Wood for Walking Stick

[Terrymac]

Hi Guys,
I'd like to have a go at making a walking stick.
Any suggestions on the type/s of wood suitable for this purpose.
Regards
Terry

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

For a swagger stick, pretty much any relatively long- & close-grained timber that's also suitable for tool handles will do.

I've made 'em from carefully selected pieces of Redgum, Merbau, Vic Ash, & English Oak.

For a "proper" walking stick - one that'll be used as an aid for walking and heavily leaned on - then I'd add straight-grained to the list. It's gotta be strong.

[Woodwould]

Hazel has been the choice for traditional walking sticks for centuries because of it's strength and shock absorbing qualities. It's also easily straightened (or bent) with hot sand or steam alone. I use hazel for my own sticks.

Other traditional 'stick woods' are sweet chestnut, and blackthorn (for regimental sticks, rustic country sticks and shelaileighs).

Gentlemen's sticks were traditionallly made from malacca cane in the 19th century, though again, mahogany and virtually anything else that's decorative gets a mention too.

Victoria has a history of nut production and hazel and chestnut are easily sourced in the region. However, the material used for stick making comes from copiced bushes and not the free-growing trees used for nut production. That's not to say you won't find the odd branch from a nut tree that's useable.

If you have any long term ambitions for stick making, you can grow hazel and chestnut from cuttings struck in the autumn and begin copicing them the following year and reap sticks from them the year after that.

Before I left Ireland I had several acres of copiced willow and hazel. The 'rods' they produced were for use in thatching, though I did make the occasional walking stick.

If you want to turn an entire stick, I would look at mahogany for a red/brown stick, or ash for a cream/white stick. You can buy the steel-tipped brass ferrules on-line.

[tea lady]

Was looking for a link I had to growing walking stick cabbages.
Found this too. Looks interesting. Lots of historical info.:2tsup:
http://www.woodcarvers.org/canes&walkingsticks.htm

Here is the link to walking stick cabbage seeds. :D
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/product/779/3.html (http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/product/779/3.html)

And how to grow them so they have the curl on the top.:cool:
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page32.html

You didn't want it to be a quick process did you?:rolleyes::D

[rsser]

Some local species to try would include Snowgum, Kanuka and Horizontal scrub.

The more whippy the timber the more you'll need to steady the sections as you turn.

[Gra]

Made mine out of an old Pallet.... I think it is meranti or merbau not really sure, but its light but seems quite strong (Well its put up with supporting my fat gut..) the trick with using that as a stick was to have it a bit thicker than usual, mine looks a little like a table leg. (I also didnt have a steady so I stopped when it started the bend to much:D)

would recomend some form of steady for the lathe as the stick WILL bend while you are turning it, and the thiner you go, the more pronounced the bend as it goes around. When I say bend I dont mean permanantly, it will just move away from the tool so you may end up with an oval shape or the details will be stronger one side than the other

[Manuka Jock]

Some local species to try would include Snowgum, Kanuka and Horizontal scrub.

The more whippy the timber the more you'll need to steady the sections as you turn.

Do you guys have Kanuka there too ?

[rsser]

Sure do. Tristania laurina.

Lots of it along the rivers of East Gippsland, and it ranges to Nth Qld.

The water flows tend to point the branches downstream, so if you're doing a river walk it's wise to go with the flow - otherwise the branches just pin you to the spot; boy are they springy.

Bootle says the stuff is seldom milled but good for tool handles and mallets. Treat like Brushbox.

[Terrymac]

Many thanks for the replies.
I recently made a 3 point steady so this will be the first opportunity to give it a go.
Cheers
Terry

[Manuka Jock]

Sure do. Tristania laurina.

Lots of it along the rivers of East Gippsland, and it ranges to Nth Qld.

The water flows tend to point the branches downstream, so if you're doing a river walk it's wise to go with the flow - otherwise the branches just pin you to the spot; boy are they springy.

Bootle says the stuff is seldom milled but good for tool handles and mallets. Treat like Brushbox.

Ah , so , your kanuka is Kanooka or Water Gum .

Our NZ Kanuka is Kunzea ericoides , a close looker to Manuka - Leptospermum scoparium , so much so that the two often get mistaken for each other.

Both have similer qualities to yours tho :2tsup:

[Tornatus]

G'day Terry

I strongly suggest you look at Tasmanian Horizontal Scrub (Anodopetalum biglandulosum) for your walking stick - it's very strong and tough, and has the advantage that it comes with a handle built in!

I suffer from osteoarthritis, and am becoming increasingly dependent on a stick for support. I have had for some time a superb stick turned from a very straight and heavy piece of Jarrah, but the handle is made from a turned Banksia Nut. It looks great, but is not practical, as the ball shape puts too much strain on your wrist. I was going to try and carve a replacement handle from a suitable piece of burl, but a friend brought me back from Tassie a length of Horizontal Scrub, which has been cut in such a way that the natural junction of branch and stem forms a solid and correctly-shaped handle. This is important, as I am a big bastard and put a lot of weight on a stick, and the handle joint is usually the weakest point.

A colleague in our Guild who makes walking sticks (usually from hawthorn and carved ramshorn) straightened the shaft for me by heating it with a hot-air blower and clamping it in his special vices. All I had to do then was strip off the bark, sand it lightly and finish with Boiled Linseed Oil diluted with turps. I left some bark around the handle for grip, and fitted a rubber crutch-tip for skid-proofing (sorry, no pics - my daughter nicked the camera). As they say in the classics, "It goes like a bought one!"

I am sure that if you check with timber suppliers in Tassie, you should be able to locate someone who sells blanks for this type of stick. The handle end might be challenge if you still want to turn the shaft to a regular form, but I find the natural shape of my stick quite pleasing - it's a Aussie version of the shilleleagh my ancestors wielded in the Ould Country! :let: