Stickmaking/Country crafts

I do countryside crafts, these are my Hazel sticks for walking stick making.

anymore stickmakers out there?

 

Not as far as I know. Be good to see the end results though Lad.

 

There's a few of us here who will soon be stickmakers..."Cabbage Walking stick makers" to be precise.

Perhaps you could expand on how you make them, share your knowledge of the craft.

Steve...

 

will write a beginners guide soon.

These are my latest.

 

my father did a lot of stickmaking ,mostly crooks and thumb sticks as do i from time to time

 

Stickmaking.​

My tips and gathering techniques.​

I started Stickmaking in 2001 as I was seeing so much good wood wasted by coppicing on my local nature reserve and after sorting wood for turning I started collecting for sticks.
I always use Hazel and nothing else, but Ash, Holly and Blackthorn are just as good if not better it is is just that I have a Hazel Coppice of my own which can be cut annually at different parts of the wood.
If you do decide to start one thing to bear in mind is that for every inch of stick you need one years seasoning, gather the sticks in a tight bundle using string and store in a garage, spare room or sheltered outbuilding up against a wall, a typical stick should be 4.5 foot and about 1.5in diam at the bottom. Seal all cut ends with wood knotting. This will stop longitudal splitting. Dont worry about the sticks not being straight I will tell you more about that next time.
Now, any questions?

 

I carved a spon once.

 

I joined a woodcarving course some 16 years ago in order to be able to carve a "Pinocchio" (joke, I actually made a portrait of myself). I really enjoyed it! Although I was a bit hopeless at sharpening the tools, but other than that it was a great experience.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRPLrk6wgg[/url]