[brian bailey]

Here is a 5' walking stick that I just carved.
The wood is a branch from a wild apple tree that I had cut last year.

Sindar "the brown " is a wizard brought forth to look out for those who post to much personal info. in their profiles from harm.

Thanks for looking.

[BobD]

Love it Brian! We had a dog named Syndar!

Bob

[brian bailey]

When I need a name for wizard like stuff, I'll get J.R.R. Tolkien's book "The Silmarillion" out. Lots of tongue twisters in there!

Actually, "Sindar" in his book refers to "The Grey-elves".

[brian bailey]

Finally stopped raining long enough so my wife could get a couple of in hand pictures.

Thanks for looking.

[Sharon of the Dell]

That's a very cool stick! and thank Sindar for the protection! lol

[Lightningbolt]

Excellent job on the stick! I've never used wild apple before. When I was a kid in Alabama I remember us picking crab apples quite a bit but haven't seen them since I've been in North Carolina for the last twenty-something years.

Thanks for posting.

[Iowa Carver]

That is a cool stick. Love the carving on it. Nice job!

Corey

[Jim-Iowa]

Very Nice Stick!

[Ron T]

Hi Brian,

Finally, a stick. Great carving and really nice stick. And, with that hat it's a perfect match for you. Will that be your personal walking stick? Do you have any others? What is the diameter at the top? Is wild apple anything like mountain apple? Is the stick really hard wood? I carved a lemon stick and it was really hard. How did you do his eyes? Too many questions? It's just that I'm into sticks in a big way.

Thanks.

[brian bailey]

Thanks for the kind comments.

My property was an apple orchard over 100 yrs ago, so I'm told. Anyways, between the neighbor pasturing his cows for many years before I bought the place and the heavy deer browse each year, I have some pretty interesting stick stock.

I have wild apple and lots of thorn apple. I like carving the wild apple because of the color of the wood.

I've only cut thorn apple up for firewood, the wood seems to have more sapwood than heartwood, but the contrast between the two woods would make an interesting carving.

Ron T,

My hat is a necessity this time of year because of the deer flies! They'll drive you crazy buzzing around your head and trying to land for a quick meal, you being the host.

Yes, the stick is my personal walking stick. I use to have an old shovel handle that I used as a walking stick until it was brought to my attention that an over zealous cop could charge me with possession of a dangerous weapon .

I have more sticks ready to carve, just need the inspiration to do so.

The stick is 1 1/2" at the top and tapers down to 1".
I clamped the stick in a vise and used a mallet and various gouges to do the carving.

The eyes were carved using the corner of a small #2 & #11 gouge. I used a detail knife to clean up around the eye that I couldn't get to with the gouge.

The wood was seasoned so it was hard, but by using a gouge and tap, tap, tap with a mallet made the carving easy.

Hope this answers your questions. Thanks for asking.