Hiking sticks from woodland & landscape trees

Afterward, if you like trees and forests, check out Large Redwoods

For years, I've made hiking sticks as a hobby, for gifts and hiking with. My sticks were made from landscape trees, or native trees on undeveloped property ( I'm not a commercial supplier). This is no real special way at all. Just an off the cuff page about how I like to make hiking sticks..

If you are a hiker or scout, the following ideas may help you fashion a walking stick that is comfortable, nicely finished, and durable.

It's not difficult to produce fine looking walking sticks without investing too many steps in construction or the finish process. I read that one person dried or cured diamond willow for about a full year. Another person put more coats of finish on hiking sticks than some manufacturers put on furniture. I'm sure their sticks looked lovely, but that's "over-cooking the grits" if you want to use hiking sticks - poke in a stream, lean on a rock or tap on a chunk of bark.

My hiking stick stick method requires minimal drying time and few coats of finish. Enough finish to look elegant, but not so many as to discourage use. If a stick gets scarred, it can always be lightly sanded and refinished.

You can make a hiking staff or hiking cane from many kinds of trees. Most people don't lean much weight on hiking sticks or use them like pry bars, so most trees will work.

The heavier the wood, the heavier and more tiring the hiking stick will become. Once, I made a hiking stick from Madrone. It was even heavy after drying, and became a living room decoration.

Some woods are heavy in part due to water content, and drying may change the weight substantially. Experiment first - let a piece of tree branch dry for a while, then practice walking with the unfinished piece to see if the weight is comfortable.

One of my favorite tree woods is corkscrew willow. It becomes very light-weight after drying, remains fairly strong, and is easy to work with, from bark removal all the way to finishing. .

In the photo to the right are walking sticks in 4 stages of development: from 4 different kinds of trees. From top to bottom they are red maple, white birch, vine maple and corkscrew willow. The bottom walking stick is corkscrew willow stick with a walnut knob. That was my first experiment with a knob on a stick. It looks good, but nearly doubled the the project time.

In the photo, two sticks have a slight angle in the grip area that may better accomodate a comfortable grip. The other two sticks are fairly straight, but that may be what some people enjoy for their own comfort.

Without writing reams, I'll add that a few favorites are willow, hazel, birch and red maple. I used vine maple, but found the bark a bit of work to remove. Japanese maple bark was even more work. Japanese maple wood after complete sanding and finishing is somewhat out of the ordinary, but as a walking staff, is fairly heavy - if used, the selected stick should be fairly thin. Image at right enlarges.

Whatever wood you choose, if you found removing bark with the knife to be a vigorous, expect sanding to take a bit longer to remove the ridges left by the blade. Ease of sanding seems to go hand-in-hand with ease of bark removal.

The process is simple, and the photo shows 1/2 of the stages of the process.

1. Pick a section of branch or trunk that is long enough. As a gauge, measure from the ground to your outstretched hand when your arm is bent at a ninety degree angle with your upper arm pointing down and your forearm horizontal or parallel to the ground. While you do this, open your hand. You will see lines in your palm indicate that your grip is at a slight angle. So, a completely straight stick may not be as comfortable as a walking stick with a slight angle or curve right where your hand will grip it. A perfectly straight stick may cause a subtle and uncomfortable rear tilt of your wrist. This is why I may find but one branch in an entire tree that I prune, suitable for a walking stick. Not many branches have a short angled part for the wrist, plus enough straight shaft remaining to reach the ground. The walking stick may have a few irregular curves such as the corkscrew willow in the photo. But, too big of a bow or irregularity may cause a hiking stick to bounce as it strikes the ground.

2. Remove the bark. This can be done by whittling, or in the case of some trees in Spring, bark may peel right off. I suggest, if using a knife, to hold the blade at as slight an angle as possible and use gentle strokes. The deeper you hack into the wood, the more work you will have to sand the finish.

3. Drying - place sticks with bark removed, in an area of the house, garage or office that is about 60 to 75 degrees for about 4 to 7 days. This has always been more than sufficient for sanding and finishing. A section of wood may crack too severely if dried fast. Don't rush drying like placing wood in full hot sun. My experience is that fast growing sucker growth from trees cracked worse than regular branches that grew at a slower rate. At least 75 percent of my wood has been useful after drying. One or two tiny cracks don't detract from a nice walking stick.

4. Shaping the end and adding a protective tip. My favorite tip is a copper plumbing sleeve usually used to connect two pieces of copper pipe. The size of the copper piece varies from about three quarters of an inch to a full inch. The stick will need the tip whittled so that the tip fits tight. And the wood must be dry first, otherwise the wood will shrink and the tip will become loose. This tip prevents the end of the stick from splitting. It the sleeve becomes damaged, a new tip can replace it. The copper tip can be secured by pre-drilling and adding a few short screws.

5. Sanding. The usual method - start with coarse grits and work down to fine grits. I found a couple of bits at a hardware store for my drill that I like to use to speed the shaping around knots and irregularities. One bit is a circular wood rasp, and the other is a circular wood file. I finish with an electric sander and a grit between 150 and 220.

6. Clean the wood with a clean cloth to wipe, compressed air, or even tack cloth.

7. Twist a small eye or hook into the wood tip of the walking stick. This is to hang the stick upside down during the finishing. And it hides the hole in the tip.

8. Finish. Some people prefer linseed oil, which, I found as superior forl my wood tool handles. For walking sticks, I prefer full gloss polyurethane which can be bought in spray cans. 4 coats is usually sufficient. Lightly rub each dry spray finish coat with fine steel wool or a fine sand paper 400 to 600 grit, wiping the stick with a clean cloth before another coat of spray.

9. Remove the hook in the tip, and the stick should be ready for use. One thing I do to my hiking sticks, after sanding and before finishing, is wood burning. I burn the genus and species of the tree into the walking stick as well as sign and date it.

A leather strap from a craft store, might make a nice addition - just drill a hole where you need it..

Now you have a stick that will last for decades without splitting at the tip. If you touch-up the finish every year or two, you can pass it down to another generation.