I recently found a stick (possibly some sort of cherry from a garden) in a wood pile at our scout hut that was being chopped up for fire wood.
It had presumably been there for some time as it was very dry. The thin end snapped off to the ideal length that is now, which may or may not be a good thing.
It appeared to have some potential as a rough, slightly wonky, walking staff. It was quite thick at the top which suits me as I have quite large hands with long fingers.
The bark was removed and protrusions cut off and a hole drilled for a wrist loop.
The stick was sanded down a bit, but only nominally. It would have required a lot of wood removing to make it a uniform colour.
A few coats of raw linseed oil were applied over a number of days. The linseed oil soaked in very quickly and it kept on absorbing it like a sponge.
It was left for over a week to cure.
It was then treated with yacht varnish. Again, the varnish was absorbed, especially near the top. The end-grain took a few coats before the varnish formed a gloss layer and each coat was left outside to cure.
An Alpine ferrule was fitted to the bottom, along with a black paracord wrist loop.
As it is now, it is around 530g in weight. I've no idea how strong it will be, but it will hopefully be strong enough for my needs (The absorbed linseed oil and varnish may have strengthened it!)
It is rough and ready, but is now quite an interesting looking (Wizard's?) stick and it feels comfortable my hand.
I will be testing it on a walk this weekend.
It had presumably been there for some time as it was very dry. The thin end snapped off to the ideal length that is now, which may or may not be a good thing.
It appeared to have some potential as a rough, slightly wonky, walking staff. It was quite thick at the top which suits me as I have quite large hands with long fingers.
The bark was removed and protrusions cut off and a hole drilled for a wrist loop.
The stick was sanded down a bit, but only nominally. It would have required a lot of wood removing to make it a uniform colour.
A few coats of raw linseed oil were applied over a number of days. The linseed oil soaked in very quickly and it kept on absorbing it like a sponge.
It was left for over a week to cure.
It was then treated with yacht varnish. Again, the varnish was absorbed, especially near the top. The end-grain took a few coats before the varnish formed a gloss layer and each coat was left outside to cure.
An Alpine ferrule was fitted to the bottom, along with a black paracord wrist loop.
As it is now, it is around 530g in weight. I've no idea how strong it will be, but it will hopefully be strong enough for my needs (The absorbed linseed oil and varnish may have strengthened it!)
It is rough and ready, but is now quite an interesting looking (Wizard's?) stick and it feels comfortable my hand.
I will be testing it on a walk this weekend.
