[Lightningbolt]

Thanks for this nice collection of comments which gave me a few new ideas!

by Woodartist: <<<SNIP>>>

The only thing I have done different in the past is to coat the ends with wax or latex paint......to cut down on the checking.

For some reason the most of my drying stick, by far and large, never show any cracking further down from the ends than perhaps an inch so I don't spray them anymore. I do still spray all of the sticks that I remove the bark from with acrylic sealer, probably more from fear (instead of reality) that they will start cracking from the sudden shock of losing their skin. After removing the bark and shaving the stick down to the desired size, I will sand it down smooth finishing with steel wool at which time it is ready for the carving. Even if I'm going to do the carving immediately I still give it a spray down and it especially gives me a little peace of mind for the sticks that will be set aside for a while until I get back to them whenever.

Acrylic is cheap, it dries super-dooper fast, and besides making a nice air seal it also serves as the primary sealing coat so when I finish the carving it usually only takes one coat of polyurethane to give me the perfect exterior and final finish. Semi-gloss or full gloss spray acrylic work equally well and it doesn't matter which is used since it will be steel wooled and painted/finished over later on. I usually use the gloss since the can don't require any shaking... but that don't mean that my life don't occasionally need some shake, rattle, and hum in it !

by BobD:

In your opinion, what is the best wood for walking sticks? I'd imagine that the dogwood would be a bear to carve...

I feel strongly inclined to agree with Hi-Ho in that I tend to like all sticks as I'm always telling the kids in my shop that, "I've never met a piece of wood that I didn't like." While partially true I must admit that I have my favorites but sometimes have to settle on what is available.

I've really come to love sourwood which is everywhere in the southern Appalacians. It carves smooth without splintering everywhere and I really like the way that it takes a painting and finish. Just a joy to work with for me.

I have also grown to love dogwood over the years and as I have gradually made it more and more a big part of my collection. Sometimes it is a bit hard to shave down to size on the shaving horse as the grain wants to splinter in different directions so I have to shave it with more caution than other sticks, turning it in opposite directions more often.

Yes the dogwood is much harder to carve and I have to be a little more patient with my knives but it's very much worth it to me. Absolutely no other type wood takes a final shine like dogwood does! Oh, my gosh is it beautiful! Such a rich, creamy white lustre and sometimes, if I'm lucky, it will be streaked with some redish colored wood. It's harder to shave, harder to carve, and harder to sand but they also bring top dollar right the opposite... much easier! As an additional bonus dogwood keeps my hands very well toned and strong so that it makes carving my medium-hard woods a breeze!

Before I write a book I'll just list a few more of my favorites for now. Sweet birch, mountain laurel (when I can find it straight enough), maple, sasafrass... I've tried to use white ash but the grain of that wood just won't take a finish at all! I did sand an ash stick down a few weeks ago and just painted some little foot prints twisting around the stick with a little green tree near the leather wrist strap with NO carving and that stick brought $42.00 at the auction! Who knows what people want?!?

by bbeery <<<SNIP>>>

I've seen great success with Red Cedar, the red heart wood makes the carving of a face very interesting! But, it cracks easily and does not like weather changes i.e. good to look at, not much for real use.

I couldn't agree more. I've tried and tried to use eastern red cedar for walking sticks but I just can't get the quality results that I want. It splinters too easily and most of the walking stick sizes just don't have the kind of strength that I believe a good staff should have. I still love cedar with a passion but I now use it for "chunk" type carvings and not for walking sticks.

by Coffeeman: <<<SNIP>>>

I notice from the pictures, your drying them with the bark left on. If you perferr a walking stick that is barkless, what method do you use to remove the bark after the stick has been dried?

Back in the early days of my stick making career I only gathered the ones which were the "perfect" diameter. Today I maximize my walks into the woods with much greater efficency and bring back ALL the sticks, big or small in diameter, that I can make work with some additional shaving.

I shave down all of my larger sticks on a shaving horse that I made from Drew Langsner's design in his book "Country Woodcraft" that I bought in the late 1970's and still have. I can't imagine ever being able to use the larger sticks without such a wonderful tool. I'm probably the only person on the planet who has one in my living room! I can shave four or five sticks while watching my favorite news program... talk about utilizing my time!

by windsong: <<<SNIP>>>

All i'm cutting is Sassfrass, birch and popular.

Thanks for the encouragement and hope you are healing fast! I've also had some good luck with sassafras but I can't find it in very large quantities in my favorite hunting grounds. Birch is great. In my area I've found that the tulip poplar in my area can be good and bad... mostly bad. It cracks up more than any of my other wood but sometimes I can work around them if not too bad.

Surprisingly I do find a few good ones that fall as dead limbs from our very high mountainside poplars. A lot of them are curved but a lot of them are good. They make great practice carving sticks for kids who aren't as demanding as me.

