Walking Sticks

[toiv0]

here is a pile of diamond willow blanks, sorry if this is hi jacking your thread.

[1dave]

Feb 23, 2016 19:24:34 GMT -5 toiv0 said:

here is a pile of diamond willow blanks, sorry if this is hi jacking your thread.

NOT AT ALL! I love your input!

[Fossilman]

Thanks Dave,for starting this thread!!!!!!!!!! Thumbs up

[Fossilman]

HOLY MOLLY,killer sticks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[toiv0]

Some people watch tv, I peel willow. If I get a headache I can soak the bark and drink the water. Sometimes you even find a form of CHAGA on the willow. The native used it for medicinal but don't imagine it has any of the betulin as from the birch trees. They would smudge the chaga for headaches.

[jakesrocks]

For those living in the right climate, don't forget olive wood. I have a few olive walking sticks in the basement somewhere that I made from an olive tree in my mothers back yard. Very tough wood. I also have a real Irish shillelagh, given to me by an Irish friend while I was stationed in Scotland. If I can find them in the mess, I'll get a pic or 2.

[toiv0]

Here is a pic of my diamond willow cane I am working on for me and Sillelah from my uncle who is from Ireland. He was raised in Aruba, He is 84 and failing fast so keep him in everyones prayers.

[Fossilman]

Feb 24, 2016 8:56:04 GMT -5 toiv0 said:

Here is a pic of my diamond willow cane I am working on for me and Sillelah from my uncle who is from Ireland. He was raised in Aruba, He is 84 and failing fast so keep him in everyones prayers.

Prayers on the way........ That cane is crazy cool!!!!

[Fossilman]

Feb 23, 2016 23:47:52 GMT -5 jakesrocks said:

For those living in the right climate, don't forget olive wood. I have a few olive walking sticks in the basement somewhere that I made from an olive tree in my mothers back yard. Very tough wood. I also have a real Irish shillelagh, given to me by an Irish friend while I was stationed in Scotland. If I can find them in the mess, I'll get a pic or 2.

Don,are you talking of the Russian Olive that grow in ND and SD??? Those are some wicked trees..LOL
Never thought of sticking or caning them....

[jakesrocks]

Feb 24, 2016 10:09:59 GMT -5 Fossilman said:

Feb 23, 2016 23:47:52 GMT -5 jakesrocks said:

For those living in the right climate, don't forget olive wood. I have a few olive walking sticks in the basement somewhere that I made from an olive tree in my mothers back yard. Very tough wood. I also have a real Irish shillelagh, given to me by an Irish friend while I was stationed in Scotland. If I can find them in the mess, I'll get a pic or 2.

Don,are you talking of the Russian Olive that grow in ND and SD??? Those are some wicked trees..LOL
Never thought of sticking or caning them....

No Mike. These were the type of olive trees that produce real olives. The tree I was harvesting sticks from was in my mothers back yard in Southern California. It needed to be cut back almost every year to keep it from taking over the back yard.

[rockpickerforever]

Being a relative youngster to some of this set (walking stick not needed... yet!), when this thread first started (thanks, 1dave !) three days ago, this is what popped into my mind:

Had not seen or even thought of these in years, but saw one at my dad's house just a couple weeks ago!  Had that not happened, I would most likely have thought "cane" right off.

[Deleted]

Feb 21, 2016 18:57:24 GMT -5 Sabre52 said:

Yep, Michael, mine were coated with two coats and the beetles hatched right through it. Not a big deal but it does leave a few holes in your stick....Mel

Find a way to bake the stick. Kills larvae.

[Deleted]

Feb 23, 2016 23:47:52 GMT -5 jakesrocks said:

For those living in the right climate, don't forget olive wood. I have a few olive walking sticks in the basement somewhere that I made from an olive tree in my mothers back yard. Very tough wood. I also have a real Irish shillelagh, given to me by an Irish friend while I was stationed in Scotland. If I can find them in the mess, I'll get a pic or 2.

