Hey a few questions

[Arausio]

Well im new to wood carving and to this site and it looks like a great place to ask some questions so here it goes but first ill say a bit about myself.

My names Travis Abbott i live in Ontario in a small town name Orillia its not to far from Toronto.

I have recently got into making walking sticks which i rather enjoy love the time in the forest and the time to myself as i debark them to dry. I have gotten some basic knowledge of what to do from a man who runs the site called Wupan sticks and im grateful for his help. But i am curious to which trees are around here because I lack the insight to tell some of them apart I have debarked 6 sticks so far and only know for sure what one of them is.

I was wondering if anyone knew the trees around her I know of only the following

Maple (don't use because i cant stop the curling)
birch (used)
Poplar (think iv used)

And that's all im sure of really

So if anyone could give me a list of tree a link to a site with pictures or some info to tell them apart id love that.

Also Are poplar trees great to use i found a tree today cut it debarked it and it was lovely and i was told it was maple and it was a poplar but i cant tell im siding with poplar and hopeful that's it (i can supply picture is needed)

Also can anyone explain to me some sort of easy to build clamp object i can build cheap so i can work on maple trees they seem to be the majority on my family's property.

And last question How is poplar with walking sticks is it good strong and able to dry nicely without much cracking (iv learned to deal with cracking the best of my ability i use the candle wax on the ends trick and let it dry outside in my shed laying on a desk 5 feet off the ground)

Thank you to anyone who reply and glad to be on a forum with veteran wood workers

[Claude]

Welcome to the forum, Travis!

Here's a site that can help you identify the trees:

Dendrology at Virginia Tech
(pull down "Fact Sheets", then select "Search" and enter in the commen name)

and another:

What Tree Is It? HOME

and yet another:

Welcome to the PLANTS Database | USDA PLANTS

Poplar is easy to tell if you see it with leaves still on it. At first glance, the leaves look like a maple, but when you really look at them, you see that maples have a pointed end of the leaf while poplars have a "V" end of the leaf. Poplar would make a good hiking stick - it's often used here as the wood of choice for the balusters (vertical pieces holding up the handrail) on stairs.

Claude

Claude

[Arausio]

Thanks for the info it was very helpful tho it is fall so the leafs are not an option but it was very helpful since today i have a big love for how smooth and white poplar is debarked

[kdispoto]

Wecome - I hope someone here can help. Please be patient as not everyone checks in on a daily basis.