Ok, back to carvin' !

[bbeery]

I'm curious about how y'all handle the bark on sticks. I debark the sticks as soon as possible. I think it gives a much better appearance to the wood when it drys, it drys much faster and the bark comes off much easier.
Aspen and D. Willow are much more difficult to remove the bark it you wait till it drys. To remove the bark I use a draw shave then follow up with a spoke shave. On D. Wollow I use a knife and a gouge to clean out the concaved areas. When 2 diamonds are on opposite sides of the stick from each other, I'll bore right through and make an opening through the center. That makes an interesting configuration.

[Lightningbolt]

bbeery: I'm dealing with trees east of the Mississippi so you are most likely doing the correct thing when it comes to aspen or diamond willow. I can say that I've had a very tiny exposure to diamond willow but that was way back in the late 1970's and early 80's when I was working for a hunting & fishing outfitter in Alaska. At that time I cleaned mine the same way that you have described. I was just wondering if the bark could be removed by boiling it after being freshly cut much as I do cypress knees? Inquiring minds want to know.

Not sure how everyone else deals with the bark on sticks (east of the 'sippi) but here's how I do it: First, if I'm lucky enough to find a stick that is just the right size to pass as a walking stick "as-is" then I always make it a special stick in a couple different ways.

I will sand and/or steel wool the rougher outer bark down to a smooth feel leaving only the very thin crust of the inner bark left to show. Next I will spray the entire stick with Krylon acrylic sealer and put it aside until I'm ready to carve... either tomorrow, next week, or next year. I love these sticks with the inner bark showing which finishes to a wonderful and unique look that people really like. This is especially true for mountain laurel which has the most intense reddish mystical finish imaginable.

Sometimes I will just leave a small section of this inner bark intact around where the handgrip will be located which adds a nice touch. For me, finding sticks with the bark already at the right size to use as a walking stick is the exception and these sticks add another unique look to add to my stock. I usually have to spend some time with the draw blade on the shaving horse slicing bigger sticks down to size, but that is a pleasant experience and a joy to do IF you have very good draw blades made for that job.

Seems that debarking the sticks works well for you and I'd guess that you're west of the "Big River" so who am I to say? All I can say is that I've had a lot of maple and dogwood to crack up pretty bad up and down the side when I did that a few times in the past. It just works best for me to let 'em dry with the bark intact whether I plan to leave it on later or to remove it, but you also have to consider that I LOVE working the shaving horse so go figgure. As previously mentioned I do spray them down with acrylic sealer after sanding or debarking because it just makes me feel better with some of the pores in the wood sealed tight.

That's how I do it but I reserve the right to modify my methods at any time without notice based upon discovering that only an idiot would do it like me.

[Claude]

I've read of people using draw knives, spoke shaves, and now box cutters to remove the bark. For a piece of crab apple that has been drying for a year, how about a portable belt sander? I don't have the draw knife or spoke shave, but I do have a nice little belt sander... Has anyone tried this yet?

Claude

[Woodartist]

Well, I'm a believer in the box cutter. However I have used a belt sander on other things and the concern is control of it. It will remove a lot of material very fast, and maybe not the material you want removed I have not used it to de-bark a stick though. It will be interesting to see what others might have done......

[Kenny_S]

I guess I am different. That is possible! I use pocket knife to remove the bark. Let it dry for about 3 weeks and then strip the bark off. No problem with it coming off or checking. But then, I usually carve soemthing in it and then seal it.

To each his own and I am betting, each carver has good iseas and methods.

[Hugh P.]

More often than not, I peel mine as soon as I get them home, sometimes take off the bark in the woods. The best time of year in NB is in the spring when the leaves are coming out and the sap is running, most sticks peel quickly. Dry them one day in the sun, and sealing the ends with wax is a must when peeling them so soon.

[RoadKingMN]

This past weekend I took 3 dead branches off the White Pine in my backyard. All of them are over 6 feet long and over 2 inches in diameter at the thick end. I used a draw knife to take the bark and lichens off. I hope the wood carves as easily as the bark came off. It's also almost time to harvest some young aspens and let them dry. If you get those young the thin silver bark is easy to peel off. Once the tree gets older the thick darker bark is a bear to remove.

[Jim Arnold]

Thanks for the info. LightingBolt. I am new to carving the sticks and appreciate your insights.
Jim

[bbeery]

lightningbolt: You mentioned boiling cypress knees to remove the bark. Can you elavorate? I have a heck of a time removing the bark; usually using a power carver to do the job. Not sure I could fine a vat large enough to fit my knees into. I carve knees that at 3' to 4' tall.
How long do you "cook" them? Does the boiling make the bark fall off or do you need to shave it off after cooking it?
My knees come from the virgin cypress swamps in South Carolina; "low country"