[cobalt]

It will soon be time to start havesting shanks , so tommorow my grandaughter and i are going walking into the woods searching for the area for cutting hazel .Hoping to get at least a couple of hundred.

The hundred i have i am moving into the greenhouse now the hot sun has gone so i will have easy access to them and will check them out for size , colour, and quality .

If i put my mind to it its a simple job to make several a week..

Its the design and researching it that takes the time but i also enjoy this aspect of doing it.Its not very oftern i do things on impulse, and usually make a cardboard cut out to sit on the shank always saying will this work? or could this be done in a different way

So keep your eyes peeled when out walking theres oftern a little gem waiting to be picked up .

 

[CV3]

Most summers we have a hurricane or tropical storms that will blow over a few trees or bring down some branches. the last few years have been a quiet years for storms. So not as many sticks to get. I am going to have to take down a dogwood tree in the yard this year. it is about dead. I see some great sticks in it.

 

[cobalt]

We do get the odd tree down ,but hant been lucky enought to be around when its happened.

Dont know anything about dog wood but it sounds like a challenge just taking it down .good luck with it post a pic of it it would give me a better idea of the treee?

To wet to go walking in the woods so next week mayby

 

[CV3]

Dogwood is a hard wood it can be used for tool handles. It is hard to work but holds detail very well. You have to carve it with lots of shallow cut. It well tear up your tools if you try to take big bites.They are really pretty in the spring,the whole tree is covered with white flowers.
This is the one that has died and I will have taken down.

 

[yaxley]

When I was a little kid we had a dogwood tree in the front yard that I would climb on. It was a beatiful tree with the spring blossoms. Looking forward to see what yours looks like finished.

I'm on the Oregon coast and we have severe winter storms that bring down a lot of trees and branches. Easy pickings for the spring.

Lots of myrtlewood around here but haven't worked any yet. FYI

 

[CV3]

It will be after the first of the year be for I take the tree down. It is near dead so I will not have to dry what I keep to long. Oregon is pretty state. I spent some time in Bend and Pendleton back in the 70's.

 

[yaxley]

Oregon is pretty state. I spent some time in Bend and Pendleton back in the 70's.

We have traveled and lived all over the map and mainly in the southwest/west the last 20+ years. We found Oregon very much to our liking. We like salt water activities and the ocean, and Oregon offers that plus a lot more. No sales tax is nice. The main downside, as you know, is the rain and income tax. Regardless it fits our needs for retirement and we will stay until a quake slides us into the Pacific.

LAter, Bill

 

[cobalt]

The upsides usually outweigh the downs but you seem settled where your are.as for quakes never experianced one and hoping not to .but enjoy your retirement

 

[yaxley]

We found many great areas we could live in, but the Oregon coast has most of the things we enjoy. One great thing about this country is the variety of areas that appeal to the people. Of course every area has downsides and you just have to strike a balance. Heck, we lived in the desert for a while and I made walking sticks/canes out of yucca and sotol.

 

[Steve R.]

As happens frequently in the mountains, our weather has shifted and Autumn has fallen with little warning. Unless Summer dare peak it's head out once more, that's it for the warm weather up here. Although, Few leaves have yet turned color, I am looking forward to walking the trails up here and tagging out a few prospects while I can still make positive identification of the species. I remember seeing more than a few sticks last year at about this time that had not yet achieved the girth needed for working them. Here's hoping I can find them again.

 

[cobalt]

I am hoping to do the same things in the local woods. there is plenty for me to cut .and it shouldnt be difficult to cut a couple of hundred .Last years shanks will be about ready to use now ,so they will keep me going for a long while.

What i really look for is the shanks that have a natural thumb piece already grown into the shank but not so easy to find thats good enough

 

[MJC4]

I was one lucky dog this trip to the Rocky Mountains. The National Park Service was doing hazardous tree removal in the campground we were staying at. I showed the wood cutters a couple sticks I made and they happily obliged my request for sticks. I packed my little motorhome with sub alpine fir, englemann spruce, lodge pole pine and aspen. Just to be safe I roasted all the sticks over a roaring bonfire so as not to bring unwanted critters home with us.

Mark

 

[CV3]

Sounds like a great trip Mark. I look forward to seeing what you do with all those sticks.

 

[cobalt]

welcome back mark hope you had a good trip.

Something new in the pipe line ? post some pics