OT... Poking sticks...

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Hi Stmmzaum,
The spike on them is a marlin spike {According to the original army specifications} for use in rope work {brilliant for untying knots & open the weave!}& as a weapon.{spikes leave injurys that are hard to heal} Some victorian cavalary folding knives have horses hooves spikes but the are very thin & with a hook on the end to lever stones out of the hoof.

Spiral
 
Reposting due to helping create " Topic swerve"!

Hi Bruise,
I make lots of walking sticks most of which I give away to friends & I find the easyest to make & strongest sticks come from selecting a straight branch of the right diameter {1 to 1.5 in.} growing upwards from a thicker diameter branch {3 or 4in. is ideal}.

I find Cherry, apple, blackthorn, hornbeam ,Yew etc all make great sticks.

Heres how I do it!

I Cut the large branch 6 in, either side of your futre stick. Take it home whittle its head to shape & seal both ends with pva glue to slow drying & then leave it in a cool place for a year.

Trim and whitle any twigs flush or slightly protruding from shank for impact effect!

Sand or whittle off the PVA , cut a copper or brass tube or cartrige case of the right diameter to make a ferrule drive,whitle to fit, & drive a short massonry nail into the pith after fitting ferrule, Aquire a rubber ferrule for use on shiny surfaces if you wish to use it for walking!

See some of my finished sticks at...

http://aol.photobox.co.uk/public/detail.html?c_album=560544

Cheers,
Spiral


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Thanks for the info. I haven't thought about sealing the endgrain before. Methinks wax will work ok for this. What do you use for finishing? Yours seems to have a sort of shiny varnish on em'.
 
No varnish! yuck horrid stuff!


They are either straight of the blade or sanded through the grades & oiled with baby or nut oil! Havent done them for a year though!{therse another job for me}

They are all timbers that take a good finnish.

Wax is ok for sealing but PVA is perfect!

Spiral
 
Bruise,

I discovered a really nice 'finish' this weekend, called Howard's 'Feed-N-wax'. Combination of orange oil, beeswax and carnauba wax. Works on both finished and unfinished wood. Leaves a real nice glow to a couple of villager khuk handles that I put it on. Left it on overnight, then wiped off the excess. Put a coat of paste wax over that. Looks great. And REAL easy, for those lazy ones among us.

Their orange oil is good too, but I like this stuff better. ( www.howardproducts.com for info ). I bought mine at the hardware store. I own no stock in the company.
 
Originally posted by spiraltwista
Hi Stmmzaum,
The spike on them is a marlin spike {According to the original army specifications} for use in rope work {brilliant for untying knots & open the weave!}& as a weapon.{spikes leave injurys that are hard to heal} Some victorian cavalary folding knives have horses hooves spikes but the are very thin & with a hook on the end to lever stones out of the hoof.

Spiral
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, been wondering for a while (though I knew about the injuries, nasty). Though IIRC technically a marlin spike is the spike used to pin a rope on a boat so that it doesn't get dragged away (again, I am probably wrong).

Anyhow, don't want to get too OT, so, sticks....
 
Thats the one, Fid, I knew there was a proper name (fantastic word isnt it).

I think they are still making them, they are slab sided and fairly readily available.
 
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