My first hiking stick

[Just Carving]

Here's my first hiking stick--2-1"x2"x48" long pine glue-lamed with a 1/2" stainless steel bolt (hex. head is cut off) epoxied at the toe with a rubber cane tip. The cane tip can be removed to use the stick on ice/snow. The carved twisted pattern running the length of the stick from the toe to the hand grip and represents 1 1/2" diameter rope with three strands. The hand grip is carved and represents "whipping" which in this case is 1/4" diameter cord wrapped for about 7 1/2". The finish is several coats of Minwax wipe on polyurethane--satin finish. The stick reminds me of a giant honey dipped cruller you'd get at Dunkin' Donuts (DROOL!) LOL. I haven't gotten a chance to pick up some J&J floor wax paste, but I plan on putting several coats on to give it some extra protection. In the pictures, you'll see the second stick which is 2-1"x2"x48" long pine glue-lamed and rounded off to approximately 1 1/2" in diameter. I'll probably do the same stick again--I might change the handgrip to an end splice--which would appear to be the 3 strands of rope folded over and interwoven back into the weave of the strands of the rope. I'm still working out the pattern in my head. The materials for the stick--2 pieces of 1"x2"x48" from Lowes, the 1/2"x3" hex head stainless steel bolt, and the rubber cane tip from Wal-mart--cost a total of about $10. The fun I had carving the stick--priceless. (Sorry to sound like a commercial, but it's true).

Thanks to Goody (Decoycarve) for posting the tip a while back of using 3 pieces of blue masking tape to draw the pattern for the twisted rope. Thanks to Susan (Irish) for getting me squared away on the finishing. Thanks to Bob (Squibrigg) for the idea of using rope work as the theme for making hiking sticks. They say carve what you know. I am familiar with rope work since I worked with 3/4" ropes, block and tackle, etc. when training in heavy rescue--it was one of the tasks I truly loved to do since it was just you, the rope, and whatever had to be moved--very challenging. And thanks to everyone else that helped me along the way over the last 3 years. I think I've finally found my niche in carving--carving hiking sticks with a rope work as the theme. Finally finding this niche is a nice Christmas present to myself.

Merry Christmas!

Bob L

[sticklady]

Hi, A Merry Christmas to you too! great job on the hiking stick! I have been making hiking sticks for over 20 years and I do have one suggestion for you. If you plan on using the stick a lot, I would suggest you use a good marine spar varnish on your stick. A few thin coats will give it much more protection from the elements than a poly or wax. If you are just planning on hanging it on the wall the latter will be fine, but it will not give your stick the protection it may need while crossing creeks, going through mud, snow, or even tall dew covered grass and you would have to re-coat it often. A good marine spar varnish is flexible and will expand and contract with the wood and change in elements, plus it is waterproof when dry and will give years of protection before you would need to re-coat.

You spent your time making a priceless stick, so don't cheat yourself on the finish you use if you are planning on using the stick

Best of luck and again Merry Christmas.

Sticklady
www.tandbtradesmen.com

[Irishman]

There's a lot of work there for your first hiking stick. I like the rope look as well. It sounds like you did all the carving by hand, and laminated wood to boot. I have seen a similar pattern done by those who turn wood from a single peice. Nice work.
Patrick

[stickman]

Nice stick ,the rope work looks great.

I might have to try some rope work .

[tnartist05]

Your walking stick looks really neat! Good ideas and a nice looking walking stick.

Tn~

[Kenny_S]

Nice hiking staff and How you did it. Good write up and pictures.

[Just Carving]

Thanks everyone for the nice compliments! I really enjoyed carving this stick and I definitely plan on doing more. I wanted to explain what I did and how I did it. Feel free to do the same--it's quite a bit of work. I'm sure there's easier and quicker ways to do it, but the Winter nights won't go by as fast as when you do it with just a knife! I think I spent maybe 40-50 hours total once I worked out the bugs on how to get the pattern on the stick and then how I wanted to carve. I'm experimenting on using different tools on the second stick, but so far, I keep migrating back to using my knife. So, we''l see...

Sticklady, Thank you for the tip on marine spar varnish. I had asked about what finish was best and got a few suggestions. I'll put yours on my list--I know that finish will hold up and it makes sense to protect my work. This stick is my first--sort of a practice stick--definitely a trophy that's going to hang on my wall. But the one I'm working on now will probably be a worker. I'll probably use the Marine Spar Varnish made by Sutherland Welles. From what I understand, it has all tung oil instead of a mix of tung oil and linseed oil. The tung oil is suppose to dry faster and hold up better with less discoloration. But the tung oil does make the varnish more expensive.

Irishman, I did do the carving by hand--I only used my Butz wannabe knife that I made. Here's a link to a pic and description:

Butz Detail Knife

Thanks again.

Bob L

[Lightningbolt]

I think that you've done a great job of "carving what you know"! I've enjoyed looking at this one and thank's for letting us see it.

[Just Carving]

Thanks Lighningbolt. I'm glad you guys are enjoying my work. Here's another shot I meant to post but I could only put 5 in a message. It's a little blurry but it's a cropped shot of the twist.

Bob L