[RATTY]

hello folks , just wanted say hi and introduce myself a little.

names chris , 42 from Nottingham England , i have been hobby carving for a few years and do a little live carving show on a creative streaming website.

I love celtic , norse and pagan themed carving and i usually make sticks and staffs to these themes and also do a little bone and horn carving , making pendants and stick charms.

nearly all my sticks are gathered from sherwood forest in nottinghamshire.

I hope to get to chat with you all and learn some new skills .

any questions about myself , please ask.

 

[CV3]

Hello and welcome to the forum Chris. Your the first of our UK members who I have seen that carve wood spirits in your hiking staffs. Look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[RATTY]

thank you CV3 , i find the little fella's can give a lot of character to a stick and they are great fun to do .

 

[Rodney]

Welcome! I like the bone pendant. Nice detail work.

I'm pretty sure you're the first British carver I've seen carving the shanks too.

Rodney

 

[RATTY]

thank you Rodney , The UK seems to be lacking in the love of stick carving compared to other Countries , but i enjoy it .

 

[RandyL476]

Great looking wood spirits I love those kind of walking sticks always wanted one I just don't carve.

 

[RATTY]

thanks randy . you should try carving , i find it a great way to relax .

 

[cobalt]

welcome to the forum

Good to see another Uk stick maker here

I must admit I have never seen a Uk stick maker carve wood spirits most seem to use rams/buffalo horn or carve toppers mostly dogs/ water fowl.

I have never carved one and I stick wildlife it appeals to me more but keep posting always interested

 

[Lol999]

Howdy Ratty, there's a market for your stuff, have you ever visited one of the Mind Body and Spirit fairs? The people who visit these gigs will pay good money for their fancies. There was one on only this last weekend just north of Mansfield in Notts.

 

[RATTY]

ive not seen them , i will have a look in to that , thanks Lol .

 

[Rad]

Welcome to the site! Sherwood forest - cool!

 

[RATTY]

thanks rad . There are some great woodlands here for gathering shafts.

One of the shafts i have wanted the most but never found though is the diamond willow , which seem to only show up in the states from what i have seen .

 

[Rodney]

It doesn't show up everywhere here either. From what I've read the diamonds are caused by a fungus in the wood. Some river drainages have it, some don't. I haven't found any around my area but I keep hoping.

Rodney

 

[Batakali]

Welcome! I can second Rodney, I've been looking for diamond willow for years! I've always found it strange that folks in the UK don't carve more spirits. Maybe the whole pagan greenman connection made it a little taboo in the past? Anyway... I love the Celtic Viking connection! There's a college in my city that has an oak tree grown from a Sherwood acorn, it always made me want meet the rest of the family,so to speak.

 

[Lol999]

ive not seen them , i will have a look in to that , thanks Lol .

Some are frighteningly expensive to stand at. The one this weekend was £160 per day or £240 for the pair! However, once you get to know what to look for on the internet you can find some cheaper ones, usually £20-£40.

 

[cobalt]

you can get some cheap stands at a craft fair. But its not much better than a car boot sale its hardly worth giving your time for it

if you consider the time and materials you spend on sticks You oftern better to give a few sticks to rambler friends as word of mouth will sell more at a resonable price for your efforts

 

[RATTY]

Welcome! I can second Rodney, I've been looking for diamond willow for years! I've always found it strange that folks in the UK don't carve more spirits. Maybe the whole pagan greenman connection made it a little taboo in the past? Anyway... I love the Celtic Viking connection! There's a college in my city that has an oak tree grown from a Sherwood acorn, it always made me want meet the rest of the family,so to speak.

if you can get a shaft from it ill have to send you one of these for it lol http://i.imgur.com/PcjOGuF.jpg

 

[Batakali]

Don't think I get past the environmentalist forestry students with a saw in my hand but thanks!

 

[RATTY]

tell them theres a vegan food truck giving away hemp shirts with free samples of soya bacon lol

 

[Batakali]

Lol! Maybe I can say someone is selling leather jackets while eating a cheeseburger and I can grab a cutting when they run to make protest signs! But seriously I don't think I can in good faith cut from something that old. I do check for falls after storms once in awhile.