@HILLBILLYHUNTERS, that is very very cool...thank you for sharing the foto...the lancewood looks beautiful...
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@HILLBILLYHUNTERS, that is very very cool...thank you for sharing the foto...the lancewood looks beautiful...
I'm in the process of doing a shillelagh at the moment, will post up pics when its done....
Please do...:)
Righto I've had this piece of Sambar antler for ages and wondered what to do with it after seeing your thread you got me thinking about a stick or going by the piece of Lancewood i've got maybe pole.
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@EeeBees So going by your examples how long do reckon it takes to dry?
A year?
Only cut this morning.
While waiting for a pickup at the road end 94/95 I spotted this growing in the swamp.spent a couple of years in the garage roof,then cut to size.used as an attitude adjuster for two legs and four.now it keeps me upright."Such is Life"Attachment 40954
Well Shootm I had mine up in my shed for about a year , but it could have been done long before that. Do not cut it to length before its dry it dose crack.
Made the shooting stick years back when stuck in a rainy hut - stripped it and let it dry out - then cut to size many months later. Not intentionally, just how it worked out.
Over the years the v got screwed and glued in, and a big screw and washer screwed into the tip to stop it getting hammered.
The Irish fighting stick or shillelagh was just bit of a laugh for my younger sister, she has a cabinet of things on display that could hurt people.
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I have been trying to finish this gun support ... my friends in Devon will do a product review on it...their first shoot this coming weekend and I should have had it over there by now...
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Have only stabbed myself with the awl once...and that was on Tuesday night...I now know that the C S Osborne diamond awl is indeed very sharp...:oh noes::(
Bit late to this thread but some interesting stuff. My dad was a muster and culler (Sth Is) in the early 50's) and always had a great interest in "knibbies", he always had a few drying and one on the go, plus a pile of broken ones.
Anyhow for decades the debate was between Lancewoods and Manuka/Kanuka, I sorta like Lancewood best as its not as brittle. Dad always preferred Manuka.
About 20 years ago they were living down the Coast and a Maori chap (Paul Wilson if I recall correctly) suggested that Kowhai was the best (no doubt based on quite a few words from his tupuna tāne). Well that was new one on us but a stick was secured and put up. Several years ago not long before he passed Dad asked me if I would make a new stick for Mum and handed me this bit of stick (the Kowhai). Well what a magic bit of wood, nice to work, light and really really tough and strong. Mum has since also passed and I have the stick here, its a beaut. So try a bit of Kowhai, dammed hard to find a suitable bit but worth it.
I still believe the best stick makers on earth bar none are trees :P
Gee, sorry @Shootm...yes a year is good so it is absolutely dry...I really like that Sambar antler...
Seems to be varying opinions on this one - longer is safer, as you're guaranteed that its dried centre out, and won't split.
I've had stuff split on me thats been left to dry 3+ years - splits after cutting. But that was quite a significant thickness (Totara rounds).
I reckon you can fast forward it by keeping inside at room temperature - standard thickness thumbstick or the like you can get away with about 6mths.
I've just put down 3 solid ones...... sealed both ends with spraypaint - see how they go.
A good family friend makes custom sticks.
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Made this glasses case today...still the burnishing to finish off...lined it with pigskin...the 12 gauge snap is possibly a bit over the top:)
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Now that I have gone the 20g way, I intend to make an ammo belt...made this pocket camera pouch yesterday to go on the belt as well...
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Sent this lot off to the Olde Country yesterday...five plait flats, four plait rounds...
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Just discovered this thread @EeeBees. The title had me fooled. Recently I was researching shepherds staff on the net. The preferred woods were hazel (filbert)and lancewood. I have a couple of hazelnut trees out the back so will cut some staves and start the drying process. Staffs I have made from Kanuka and manuka always break unless thicker than about 35mm, which makes them heavy.
I noticed some of the pics showed staffs with bark still attached. Why is this? Is it just for looks, or is there a purpose?
@Woody, keeping the bark on is up to you really...the holly staff which has now got three of seven coats of marine varnish reacts to the varnish or should that be that the varnish reacts to the holly (it has very astringent qualities) and will it will end up being black...save for the notches which I will leave as is...I like the bark on especially with say wattle as it has a curious pattern on it which to me is attractive...if you are wanting a precise staff then a spoke shave or a draw knife will get the symmetical symmetric!! I like a degree of rusticity to them...just my thoughts!!! I love the hazelnut...
I want one of these gadgets...!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJE83_LWC0g
Tobacco pouch...just got more burnishing and finishing off to do and it is done...
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Making a thumb stick...well, trying too...one of those days when the dots do not want to join...
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Just discovered this thread, interesting stuff. Does anyone else know much about "bully sticks"? When I was a young fella growing up in the Waikato dad always had a few bull penises drying out in the roof of the shed, all the shepards used to use them. Will see if hes still got one and try get some photos.
Haha yea we used to think it was a great laugh "look at all the shepherds, wandering around with their dicks in their hands all day" they seemed pretty versatile though, strong enough to walk with, light enough to carry all day and use in the yards when sorting stock, just the right amount of flex for giving old Jack a tune up when he wouldnt "get in behind"
I am quite pleased with this...I wanted to capitalise on the natural bend in the top of the hazel which proved to be somewhat problematical but I got there in the end...finished with a four braid round wrist band...
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just a thought EeeBees, the brass end of a shot gun cartridge would finish off the larger side of that antler, I did once on a knife I made
thank you, @Gapped axe...cool idea, will just go and see if a 20g brass would fit...it will fit...thank you!!
:your welcome:thumbsup
Have 38 days to finish this and this is all I have achieved in the last two months...20g ammo belt...wanted to finish the pouch yesterday but am out of snaps...:oh noes:
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It is finally, warts and all, finished...a project pretty well beyond me but I managed to get it done...:)
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Dogs have had their fluffies and nails trimmed, the Pheasant Cake yet another imbibition of brandy...so now we await The Morning...!!
Eeebees for god sake don't stick any candles in that cake and light them....it will go up like guy Fawkes if you do!:P
:D:D
beautiful as usual, there are a few of us Arty/crafties on here
@Gapped axe, it always interests me how a group of people such as forum are bound by a common interest such as hunting, yet it is only one aspect of our interests and it so neat when you see other people's crafts and artistry...
Very clever Eebees
thank you, @mrs dundee
One of the pluses of the inclement weather is that I have finished the braiding on a nine flat plait lanyard...just the turks head knots and it is done...along with a six plait flat, and one of each a six and four plait rounds...yay...
:D I am rapt, @7mmwsm...thank you again for your patient waiting on its return...now I have another to look at so thank you also for launching my career into the whip division...!!
My petit chien helping me with a blackthorn stick...
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have taken the bark off the sticks...now the wait...:(
Hi Eebees. I had a hip replacement last year and kept the head of my femur. it's in the garden getting cleaned at the moment and I'm hoping the formalin isn't wiping out too many critters as they eat. I've always intended that it would be the head on a walking stick. Will boil it and peroxide it soon and hopefully it will be nice and white. Would you be interested in making me a stick? And roughly the price? Probably best to PM me.
Thanks,
Ken