Walking sticks

What is your favorite stick wood? my favotite is Dogwood. It is hard to carve but finishes beautifully and is very strong. What about you guy or gals that are not fortunate enough to live in the South?

Thanks

Al

I like mesquite, yucca, basswood, sassafras and on and on * oops...almost forgot 'Diamond willow'! :

My favorite wood for carved sticks is basswood. For grain and wood beauty I love birch and alder and, IMO, nothing beats a nice piece of diamond willow for the WOW factor.

I have to agree Diamond Willow or Alaskan Diamond Willow is my favorite but Staghorn Sumac is a very close second. The diamonds in the willow are outstanding and the grain in sumac is so beautiful that irridesant yellow and tight grain makes for outstanding carving.
Colin

[BobD]

Not that I have time to try carving something else (I have enough half-finished carvings to fill my office) but where does one find Diamond Willow?

Bob

from Gene Bremmer

[Kenny_S]

Diamond willow, Sassafras, and the sumac(red) around here is poisonous to handle. Hickory is a very hard wood but is strong when using a smaller diameter stick.

Here is the link to Gene's web site
You can get his email addy from there and contact him about pricing and shipping

Gene has the best prices on Diamond Willow

http://diamondwillowwood.tripod.com/


My favorite wood for sticks is whatever is free.

Love the Diamond Willow but it has to come from the northern states or Canada.

Willow makes a nice stick
Tallow used to get a lot of this when I lived in Texas City
but none in the area I live in now
Ash
Aspen
Cedar
Sassafrass
Mesquite makes a nice stick but I have never used it
Yucca makes a nice stick but I have never used it
Oak great stick and strong but too hard to carve unless
you power carve
Hickory makes a nice stick but again hard to carve unless
you power carve

Most people that do sticks use the wood most prevalent in their area

[BobD]

How are black walnut branches...I'm keeping my eye on several HUGE walnuts in my back yard, but I can harvest a few branches...

Bob

The black walnt should look good when finished
Be sure to let them dry out for at least 6 months to a year before you try and carve them to prevent checking.

I have also used Pecan and i love the look of the finished pecan.

I talked with 1 carver that made his sticks from apple wood