walking sticks, advice needed

[Waldganger]

Hi there all

My neighbor just recently cut down his almond tree, and I ended up with a fantastic limb or four.

I picked the most bent one, and started carving/stripping bark.

three days later it is all split everywhere.

I expected that, but how long should I wait for the branches to dry slowly?

I have a fantastic large long piece that I want to make into a staff (as opposed to a walking stick) and if I start too early I will have to wait another two years for the tree to grow back for more pruning.

whats reasonable, three months?

I'd like to do the wood spirit thing, so I'll be practicing until I'm ready, I just want to know when the wood will be ready.

Cheers all

 

[Jeannius61]

Most walking stick shafts are harvested when the sap is down, in the coldest months of the year. They are then bundled together to help keep them straight and stored fro a minimum of 6 months in a cool airy place.
Only after that are they brought out and straightened and turned into shanks (if they are not straightened gradually during the drying process). The normal process of harvesting/use is a 12 month period.

Hope this helps.

It would be a good idea to paint your stick with anti-woodworm, or else they may enjoy it more than you do!

 

[dwardo]

Good advice above.

One thing to remember is that some woods especially the more dense woods will check and crack 5 minutes after being cut where as others will be fine cut and de-barked straightaway

 

[Waldganger]

I have very slim pickings here in Australia.

it is against the law to fell wood on crown land, so basically I have access to whatever I see getting cut down as I make my way to and fro work, which is practically nothing.

Thanks for the advice, I will make inquiries around town during the winter months.

 

[jojo]

When you store it, don't forget to paint the ends of the stick, that helps prevent cracking, as it slows down evaporation, either diluted wood glue, or varnish or even some paint.

 

[Jeannius61]

One other one I have heard is to stand the wood in a tin which is part-filled with oil/danish oil/woodworm killer. The wood absorbs it into the fibres as it dries out from the top end. This seals the end grains plus is supposed to help stabilise the length.

How true this is for woods such as almond, I don't know. What I can tell you for sure is that it works with bamboo, when used with creosote. One of my neighbours stood his bean sticks in a pot like that over winter and had been using the same bean sticks for nearly twenty years. The safety of creosote is questionable by today's standards, but he survived to an old age.

To show me how it worked, he took his penknife and cut the top off one of the new canes he had just treated over three months. It had creosote at the very top in the fibres.

I also know a turner that swears by drying his logs by standing them upright in the direction they normally grow, he reckons the water runs downwards through the fibres and back into the soil, accounting for the damp patch underneath the wood. He dries his wood more successfully than most people I know.

If it works going down, why not going up?

 

[woodwalker1987]

as soon as you cut the stave smear the ends with wood glue and remove the bark - allowing the wood to dry along its entire length and thus reducing warping/cracks it always helps if you can strap the stave to a board or something similar and bring it inside if your in a hurry, this way the whole process is quickened up.

havent worked with almond but i use this approach with every stick i use from rose canes to shillelaghs and always get a decent stick out of it, if you want to leave bark on seal the ends with the wood glue and expect to wait a while!

 

[John Fenna]

I have heard of cabbage or Brussels Sprout stalks beingmade into walking sticks with careful drying so any home veg grower could have a crack at that and not need to wait for trees to be trimmed!

 

[maddave]

And of course Bulls "Todgers"

 

[Oblio13]

Wood checks because the outside dries and shrinks faster than the inside. If you store your projects in a plastic bag between times working on them you can usually prevent that. In other words, cut your wood and put it in a plastic bag. When you have time to work on it, take it out and carve it. Put it back in the bag. In a day or two, take it out and carve it some more. Put it back in the bag. When you're finished carving, put it in the bag again for a few more days. The moisture will equalize throughout the wood each time you do this. You'll see it condensed inside the bag each time you retrieve it for carving.