Best Wood For Making A Walking Stick

Carve beautiful wildlife walking sticks with step by step projects ready to use patterns an inspirational color photo gallery and advice on wood sourcing and finishing.
Best wood for making a walking stick. The stick i m using is birch. While beech ash hazel chestnut and blackthorn are the most common types of wood for making walking sticks that are both attractive and durable there is a whole sea of wooden walking sticks out there to choose from. Go into a forest near you and get yourself a stick fairly thick and long enough for a staff walking stick with the axe or machete knife. For these reasons stick with hardwoods if possible.
Blackthorn wood the strength of the wood makes them particularly useful for country or hiking sticks which can be seen throughout our blackthorn walking sticks category. For more on carving walking sticks see hand carving your own walking stick by david stehly. Durable hard and in a stunning light color with a prominent grain these qualities make oak wood walking sticks a desirable choice for vintage wooden walking stick and ladies walking canes. Like hickory oak is hard and strong but very heavy.
Oakwood is a rather popular hardwood for wooden walking sticks for its unique characteristics of robustness and aesthetics. Enjoy nature don t damage it. By stephanie mitchell when you make your own walking sticks you must choose between using dry wood or green wood. Using green wood often results in stronger more customizable finished products.
Look for fresh hardwood but never cut from a live tree to make a walking stick. You can also use maple and many other woods. Good options include maple alder cherry aspen and sassafras among others. Then slide the axe machete along the bark to remove any twigs and knots.
If weight is not an issue most types of hickory ironwood and birch are all incredibly strong and make excellent walking sticks. Woods to collect for walking stick making are aspen maples willows basswood birch and many other deciduous tree limbs. Hardwoods tend to make the most manageable and sturdiest walking sticks. Hardwoods oak maple and walnut to name a few are denser than softwoods pine and spruce.
Also softwoods become gummy when you work with them are harder to sand and don t take finishes as well. Black locust branches are among the strongest possible choices and they are relatively resistant to decay and abrasion.