Making A Hickory Walking Stick

Measure where your hand comfortably grasps the stick with it upright in front of you.

Making a hickory walking stick.

You can remove some all or none of the bark from the. Take about 6 inches 15cm of line and glue it vertically along your stick. Choosing and cutting 1. Trim it to length.

If you can find them cherrybark oak and pignut hickory are among the strongest north american hardwoods. Cut your wood to length making sure both ends are free of splits. Green wood is too bendable to be effective as a walking or survival stick so only collect dead wood to make for possible staffs. Pour about an inch of water into a pot and put the pot on the stove.

This is where you will drill to insert the 1 4 side dowels. In by backwoods i have cherry poplar and black walnut. Shave off any bark you plan to remove with a whittling knife. Once you find a strong straight piece of wood hickory ash maple work really well.

Tinder kindling and larger branches for fuel and while you re at it look for a piece of wood to make a sturdy walking stick. Put some wax in a. If you find a very desirable branch that you d like to use but it s too green cut it and whittle it to debark it but let it dry outdoors for several weeks before treating it and finishing. Hardwood from deciduous leafy trees is better than evergreen softwood because it is less gummy.

Tightly wrap the remaining cord from top to bottom completely covering the glued on strip and tie it off at the bottom where the line ends. Birch ironwood black cherry ash and maple are also very stiff strong woods. How to dry wood for walking sticks 1. If possible use fresh wood.

The size shape sturdiness and. Bring the water to a simmer. A good walking stick starts with a good piece of wood of course. Then across the width of the cane mark 3 4 above and below each joint.

Lay the cane flat on it s side and with a pencil along the length of the cane mark the center of the cane 1 above and below the joints. This nice man explains how to make a walking stick from the beginning of a branch then adds style decorations and accessories to make them all unique if you. A few exotic hardwoods also resist bending but. If you are making the walking stick for your own use stand the stick on the ground and hold it in.

Dip each end of. You can use dead dry wood but it s hard to carve and makes a weak walking stick.