Stickmaking

[BradGreen 0]

Hi i have just collected a few hazel shanks and i am waiting for them to season, and wondered if anyone had any tips/pointers for me to make good thumb/walking sticks? and what types of varnishes or treatment is should use for treating them? any help will be appreciated, thanks.

[country-kid 2]

hi, ive just made my first few sticks and have turned out ok. i try to select naturally straight pieces or naturally y shaped pieces that can be used for thumbsticks. first thing i do is trim off any small twigs or little points then i straighten mine with heat using the kitchen hob,then its sanded, wiped clean with a cloth, and applied teak oil with a very fine wire wool, then again rub the excess off with a cloth, then another layer of teak oil.

teak oil is good to use as an alternative to varnish as varnish will chip and crack, which leads to water getting underneath it, this can cause the varnish to come off and doing so can pull some of the bark off with it. just keep em simple to start with

[BradGreen 0]

Did you season your sticks before working on them or did you just cut and work on them straight away? i have made a thumbstick and it turned out OK but i only left it to dry for about 3 wks / 1 month. Thanks for the tips by the way.

[country-kid 2]

left them for over a year

[paddymc 1]

sticks should be left 12mnths for every inch of thickness in a shed or lockup ,not in doors as stick will split

[shushi 2]

I only do a few sticks every now and then these days but some years ago I could make a few bob selling em,not show stuff but fairly good .... as I collected them I would hang them up in the ferret shed , i`d start with a hanging old broom handle for the centre and keep tying sticks to it as I got them, after ten or so I`d hang another bundle . most were cut winter but if I saw one in the summer that was right I`d have it cos come winter somebody else would of had it or it`d grown to thick . some sticks I`d dig around the root if it was bolting nice n straight out the ground so as to get a nice root knob , anywhere honeysuckle was growing I kept me eye out for twisted sticks with the h/suckle growing round the stick . I would use a hot air paint stripper gun or over another heat source to straighten them once they had dried out as if straightened whilst green,come a wet day,I found they would want to revert back to there old bent shape after getting a soaking . if I did two piece sticks i`d join the handle with a length of 5-6mm threaded bar 5-6" inch long and aroledite glue whole length of bar in shank and head after first seeing it all fitted snug . once all set I would wire wool shank then rag on shallak {think thats how you spell it} forgot to mention , cut sticks longer then required to allow for any splitting thru warmer weather..... hope this will be of help to someone starting .