Walking Stick Z - Part 4

After a few rainy days the weather turned nice and I was able to spend some time outside working on the walking stick.  It took about six sessions of working on it, but I have finally completed stripping the bark off the walking stick.  The outer bark peels off quite easily, but the inner bark takes a considerable amount of scraping to remove it.  I find the rhythmic sound of the knife scrapping across the wood to be very relaxing.

I really enjoy working outside in the early morning.  From about 8:30 to 10:00 am is the best time to be in my yard.  It is late enough in the morning that the mosquitoes have gone in until dark but it is cool and breezy enough to keep the
flies away.  The grass is also damp enough with dew that no one is out mowing the lawn.  It is the best time for being out and hearing the birds sing.  (Although this year we seem to have a cuckoo that is permanently stuck at one o'clock.)  After ten, the sun is up over the trees and is shining full on and the breeze dies.  It can be pretty uncomfortable an humid after that.

Now it is time to decide just how tall I want the stick to be.   At the moment, the stick is seven feet long.  Some of the length will be lost because the ends of the stick need to be trimmed.  The ends of the stick have cracked during the drying process.  In this case I only have to trim off a few inches from each end.  This is not bad.  I have had sticks that needed a foot of material removed from the ends.  Long cracks on the ends are more likely to happen when the stick has been stripped while it was green, but it will still develop a few cracks if the stick is dried with the bark on it
.  By leaving the stick so long, I will have plenty of length so that I can cut the stick to show off its best areas. 

Also, if I am making a walking stick for a specific person, I am pretty much assured that it will be stick will be long enough.  A walking stick used for hiking is generally held just below shoulder height which will vary with the individual.  A quarter staff used for fighting is generally between six and nine feet long.  A collector of folk art walking sticks may want a shorter stick in order to accommodate a space on a wall. The length of the stick is a case of form following function.  In any case, consider the use of the stick when deciding how long is should be.

Currently the walking stick is in a rough hewn state.  It is usable as is, but since I will be tracing a design onto the stick it is easier to do it if the stick is smooth.  I will be using a sander to give the walking stick a smooth finish.  Sanding the stick may also help with removing some of the gray staining that occurs when the inner bark turns dark during the drying process. 

It is hard to get a picture of a walking stick.  If you are far enough away to show the whole stick you lose the detail.  The first photo shows the length relative to the door.  That photo also shows the progress of my hypertufa project.  I have cemented the two hemispheres together to form a sphere that sits on its stand.  I need to get out the angle grinder and grind down the lip that formed during the casting process. The second photo shows the rough hewn look of the wood.

That is where things are with the walking stick project.  I am blogging about a couple of project I am working on at the moment.  The next blog post will be on a different topic.  I should be blogging more on the Walking Stick Z project on the following Sunday.