DIY WALKING STICKS, GETTING READY for FLORIDA! 😁
Well, it's almost that time of year when @farm-mom and I take a break from the winter weather and head south.
For the past three years, we have gotten out of town on the @26th of January and return to the farm the first week in March. For those of you who know us, the beginning of March is Maple syrup time, and we wouldn't miss that.
This year we will be leaving a couple of days earlier so that we can stop and see all of our children before heading to warmer weather.
For the past three years, I have made a new walking stick to bring along. With the departure date rapidly approaching, it was time to get busy making this year's model.
So it's off to the shop I go.
With having just trimmed all of the trees, the hardest job of all was picking the right branch for the walking stick. I decided on a Black Cherry branch that had a nice curve to it.
Having been back in Jersey last week, I stopped by the shop to pick up our draw knife. Usually, I just whittle away with my pocket knife, but by using the drawknife I was able to save hours of time on this step.
What would have taken 15 - 20 minutes was done in one pass of the drawknife.
Using the drawknife can be a little tricky. Position the knife with too much of an angle and you'll take out big chunks of the wood. Position it with not enough angle and the blade will not remove the bark.
After taking the bark off of 200 half logs, for a customer who was repairing an old log cabin, I got this s--t down
While my son @ryan313 was visiting this past weekend, he decided to start making a walking stick for himself.
In this action shot, you can barely make out the knife as it glides over the stick.
There are a lot of nice features on the handle end of his stick.
With most of the bark removed, the area where a couple of branches were cut back will have to be carved with a pocket knife.
Touching up some rough spots on the stick was not a problem. Using a rotary sander, and starting with a 60 grit paper and finishing up with a 120 grit paper, the wood ended up as smooth as a baby's backside.
After applying a cherry stain, I wrapped the handle with a leather lace. The leather lacing will keep my hand from slipping while walking.
If you are ever in the need for any leather products at all, Tandy Leather is the place.
Here is an assortment of sticks that I collected, and I'll be making walking sticks for some other family members who said, " Dad, can you make me one?" That ain't a problem, they'll just have to wait until we get back from our road trip.
Walk on!
Nice job looks like fun! ESP since we grew those walking sticks from babies!
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It's great having new walking sticks for our trip @thebigsweed. Remember when we were in New Orleans, trying to navigate the huge crowds of people, you with your shades on and the stick in hand, people were nice enough to let us pass. Us laughing all the way realizing they thought you were blind. hehe
Is my done yet? I really like the leather handle, but I think I would like some fringe on mine.😄💕
South for the winter huh? Like ducks. It all sounds legit and I hope you guys have a great time this year. January 26th is Australia Day here (sort of like the 4th of July for your guys) so make sure you celebrate that! :)
Thanks @galenkp. January 26th Australia Day, that will be easy to remember. I hope by then the fires that have ravaged your country are under control.
Just the other day I was watching a special about the effect the wildfires were having on the wildlife in Australia. I know that many of your countrymen have suffered greatly and along with so many animals perishing in the fires its got to be rough for all life.
In the special I was watching they were talking about the lack of food for the animals because of the fire. You have to give your leaders a lot of credit for trying to provide for them by air dropping food, as much of the food they find in the wild has been destroyed by the fires. I was watching them drop tons of carrots in one area, and it did not take long before Kangaroos showed up and were munching away.
With all of the bad news that always dominates the headlines, this was a feel good story.
Things are settling down a little, but there's still issues. It's good to see some good news stories come out though. I saw that carrot story and thought the same as you. It's a good thing and a credit to those who arranged it.
I don't actually expect you to celebrate Australia Day, just host a coldie for us. (Beer...A coldie is slang for a beer).
I will gladly hoist a couple of coldies for the all the Aussies.
You had said that Australia Day, is like our 4th of July.
I hope it's a little different when it comes to FIRE WORKS. In the states, celebrating Independence Day and fire works are synonymous.
The last thing you guys need are any more fires.
They are comparing the mass of land that has been ravished by fire in Australia to be comparable in size to the state of Indiana. 36,400 sq. miles is a lot of area.
I read that the Australian Open has been suspended also.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those brave souls fighting this monst
I hope things are getting better @galenkp
There would normally be fireworks however I'm not sure if that will happen this year. We'll see.
I read that 13 million acres are burned out...That's a lot of land. I'm not sure of the official figure though. It's been devastating and it will take months and years to turn around. We had fires here in South Australia a couple years ago and people are still waiting for their insurance money to rebuild. It's a crazy situation.
I didn't know about the tennis being suspended but am not surprised. I'd heard the players were all complaining about the smoke.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Not sure how I missed this one, thanks, @tarazkp.
@thebigsweed, dude that action shot was the best! Not sure how many times I’ve told you this but each time I read your articles it makes me want to visit the farm a little more and it just happened again.
Thanks for the demonstration. I actually walk with a “stick,” as you know. It has a brass handle that weighs about 1 pound. What I’m saying is, I’d love to put my handle on a Sweed made stick <— 🤔 You know what I mean!!! You’ve probably seen them, it’s called a Bubba Stik. I’ll look one up right quick, hold please..
I’m back. Here it is. I don’t ‘need’ it really though it makes walking for a dude with a bad wheel a lot easier but I sure am comfortable with a
canefull time weapon in my hand while doing this traveling. Not sure how much longer I got until I’m wheeling around in a chair, I’m sure it’s a few decades down the road but this brass handle in the meantime is convenient. Speaking of chair—I already got wheelie bars, cup holders, all kinda neat stuff Ima do to that thing! Chair? More like a shift-cart.Man, great post! That’s all I’m trying to say is great post and here I go again, yap yap Bla bla bla about myself!
Talk to you soon, @thebigsweed, you syrup rubber inner to the guy’er that dont’er haver any’er!
Thanks for the link to the Bubba Stick, very cool. I've never heard of them before. I see that they have 6 or more choices. I wonder if the sticks are made from different woods, or if they just stain them that way.
Maybe by the time, let's say 30 40 years from now, when you just can't get around any more, bionic extremities will be all the rage, f--k the wheel chair.
Well, there're two reasons we should make each other's acquaintance, Maple Syrup, and a new shaft for your brass ball. That don't sound right how about this, a new beam for your orb.
When I first saw the action shot of Ryan pulling the drawknife, I was wondering what I was looking at. You couldn't see it at all until I darkened up the picture a little bit.
Thanks, for the kind words my friend.
You're probably at the docs now, but when you get a chance let us know how everything went @dandays