053 - An elegant but very sturdy walker stick. Both the handle and the shank are made from spalted rowan.
It all started when Becca emailed me from Maryland, USA. Could I make her a stick all done in rowan wood? Well, I knew I had some nice pieces of spalted rowan to make a handle and I was quite certain I had some longer, if rather kinked, pieces to make a knobbly rustic-style shank.

We agreed I would make a stick using these materials, but when it came to selecting a piece for the shank, I found the bits I had in mind had all vanished! I think I must have thrown them out at some point but Becca reckons the "house hob" must have got them - and who am I to argue with a lady who wants a rowan stick?

Fortunately I did manage to find one long piece among the wood I had put aside for making handles. This was about 3 inches thick, so I had a long job whittling it down to make a shank. I began to think I had bitten off more than I could chew, but eventually I figured out a technique for getting it nice and round and smooth using hand tools, without the need to find a friendly wood turner with a long-bed lathe.

The shank proved to be lightly spalted, with streaks of different colours and black lines running through it, giving it a most attractive appearance.

I finished the stick off with a spacer of contrasting buffalo and cow horn.

There are some lovely colours in this wood and it's supremely comfortable to use in either hand. Both Becca and I are very pleased with the way this worked out, so I offer no apologies for including a few more pictures.

SOLD (a commissioned work)

"Following an old superstition that rowans warded off witches, Highland crofters often planted a rowan beside their homesteads. Many such trees survive amid the ruins of settlements deserted scores of years ago..."
- The "Observers Trees" by Herbert L Edlin

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	053 - An elegant but very sturdy walker stick. Both the handle and the shank are made from spalted rowan. It all started when Becca emailed me from Maryland, USA. Could I make her a stick all done in rowan wood? Well, I knew I had some nice pieces of spalted rowan to make a handle and I was quite certain I had some longer, if rather kinked, pieces to make a knobbly rustic-style shank.
We agreed I would make a stick using these materials, but when it came to selecting a piece for the shank, I found the bits I had in mind had all vanished! I think I must have thrown them out at some point but Becca reckons the "house hob" must have got them - and who am I to argue with a lady who wants a rowan stick?
	Fortunately I did manage to find one long piece among the wood I had put aside for making handles. This was about 3 inches thick, so I had a long job whittling it down to make a shank. I began to think I had bitten off more than I could chew, but eventually I figured out a technique for getting it nice and round and smooth using hand tools, without the need to find a friendly wood turner with a long-bed lathe.
The shank proved to be lightly spalted, with streaks of different colours and black lines running through it, giving it a most attractive appearance.
	I finished the stick off with a spacer of contrasting buffalo and cow horn.
There are some lovely colours in this wood and it's supremely comfortable to use in either hand. Both Becca and I are very pleased with the way this worked out, so I offer no apologies for including a few more pictures. SOLD (a commissioned work)

"Following an old superstition that rowans warded off witches, Highland crofters often planted a rowan beside their homesteads. Many such trees survive amid the ruins of settlements deserted scores of years ago..." - The "Observers Trees" by Herbert L Edlin