Carving a Hiking Stick/Staff

[GopherJudy]

Thanks for the help on my Bow & Arrow carving post.

 

Now I have a few questions regarding carving a hiking stick while on a campout.

 

I want to test this out myself, as I always do in case things do work out right, I can figure them out before I have my boys do it!

 

After I've carved off the bark from a good size stick, should I make the one end a little pointy or keep it the way it is? I've never used a hiking stick so I'm just trying to get ideas. Should I stain the stick after it's all carved & if so, any particular type of wood stain? Does anything have to be done to the stick before I stain it?

 

Any other suggestions and/or ideas are welcome! I know that in my other post, someone posted a link from Kudu's site but it was hard for me to see the hiking staves as the pictures were small for my eyes that are getting older.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

YIS

 

Judy

[FireKat]

I do a lot of carving. For a general use stick, leave it unstained and finish it with Tung Oil. That is the easest fininsh to repair. If you wish to get fancy, there are many ways to do that, including dyes. Don't make any end 'pointy' bottom should be flat with tapered edges to prevent flare of the bottom during use. I drill a hole into the staff to put a wrist loop on so it does not slide. If you wish for more hints, PM me.

[GopherJudy]

Thanks for the ideas Firekat! I will make a test model for myself first & let you know. I will PM you if more ideas pop into my brain!

 

YIS

 

Judy

[John-in-KC]

I do know a couple of people who've made sure the base of their staff will allow a rubber foot from a medical crutch to be slid on. The rubber does help if you are more on rocks than on dirt.

[from11to46]

There are no rules, do what you like!

 

If your stick has a thinner bark, you can get some nice

carving detail by carving through the bark to show a lighter

wood. You can do nice textures this way as well.

 

I like to carve a date or year to remember events you had the staff

at.

 

You can also make it more useful in an emergency. A wrap of fine

cord can serve as a grip, as well as being removable for use as rope

if needed. In the same manner you can put a coil of fishing line,

or dental floss, or waxed cord...none take up much space or weight

but will be there if you need then. Consider a wrap of duck tape

if you are more modern....perhaps around a plastic bag or two wrapped

around the staff first.

 

Don't neglect to decorate with decorative knotwork, a turk's head

is a favorite. Add feathers, ribbons, etc. at will.

 

Many parks and historical sites will have metal plates that you can

nail to the staff to remember your visit, a common practice in Europe,

I believe.

[BDPT00]

If the stick is for purely practical use (and why not), I've made some that are exactly 5 feet long (for measuring purposes, as in the First Class requirements). Then, from the bottom (which is very discrete), woodburn short lines one inch apart from just the one foot mark to the two foot mark. That gives you handy and accurate way to measure 1,2,3,4, and 5 feet, plus carry a one foot ruler.

BDPT00

[GopherJudy]

Thanks everyone for your ideas! I really appreciate them as they help me learn too!

 

YIS

 

Judy

[AnniePoo]

For Cubs, another option is to strip the bark off, let dry a couple of months, then trim the ends and sand. Then let the kids paint with acrylic paint, which comes in little bottles in hundreds of colors. My daughter painted one of hers pink and black, and my son is doing one of his in camoflage colors. I painted a couple of them to look like snakes after shaping heads at one end with a rotary tool. After painting, apply 3 coats of polyurethane.

[Kudu]

GopherJudy writes:

 

"I know that in my other post, someone posted a link from Kudu's site but it was hard for me to see the hiking staves as the pictures were small for my eyes that are getting older."

 

I re-scanned the smaller image using greyscale this time. Let me know if you can see that better. I also added another collection of uses for a Hiking Staff. See:

 

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/skills/staff_use.htm

 

It is possible that your browser is automatically re-sizing the images so that the whole picture fits on your sreen. On my browser I can restore the bigger size by clicking on the image.

 

You can turn this setting off in the Internet Explorer browser by unchecking "Enable automatic image resizing" under Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced -> Multimedia

 

Kudu

 

[GopherJudy]

Anniepoo,

 

More great ideas! Thanks My dauaghter would paint her just pink!

 

 

Kudu,

 

Thanks for re-scanning & re-posting your link. Thank helped & the fact that what you said about the browser made me think; that was the smoke you smelled! There's a "magnifying glass" in the lower right that when I clicked on the different percentages, I was able to make the picture bigger! Why I didn't think of that earlier is beyond me! I guess my brain cell is getting old too!

 

 

YIS

 

Judy

[shortridge]

Sorry, bad post.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[AnniePoo]

The possibilities are endless with walking sticks: Leave bark on or take off. Carve. Woodburn. Stain. Paint. Sink a miniature compass in the top. Leave plain. Tie stuff on it.

 

They're fun. I just cut three more hickory sticks in my mother-in-law's woods yesterday so I'd have something to carve this summer while camping. I noticed two smaller maple branches in the basement that I'd taken from my neighbor's brush pile last fall and forgot about. I trimmed the ends, then took a rotary tool and cut a simple spiral groove down the stick, leaving 6" at the top uncarved for a handle. Took ~45 minutes, then another 15 to sand the bark off. Put one coat of polyurethane on it last night, and it's going to look pretty cool (but simple). It'll go to a nephew who turns 11 this week and who loves geocaching.

 

 

 

[lagosscouter]

Hi,

I have a Tiger Den so no carving for us - My son and I went to a Cub Holiday camp over Christmas and all the boys had the BSA mop handle with the madalions and leather grip. So yes we bought one.

 

On returning to Nigeria the Den really loved the idea - So I ordered up the rank madallions and a couple of others and the leather grips - Then we had a local carpenter make staffs out of African Mahogany. We varnished them and put the grips and madallions on as a den project. I made a rack that will hold our sticks - We bring them to all functions den or pack. The boys have been instructed that to Fight with your stick is punisible by a den court of honor that will pass judgement - Needless to say the Mahogany staffs looked so good my sons old one is back on the mop where it belongs :-)

 

YIS

[Twocubdad]

Spend your time working on the handle area making it fit your hand and comfortable. I really like the staff medallions. The Scout shop has a good collection, but it's really easy to have any camporee patch converted to a medallion for a couple bucks. I've used The Hermann Werks, (573) 486-3157. Suggest this to whoever handles the patches for your events. If they send them the artwork from the patch they can scan it and create the medallions. My patch company, Advantage Emblem, handled that for us.

 

When I was day camp director we gave the boy scouts on staff a hiking stave their first year and medallions every year there after. It was a cool tradition. I still see kids running around with the staves at summer camp.

[SctDad]

I have been working on my staff and have recied some comments on it here recently. It is real simple right now, except for the fact that I have wood burned the OA indian chief near the top. I am also working on the arrow in it too.

 

I have found some new suggestions here and I am looking forward to starting some new things with my pack.