Wood Spirit (Hillbilly) Walking Sticks (May 2011)

 Walking Sticks  No Responses »
May 262011
 

In the past couple weeks, I have started to work on some walking stick ideas again.  My focus when I first started wanting to learn wood carving, was on woodspirit walking sticks.  I have always thought that they looked really neat and would be fun to do.  Getting the faces to look like human faces, is the challenge when attempting wood spirits.

Hillbilly walking sticks 7

I call them wood spirits, because that is what they are known as primarily, but I really don’t like the name “wood spirit”, it may imply to others that we are worshiping the wood or making some sort of idol out the walking stick. That is not my intention at all.  So I try to make my “wood spirit” walking sticks look like hillbillies.  Therefore, I sometimes call them Hillbilly Walking Sticks. :)

Here a couple hillbilly walking sticks that I have worked on in the last couple weeks, and one that I did the last part of 2010.  The first two are my current hillbilly walking sticks in progress: Continue reading »

Make Uniform Spirals on a Straight Walking Stick

 Walking Sticks, Wood Carving Tips  No Responses »
May 262011
 

One of the coolest walking sticks that I have seen, has a spiral design incorporated down the walking stick.  You can look long and hard and still not find a good way to lay out the spiral so that it is uniform all the way down the walking stick.  After much trial and error, and some tips from other experienced walking stick carvers, I have come to the conclusion that tape is the answer.

Here is a great way to create a spiral template.  Use electrical or masking tape and start at the top of the walking stick.  As you move down the walking stick, wrap the tape around the walking stick, leaving your desired width between lines.  By using tape, you have the freedom of moving the tape around slightly to make the spirals precise and the tape will also stay in place fairly well.  Continue reading »