One of the things I really enjoyed was making my new walking stick.
After listening to some advices from the local people, I decided to use wood from a tree called pitanga(brazilian cherry), because the wood was straight and resilient.
Then I cut the desired piece with the Gerber folding saw.
Time to cut off the secondary stuff and cut it to desired lenght. Still the Gerber.
Then I begun peeling off the bark, a surprisingly easy task, since it was thin and loose. For this I used the utility knife a friend knifemaker gave me.
Did this all the way...
I left it laying around for about 30 hours to dry. The moisture inside went to the outer part, making it look kind of red. I gently rasped it with a spot in the back of my machete, wich I had previously filed to act as a planer. It worked perfectly and the stick was even smoother then before.
Back at home I aplied two coats of linseed oil with cotton balls, 24 hours apart. The end result was this.
The stick resulted in a charming piece of equipment, fully functional and old school.
After testing it the stick proved very confortable to carry around, and helped me in the muddy and rocky parts of the trail. From now on it's on the list of things to go with me to the woods.
Well, hope you guys liked. I know I did.
I guess there's always this season to make one.
... usually one needs to allow the wood to dry for several weeks prior to finishing. My personal favorite is spar varnish, three coats... you might want to add a foot to your stick, so it won't get damaged, there are websites to get points for solid ground, finding you among the rocks, you might want to stop at your hardware store and pick up a rubber foot, that is used on table legs...which are cheaper that stopping by your medical supply store and picking up a cane or crutch foot...
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