Rose Stick

[king 11,984]

I came across a wild rose tree yesterday.i say tree as it was climbing a tree about 20ft high.the main stem is about the thickness of a standard walking stick.and 6ft tall and straight.

Can it be used as a walking stick it seems very woody and solid.

[Truther 1,579]

You can make a stick out of it mate, the problem is its hard to dry it out without it splitting. Its got a hollow "vein" running through it, like any tree or plant with a hollow it dries out to quick and splits, even sealing the cut ends with wax don't usually work. The trick is to cut the branch that the stick is growing from well below the part you want, just leave it where it is for a few months and see if it splits, that way you've only got one saw cut invested in it. If it doesn't split cut it down to a size you can get home, but still leave some extra. After that just put it somewhere that wont get to hot, and don't seal the ends up, if you do and there's enough moisture still in it it can still split through the bark.

[king 11,984]

  On 16/04/2016 at 07:59, Truther said:

You can make a stick out of it mate, the problem is its hard to dry it out without it splitting. Its got a hollow "vein" running through it, like any tree or plant with a hollow it dries out to quick and splits, even sealing the cut ends with wax don't usually work. The trick is to cut the branch that the stick is growing from well below the part you want, just leave it where it is for a few months and see if it splits, that way you've only got one saw cut invested in it. If it doesn't split cut it down to a size you can get home, but still leave some extra. After that just put it somewhere that wont get to hot, and don't seal the ends up, if you do and there's enough moisture still in it it can still split through the bark.

 

Right thanks for the reply truther.its only a few 100yds from the house.ive never seen such a thick rose stem before.

First thing I though of was a stick.its the main stem so to speak single stem going about 6ft before splitting in 2 and climbing up the tree.i will have a look again at it in a bit.

[Truther 1,579]

If its just one stem growing out of the ground you could dig down a bit and cut it at the roots, cut the stem and its likely to split.

[Gin 498]

I'm fairly sure, Theo Fossil the founder of The British Stickmakers Guild made a few of these

[Gin 498]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Working-Sticks-Theo-Fossel/dp/1869988019

[king 11,984]

  On 16/04/2016 at 09:06, Truther said:

If its just one stem growing out of the ground you could dig down a bit and cut it at the roots, cut the stem and its likely to split.

 

Right that's the plan truther.i will dig to the roots and take it out from there.

  On 16/04/2016 at 09:26, Gin said:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Working-Sticks-Theo-Fossel/dp/1869988019

I didn't know there are so many walking stick books out there gin.

[Gin 498]

Yes and this is one of the best

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stickmaking-Complete-Course-Revised-Edition/dp/1861085222/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41kSYwgg7SL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR122%2C160_&refRID=0NKQPD5ZJ8H9Z1VAY27Z

[Gin 498]

If you can get one,- i'd go for this also, by Norman Tulip.

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780859831109/Art-Stick-Dressing-Tulip-Norman-0859831108/plp

[Gin 498]

Try ebay first

[ratbuster 808]

 

 

 

Made this one a few years ago from a wild rose from the garden; great stick, strong, light, a real worker

[Flacko 1,755]

Nice one rat buster atb Flacko

[ratbuster 808]

Thanks guys, nothing fancy, just a good stick to take along my country strolls.

 

 

Had the problem with the cracks as well, filled them up with a mixture of wood-glue and sawdust. Finished it of with some coats of linseed oil and briwax.

 

To prevent cracking the bottom I put on a brass coupling and a tungsten / steel horseshoe stud on end

 

[king 11,984]

Right I cut the stick and left it a good 1ft longer than needed to allow the splitting that was mentioned.is it worth shaping the end into something I would of liked a ball type end but think there's not enough bulk there to shape a ball.

And how long would you suggest I leave it to dry out etc.i quite like the bark that's on it and would like to keep it and apply a thick clear lacquer or build up a thick varnish covering.

[moxy 617]

Just put it away in a cool shaded spot and forget about it for a good while.