Personalized walking stick

Lightningbolt · #1 08-12-2007, 10:17 PM

I recently carved this woodspirit walking stick for a departing co-worker and was pleased with the bold look that the finish made on this fine piece of sourwood.

Enjoy!

Kenny_S · #2 08-12-2007, 10:30 PM

Real nice walking stick Dave. I like the spirit and coloring. Nice finish. Excellent stick.

chuckt · #3 08-12-2007, 11:03 PM

Nice job Dave. And you've even got a hang tag on 'im and everything. Very professional.

!
ChuckT

GaryMc · #4 08-12-2007, 11:03 PM

Great looking stick Dave, I'm sure that he will be very proud of it1
GaryMc

Banjo · #5 08-13-2007, 06:51 AM

Now that's a stick to be proud of! Your right, the finished just made it PoP! Well, done.

Eddy Smiles · #6 08-13-2007, 08:51 PM

Mighty fine job Dave! That out to provide quite a few hours of reflective and thoughtful hiking!

susieq · #7 08-13-2007, 10:40 PM

Wonderful piece of work Dave. Your co worker will be thrilled with it. Does he hike? You said this was sourwood? As in Sourwood honey? My brother used to live half way up Mt. Pisgah just outside of Asheville and he kept bees. I was the lucky recipient of free honey and he really liked when the sourwood honey came in. me too.

Is the wood harder than basswood?
susieq

MelNM · #8 08-13-2007, 10:45 PM

Very nice, I like how you showed the eyes looking to the side instead of staring straight ahead.
Very Nice
Mel

Irishman · #9 08-14-2007, 06:59 AM

The yellow color coming through the beard really works for your carving. I recently came back from a kayak trip around the highlands of Cape Breton, NS, and met a few hikers while camping. Saw quite a variety of walking sticks being used...and I also saw a great need for quality walking sticks. Wish I was retired as I could be carving walking sticks full time. Thanks for sharing.
Patrick

Lightningbolt · #10 08-14-2007, 07:40 PM

Appreciate all the kind comments. Gosh, I believe that the folk's on this message board are more capable of curing a case of chronic depression than the university psychologist!!

susieq: The recipient of the stick is a hiker but unfortunately he spends more time canoeing. Seems that a lot of the people who get my sticks at work end up displaying them as conversation pieces in the living room rather than actually using them and I think he's one of "them".

And oh yes, this is most definitely the same famous Appalachian sourwood that is revered in these parts for it's honey. Cutting the sticks for carving can be a VERY sensitive subject with a lot of the local old timer's who are overly protective of these trees. Seems every other store in western North Carolina has sourwood honey for sale.

I am also completely convinced that my "tiny" harvest of the trees has zero effect on the overall proliferation of the species which is abundantly healthy in these mountains. I've been harvesting a sourwood walking stick crop for more than 16 years on our camp's 900 acre reserve and after just 3 or 4 year's I can do another selective cutting. Sourwood is like water in the southern Appalachian's... it's just about everywhere.

As for carving sourwood is my favorite locally native wood. I'd be hard pressed to say that anything carve's as good as basswood but it does a great job. It carves somewhat "harder" than basswood but the grain seems to be very solid which makes it a pleasure to carve without so much worry of chipping or the such.

Besides walking sticks I also use the larger poles of sourwood to build rustic furniture. I even built my own rustic bed from some beautiful naturally bent sourwood poles that I air dried for 3 years. Yes, I have woodspirit's carved on the headboard posts' with their eyes slanted down on the matress to protect and guard me through the night. I carved some oak leaves and acorns on the upper rail of the footboard. I luv my bed if it doen't show

Thank's again!