re: Diamond Willow

[Ron T]

Hello!

Diamond Willow sticks grow in the Northern states and Canada along rivers, streams and boggy areas.

Diamond Willow sticks are really beautiful because the outer wood is very white and the inner core wood is red or brown. In addition, a good Diamond Willow stick will have a diamond shaped indention that, when carved out, is red and stands out remarkably well against the white, outer sapwood

Anyway, for those of you who might want to try their hand at a Diamond Willow stick, here is how I carve mine.


1. Leave a border of (white) sapwood around the diamonds (about 1/4").

note: The inner red heartwood on younger, thinner sticks may not be very prominent. The white sapwood will be very thick and this carving method may not be possible. Determine the thickness of the white sapwood by looking at the end of the stick.

2. Cut a narrow groove, around the diamond, down to the heartwood. This will tell you how thick the sapwood is and how much of an area you have for a carving.

3. Rasp, chisel or use a knife to carve down the sapwood to an even thickness of less than ¼”. It's up to you how thick you want your figures to be so you can skip this step if you want a more "fuller" carving.

4. Draw an outline of the figure you want to carve. Note below.

5. Cutout the sapwood from around the shape of your figure and add details, like eyes or hair, toes, etc.

note: I use line drawings and photocopy them. I hold the image to the stick. Then, I use the shading tip of my wood burning pen and rub the lines to transfer my image.

I hope this will help anyone interested in carving a Diamond Willow stick.