[makenchips]

I recently purchased a video by Dave Maggard on how to carve walking sticks and was wondering what type of wood he used to carve his wood spirit on in the video. Does anybody know what type of wood he uses? I tried to e-mail him at his site but it came back undeliverable.

What type of wood in general is good for carving walking sticks that can hold the detail and be sturdy enough for its designed use? Do you cut the tree or do you pick up downed limbs? If the limbs are already down is there a good chance that bugs have got to the limb or branch already?

Sorry for all the questions, but I know we have a great amount of talented people lurking on this site and somebody certainly has carved woodspirits before. Unlike me :-/. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[AlArchie]

Most any type of wood can be sucessfully made into walking sticks. I've carved everything from oak to aspen, spruce, balsam, pine, wild cherry, birch, ironwood (northern hop hornbeam) and diamond willow. Some of the sturdier woods like oak and ironwood are harder to carve but work out well when finished. You can use wood that has fallen and dried, especially in the southwest, but even in the northern tier, if you get it before it starts to rot. Pine, spruce balsam and cedar hold up better than the hardwoods when they are dead, due to both pitch content and the open structure of the bark. Birch, basswood and aspen are notoriously bad for quick decay once they are downed.

You can also cut and dry the sticks yourself. I like to wax the ends and store them inside my garage for several months. Sometimes I strip the bark off first to discourage burrowing insects.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different woods, for weight, strenght and carving ease, and don't necesarilly avoid the harder woods just because they are tougher to carve. They can have some unusual and beautiful grains.

You might try some of the small burled maples. Some are so unique, they don't even need carving, just debarking and finishing. And some will actually defy carving.....just too pretty to put a knife to!

Al

I carve mostly sticksd and canes. I usually make them from whatever is available and free. i pick up a ;ot of mine where people cut the limbs back on their trees and pile the limbs on the street. I have made mine from Tallow, Oak, Hickory, Pine, Pecan, Ash, Aspen. I even ordered a couple of diamond willow and did those too. I have some dogwood drying out now.
Sticks and canes can be made from virtually any type wood, and are usually made by what ever is prevellant in the area where the individual carver lives.

[owlhause]

I use sassafrass (did I spell that right?) for my carved hiking sticks. It holds detail well....on a scale of 1 to 10 its about a 6 for hardness. I like it because of the nice pattern you get when its sanded leaving some of the sap wood behind.
Another plus is they can be ordered already dried and ready to carve.
It smells good too

Greg

Three that weren't mentioned:
Cottonwood
Plum
Juniper (Cedar to Texans).

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

How about basswood, mesquite, cedar and yucca

[UNCLE_RICK]

How about some Sweet-Gum?
Anybody in NE Texas or SW Arkansas can come cut some off my land. They're invading my pasture.
Rick

A good friend of mine uses sweetgum and poplar for his walking sticks. He carves them green. He has worked out a 'system' during drying that helps eliminate checking. Green poplar is very easy to carve, and the sweetgum is not too bad either.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

What is his system for drying Mitchell? ???

Hey Hi Ho....

I'm not sure I know all the details....what I do know is the following (I'll confirm with him to add anything that I may miss):

he cuts saplings about 2 -2.5' in diameter and a little over 6' long.
Store in cool place for 3 days - to allow some moisture out, but relatively slowly - he doesn't wax the ends anymore
Cut 4-6' off each end before carving
Carve. His faces generally go near the top of the stick so they are about head high to the 'hiker' - if he knows this in advance. He does deep faces, but cautions not to carve any details onto the back 1/2 of the stick.
He washes the carved area with soap and water - careful not to let the water soak in too much - and pats dry w/towel
paint if desired - he doesn't generally.
Apply pentacryl (from Woodcraft) to the carved area and up to the top of the stick.
If pentacryl is not available, he will store the stick with a plastic bag over the top of the stick and covering the face.
He has better success with the sweetgum than the poplar.