Bob's Stickmaking Pages - One-piece hazel hiking staff #074

074 - A natural one-piece hazel hiking staff.

CJ called me with a problem. He would be setting off on a worldwide back-packing expedition in a couple of weeks or less, but had been unable to purchase anywhere the sort of simple but substantial hiking staff he needed. This would be an all-purpose tool to see him through any difficulties that might arise along the way.

I checked through the shanks I had in seasoning and came up with a suitable long, thick piece with a bit of branch attached. Hmm...cut in February 2001, should be just about ready now. As it happened I was just in between projects at the time, so I set to work on it immediately. I straightened the shank but left a little bit of a wiggle near the top end to provide a choice of possible grips.

Although the original request was for a simple staff, we decided to take the opportunity to extend its usefulness by retaining part of the attached branch. This would form a strong hook, which could be used for pulling oneself out of all sorts of tricky situations.

I drilled through the top end and inserted a piece of small brass tube. This is set in epoxy resin which should prevent any moisture getting into the wood. A leather thong was threaded through the hole, because it's bound to come in handy at some point.
I gave the staff several good oilings followed by as many coats of Tru-Oil as I could manage in the time available. Yacht varnish might have seemed a more obvious choice for hard use, but it wouldn't have been so comfortable to hold.

A commissioned work.
SOLD

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074 - A natural one-piece hazel hiking staff.
	CJ called me with a problem. He would be setting off on a worldwide back-packing expedition in a couple of weeks or less, but had been unable to purchase anywhere the sort of simple but substantial hiking staff he needed. This would be an all-purpose tool to see him through any difficulties that might arise along the way.
I checked through the shanks I had in seasoning and came up with a suitable long, thick piece with a bit of branch attached. Hmm...cut in February 2001, should be just about ready now. As it happened I was just in between projects at the time, so I set to work on it immediately. I straightened the shank but left a little bit of a wiggle near the top end to provide a choice of possible grips.
	Although the original request was for a simple staff, we decided to take the opportunity to extend its usefulness by retaining part of the attached branch. This would form a strong hook, which could be used for pulling oneself out of all sorts of tricky situations.
I drilled through the top end and inserted a piece of small brass tube. This is set in epoxy resin which should prevent any moisture getting into the wood. A leather thong was threaded through the hole, because it's bound to come in handy at some point. I gave the staff several good oilings followed by as many coats of Tru-Oil as I could manage in the time available. Yacht varnish might have seemed a more obvious choice for hard use, but it wouldn't have been so comfortable to hold.
A commissioned work. SOLD