I have an edible olive tree taking over. Maybe i get a walking stick off it! Dont need one, but a good plan is have one be fore ya need one!

Thank uncle don.

[rockpickerforever]

Feb 25, 2016 0:39:01 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

Feb 21, 2016 18:57:24 GMT -5 Sabre52 said:

Yep, Michael, mine were coated with two coats and the beetles hatched right through it. Not a big deal but it does leave a few holes in your stick....Mel

Find a way to bake the stick. Kills larvae.

Put it into a black plastic trash bag, place on roof for the summer.

[Fossilman]

Feb 25, 2016 0:50:09 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

Feb 25, 2016 0:39:01 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

Find a way to bake the stick. Kills larvae.

Put it into a black plastic trash bag, place on roof for the summer.

Heck,I will stash it in eastern Oregon (High desert country)gets extremely hot over there!
Going to take some wood over there and let it weather out....
Brother and sister In law live there....

[rockpickerforever]

That sounds like a plan, Mike! I had a large piece of driftwood (roots, actually, had rocks wrapped up in them!), brought home from a river in Northern California. Gave it the "trash bag on the hot roof" treatment, did not have any problems with bugs hatching from it.

But, years later, long after it had been brought home, some carpenter bees bored into, left large holes and larvae! Dang bees!

ETA - Those insect walking sticks, I think jamesp calls them "Idiot Sticks" a name suthenahs also apply to crazy/stoopid (or maybe just misunderstood?) people.  Ha!

[bushmanbilly]

Feb 25, 2016 0:39:01 GMT -5 @shotgunner said:

Feb 21, 2016 18:57:24 GMT -5 Sabre52 said:

Yep, Michael, mine were coated with two coats and the beetles hatched right through it. Not a big deal but it does leave a few holes in your stick....Mel

Find a way to bake the stick. Kills larvae.

When I was in Jamaica, I would make ashtrays and mugs out of the large Bamboo for my friends back home. I noticed that a little pile of saw dust was on the table every time I cleaned the ashtray. I put all the bamboo outside over nught. Them wimpy southern bugs can't take the -30 weather we have here. Sawdust problem solved.

[1dave]

Here is a closeup of the main carving on that first stick.

[1dave]

Us westerners call them "Cedar Trees" In fact Cedar City was named for them because they are all over the place out here - BUT they are really JUNIPER trees.

This crisp essential oil is used in aromatherapy to help stimulate and strengthen the nerves and bolster the spirits in challenging situations, while helping to relieve urine retention. It is used for treating rheumatism, arthritis and gout, as well as cellulite, acne, dermatitis, blocked pores, psoriasis and weeping eczemas.

Oil properties

Juniper oil can be extracted from the berries, as well as the needles and wood. We sell the oil extracted from the berries, as it is a more superior essential oil than that extracted from the twigs and needles. It has a fresh, clear but slightly woody aroma, and is a pale oil with a watery viscosity.
Origin of Juniper oil

It is an evergreen shrub that can grow up to 10 meters (30 feet) in the wild, but is cultivated to a height of 2 meters (6 feet) and has blue-green needle-like leaves, small yellow flowers and the female tree produces a blue/black fruit (berry).

As a herb it has great medicinal value and was used against contagious diseases, such as cholera, typhoid fever and the plague in Tibet and in Europe. It was given to Mongolian women at the beginning of labor, and in Yugoslavia it was looked upon as an all-cure. It was burnt in French hospitals, to clear the air and is also very well known as the flavor ingredient of gin.

Just under the bark they sometimes acquire some artistic bugs.
The bottom photo was taken at the small end of this limb (the edge of my wood vice is visible at the bottom left) with some of their scroll work.
Then I moved the camera to the right about 2' and snapped the next section of artwork,
then again for the top photo.

Well I think it is attractive!

[rockpickerforever]

I like them both - the man-made art, and the abstract bug art!