I think I will make a Staff

Post Reply New Topic

The urge came over me the other day to make a staff. Maybe staff is the wrong word. It will be a combination of a shepherd's staff and a rod. The Hebrew text mentions two objects carried by the shepherd: a club [rod] to defend the sheep against wild animals and a long pole [staff] to guide and control the sheep. So my urge was to combine the two functions into one tool.

So how do I make it since I never made one before. I think the first step is the choice of wood. On my property I have many trees. One of these trees commonly goes by the name "ironwood". It is a short tree as trees go but it has the unusual property that it has extremely dense wood. If you drop a piece of the ironwood into a bucket of water it will quickly sink to the bottom.

Since it was nice and warm outside today, I went on a scouting mission. I came across several of these trees. They seem to grow abundantly on my property. So I cut off a small branch and took a leaf back with me. I checked the Internet and the tree seemed to match a species of ironwood called "carpinus caroliniana", otherwise called "American hornbeam" or "musclewood". I dropped a segment of the branch into a bucket of water and it immediately sunk to the bottom. The segment of the branch was less than a half inch thick, but it is almost impossible to bend. It is like iron or maybe stronger than Iron because I think I could bend a piece of iron of that dimension with my bare hands.

So if tomorrow is another warm day, I think I will fetch a small tree to begin the process of making a staff.

What are you going to go for, a natural looking Gandalf style staff or a machined Sarauman style one?

Now you'll have to grow a beard.

I'm curious about this thing. Post a picture of it when you're done with it, will ya? I for one would like to see how it turns out.

I never made a staff before, but I've sanded down scrap wood into a jo or several over the years. i had a hard time with ironwood, but I was hand sanding. The zebra wood and purpleheart were much more agreeable without using actual tools I walked away from the ironwood. Shame though since it's really cool stuff.

"A wizard's staff has a knob on the end" - Terry Pratchett

I'm curious to see how it turns out.

Is a pile of walking sticks a staff meeting?

I'd like to see a picture when you're finished.

I went into my woods and picked out a small ironwood tree.

http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Staff0.jpg



Then I removed it from the ground and cleaned up the rootball. I chopped off the top. The staff currently weights 8.6 pounds and 59 inches long. I will need to let the staff dry for several months before I begin to work on it. The wood is very white.

http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Staff1.jpg

That seems pretty kewl Jim. As others have said, please post a pic here when it is finished
I want a traditional Irish Shillelagh but the only cheap 1s I found online were imitation 1s & I want an actual one made with real knotted wood.

I sanded it down. It will be a white staff.

http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Staff2.jpg

^ I changed your images to URL's. No one can see the pictures for whatever reason, but linking allows us to see the photos.

Saw the picture of your staff; it is perfect!
You are very talented!