Home made Thumb Stick

[Chopper]

For a while I have had the itch to make a thumb stick for my rapidly aproaching old age (42 now). I searched the web, but was not sure of the quality of the parts on sale, so I found a local stick maker and we met.

Now, when I say this mans carved work is stunning I really mean it, a true craftsman.

Following a 30 minute rummage in his antler box, I came across something that was not the norm, and really fitted both hands well, we selected a piece of buffalo horn for the spacer and the ferrel and studding, I parted with my £10, and a few days later this is the end result. 55" long and coated with a few coats of french polish, which really brings out the pattern in the (I think he called it snakeskin hazle) stick. I am a very happy bunny, and will be making more.

 

[SOAR]

I like it, with me being off work at the moment having torn my cartlidge I've been seriously considering making one myself

 

[MikeDB]

Nice. Really nice. Really very nice indeed!

Mike

 

[Kepis]

Just in the process of finishing one off myself for the owner of the woods i go to, thought it would be a nice way to say thanks for the use of his land, and it's different to the usual bottle of plonk.

Made from Roe Deer antler and a length of hazel collected from the woods, the joint between hazel and antler has been whipped over with 2mm leather, i also added a braided leather hand loop, the cap on the end is a copper stop end from the plumbing dept at B&Q, which fits perfectly, after a bit a careful carving, the stick is now being treated with linseed oil which has really bought out the colour.

Got two others on the go at the moment, one with a piece of Red Deer antler, which im keeping, and another plain old hazel staff with a leather hand loop for whoever in the family who wants it.

 

[Chopper]

Now that is nice Maver.

A leather loop is next, its funny that I forgot until I saw yours.

How long did you season the stick for ?

 

[Kepis]

The stick has in the shed rafters for well over a year, what was nice is when i sanded the stick down with flour paper to get it nice and smooth, it was still showing green under the bark, you can just about make it out by the knot on the inset picture, even so it's perfectly dry.

 

[Matt Weir]

Very nice chaps and ideal for smacking chavs with.

 

[Seagull]

Now, that's the bees-knees, Chopper.

Yes, Ive always found it odd that theres a whole lot of variation in hazel bark.

I dunno why more folk don't use a stick; always useful on muddy trails and things.

Good job indeed.

Ceeg

 

[oops56]

O K a waking stick is ok but why in the world do they have to be round?? Why not square just brake the sharp edge.

 

[Burnt Ash]

Just in the process of finishing one off myself for the owner of the woods i go to, thought it would be a nice way to say thanks for the use of his land, and it's different to the usual bottle of plonk.

Made from Roe Deer antler and a length of hazel collected from the woods, the joint between hazel and antler has been whipped over with 2mm leather, i also added a braided leather hand loop, the cap on the end is a copper stop end from the plumbing dept at B&Q, which fits perfectly, after a bit a careful carving, the stick is now being treated with linseed oil which has really bought out the colour.

Got two others on the go at the moment, one with a piece of Red Deer antler, which im keeping, and another plain old hazel staff with a leather hand loop for whoever in the family who wants it.

You'll have someone's eye out with that, you will!

Burnt Ash

 

[weaver]

Nice work, both!

About how tall do you make those? In the US we have sticks anywhere from waist high to shoulder high depending on the area and personal preference. HAven't seen any like yours here though. I'd like to make a few.

 

[Kepis]

Make mine about chest height, dont know why, it just feels right

 

[commandocal]

Just in the process of finishing one off myself for the owner of the woods i go to, thought it would be a nice way to say thanks for the use of his land, and it's different to the usual bottle of plonk.

just dont tell him where the deer whos antler that is came from....

 

[spamel]

Make mine about chest height, dont know why, it just feels right

I make mine at about the same height. My next one will be a bit longer though, more of a staff then a stick. It is quite relaxing taking the bark off and then shaping the stick, sanding and oiling it, fitting the ferrules and leather thonging. I have an idea for my next one that I will have a go at soon, I have the wifes' to finish off first with some more oil and a ferrule of some sort.

 

[Kepis]

just dont tell him where the deer whos antler that is came from....

 

[Ketchup]

How do you fix the antler/horn top to the stick?

 

[John Fenna]

With my antler headed stick I drilled holes into both antler and wood with a sizable drill bit and then used a busted drill bit of the same diam as a peg join, glued it all together and leather bound the joint.
It aint fallen apart yet and even does duty as a shelter pole at times.

 

[Chopper]

How do you fix the antler/horn top to the stick?

John Fenna is right, but I used a length of 8mm x 150mm threaded engineers studding.

The hardest part is to drill the hole dead centre in the stick,spacer and antler. Although if your a little out with a bit of sanding it will all run smoothly from one part to the other.

Once the drilling is done and all joining surfaces are flat and parallel, I drilled some shallow (about 3mm) holes in all mating surfaces to help the glue work, then placed some fast acting epoxy in to the holes and on the mating surfaces and then applied pressure to the assembled parts for about 20 minutes. Left it over night and finnished the sanding. Job done.

 

[Kepis]

Much the same as Chopper describes it, except i used a large brass screw with the head cut off as the peg, , the threaded end of the screw goes into the stick which has been predrilled with a drill just slightly smaller than the screw, figured the brass wouldn't rust over time and if i need to put the antler on a new stick, all i have to do is break the glue join and unscrew the antler from the stick, using the screw also allowed me to screw the top on nice and tight whilst the glue went off.

 

[Chopper]

Wrist strap fitted and a couple of better pictures of the top.