Hiking staff

wooly · May 27, 2018

I cut this beech sapling down for a hiking stick a couple years ago and forgot about. It was the perfect shape and size for my hand.

It dried perfectly with no cracks, so now it's time to decorate it with some wood spirits!

I still got 3 or four more faces to carve on it, but it's coming along nicely and I thought I'd share my progress so far.

I'm really getting tired of doing these guys already, but it's a fun piece to pick up when I can't think of anything fresh to work on.

Then I just scribble on another face and get a little more done on it. :aikido:

turkeyfeathers · May 27, 2018

Awesome work again Matt. Love the expressions on their faces and details are great. You never cease to amaze us.

grampy · May 27, 2018

As always.......amazing! Wish I had the talent you have in just one finger!

I think a hiking staff, with native american etchings, and feathers, would be sooo cool! Having some native blood in me, makes me think of things like that.

Jeremy K · May 27, 2018

That would make a nice peace pipe ... ya know, if you'e into that sort of thing.

wooly · May 27, 2018

22 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Awesome work again Matt. Love the expressions on their faces and details are great. You never cease to amaze us.

Thanks Jay!

I like to use forum members as the inspiration to my faces. Let me know if you recognize anybody, or if you have a reference photo to be incorporated into it yourself!

7 minutes ago, grampy said:

As always.......amazing! Wish I had the talent you have in just one finger!

I think a hiking staff, with native american etchings, and feathers, would be sooo cool! Having some native blood in me, makes me think of things like that.

I like that idea Dave! Might just give that a shot one of these days. I had two other saplings I cut when I got this one but they both split pretty bad when they dried.

I'll be on the look out for some new lumber on my hikes!

6 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

That would make a nice peace pipe ... ya know, if you'e into that sort of thing.

You never know when you'll stumble on a wild herb patch!

Maybe I'll hollow this sucker out just in case,lol

Doc · May 27, 2018

How many hours do you have into that staff? What kind of tool do you use for wood carving? It looks like something I might want to try my hand at.

turkeyfeathers · May 27, 2018

How would hop horn beam( aka iron wood ) dry and work ?

wooly · May 27, 2018

4 hours ago, Doc said:

How many hours do you have into that staff? What kind of tool do you use for wood carving? It looks like something I might want to try my hand at.

Doc- so far I got about 12 hours into this thing. A lot of guys can do these things MUCH quicker than that, but working with wood is very new to me compared to the bone I've been working with.

I've got a Dremel 3000 and a Dremel 4000 with flex shafts for my motors, and so many bits I don't know what to do with them all. I'm honestly still learning what a lot of them do, and the effects they create. For the majority of the work on these I just use a flame tip carbide bit and go at it very slowly even though the bit wants to chew right through this stuff. Some chisels and gouges would probably help make these much cleaner, but I don't have any of that stuff yet, and will have to learn that in the future when I do pick up a set. This stuff is really relaxing, and makes you slow down a bit to stay focused.

3 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

How would hop horn beam( aka iron wood ) dry and work ?

I'm not really sure what raw woods work best. This has all been trial and error since I got started.

Now that I'm expanding into different types of wood carving I'll do a little more research and figure out exactly what I need to be looking for and collecting while I wander through the woods. That's just another part of this hobby that I really enjoy is the endless scavenger hunt for new material to carve and learn from!

Edited May 27, 2018 by wooly