin' 'em too much and run outta space! Mine are mostly Madrona saplings or branches that I cut about this time of year and let dry until May or June before continuing. Madrona is extremely hard and stiff when dried, but good luck finding a straight piece! I take some of 'em and dry 'em in a length of PVC pipe to get 'em a little straighter, but I like the crookedness of the finished sticks as it give 'em "character".

All these are of Madrona except the light colored one, which is cedar with a hardwood grip section. Mostly natural, the knobby ones are saplings and the others branches.

[MikeEngland]

Great sticks Gunstock! I've never heard of Madrona, where does it grow? So far the sticks I've finished are about chest length hikeing sticks, I think I'll try to cut the maple sappling in my first pic down to shorter cane length. I want to find more saplings with a big knob or bend at the base, but I prefer a straighter shaft. My Hickorys were cut at the end of October. I skined em and let em soak for about 7-10 days, which I read will leech the remaining sap out helping them to cure straighter and be less apt to crack. I then fixed them to a wooden plank to dry till spring. That spring I hand rubbed them and finished with Linseed oil. It was my first attempt at making a good set of sticks, and i gotta say, I was pretty pleased with the result. What do you use to finish your sticks?

[Gunstock Jack]

Madrona is an ancient tree species that is native to the Pacific NW; it is a broadleaf evergreen tree that can reach 50-60 feet and can grow to be quite old. The bark is quite thin and flaky and in places nearly absent on the tree. It has no commercial value other than as firewood, but is a beautiful tree. The other common "hardwoods" that grow around here are Alder and Big Leaf Maple, both of which are fairly "soft" in sizes convienent for walking sticks. I wish we had some hickory....

Wikipedia states in part: Arbutus, a genus of flowering tree whose North American members are called "Madrones". In the United States, the name "Madrone" is used south of the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon/northern California and the name "Madrona" is used north of the Siskiyou Mountains according to the "Sunset Western Garden Book". In British Columbia, the trees are simply known by the name "Arbutus."[2][3] All refer to the same tree, Arbutus menziesii, native to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California regions. It is Canada's only native broadleaved evergreen tree.

For finish, I've been using Minwax Spar Urethane which is "weather proof" and available in rattle cans or quarts.

[buckthorn]

It will usually be easier to remove the bark from sticks cut during a tree's growing season than during the dormant season. Lateral tree growth occurs in the cambial layer of the wood just inside the bark. During the growing season new cells are being formed and that area is very fluid and leading to a weaker connection between wood and bark.