Lake Wobegon Trail Cane ... custom project for my mother's cousin

Very nice. What type of wood is it?
After losing my shop and having to downsize I am trying my hand at small stuff like this.

-- T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.E.

Dez … It’s a piece of Cherry I found along the Lake Wobegon Trail. Walking sticks are a great way to make use of found wood and to enjoy wood working at the same time. Cliff

-- Stickman Cliff

I have to agree 100%! I am currently working with maple that I found on the power lines where they keep the trees trimmed. Makes for a lot of same sized pieces growing out of the trunk.

-- T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.E.

Dez … I just finished working on a couple walking sticks made from Silver Maple. This isn’t usually a wood I would normally use but I got them from from a power company tree trim clean up project. I was really suprised with the result.

It is a very white wood that is easy to work but it is a soft wood so it shows sanding marks quite clearly so you need to be careful to use a higher grit to reduce the marks. I used 60 grit for my first pass and it was definitely to coarse. Cliff

-- Stickman Cliff

So far for most of the work I used a scraper. It leaves a nice smooth finish and I ground a few to match the diameter I was working with.. Western Maple is a little softer than some hardwoods but isn’t too bad, a nice creamy white. As soon as I get some decent looking ones done I will post a few pictures.

-- T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.E.