Recently I have moved my stickmaking activities to a local farm owned by a good freind of mine. I needed more room to store my supplies as well as more room to make more mess!
Here are a few pictures of the processes involved, and some general shots of me making sticks from a recent photo shoot we did at the stickery! Enjoy…
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Current stock as of 14th November, please enquire for further details lordscountrysticks@gmail.com
Probably the simplest of sticks to make once you have found a suitable ‘v’ on a good shank.
Simple thumb sticks!
I love the job of tidying the knots in the wood and carving a suitable thumb rest that it both aesthetically pleasing and comfortable for the user. All I use for these sticks is my favourite knife then some sandpaper to get a smooth finish. Then a few costs of boiled linseed and you have a lovely hazel thumbstick full of character!
Mmm..... I love a drop of linseed oil
Whist out photographing some sticks yesterday I stopped by a gate with some cattle in the field behind. I though it was a good place to photograph my market stick as they are used by farmers, hence the name as they would lean on them whilst at market.
Well the shot I wanted did not really happen but one cow wanted a closer look at the quality of my craftmanship.
Later that day I sold this stick to a passing lady who bought it for her father.
Pure indulgence this morning! I packed the car with sticks and headed off to a nearby wood to photograph my sticks – becauese I need to start selling a few to make room for more!
As I was photographing my sticks two couples approached me as they admired my work. ‘Are they for sale thay asked?’ This was the least likely place I though I would sell any sticks but within 1 hour 2 sticks had been sold to happy dog walkers.
Here is my favourite stick which I have decided I will be keeping as my ‘best’ stick – it will not be used for beating as its far to good. The shanks is spalted hazel, which you pay a premium for and the antler is a superb example I bought off a chap in Scotland. I just need to get myself a dog too!
Check out the cheeky ladybird in the bottom right of the photo!
I was very pleased with this walnut leg cleek as its one of the first I made to a good standard. I bought a blank walnut head from my supplier which was roughly shaped and needed several hours of sanding and finishing with boiled linseed oil. I was so please with the stick I did not want to get rid of it. However its still in the family as my future mother in law is the proud owner of it and its enjoying a life walking the hills of Wiltshire!
A beautiful hand crafted walnut leg cleek
I have made a few of these sticks now and they are very popular amongst shepherds and small holders who have a few sheep etc they need to catch.
An hours work with the help of a shepherds crook!
Today, I went out apple collecting as we are trying to make some homemade cider this year. These sticks are a little longer than a normal walking/market stick so give you some extra reach for shaking those top branches for apples. We used the stick to great success and within an hour had several apples ready for scratting and then pressing.
Old fruit box bearing my surname and father's initial bought at a boot sale!
These sticks are not as pretty as a traditional shepherds crook but are good working sticks every small holder/farmer should have in the back of their 4×4.
Hello, this is my first post of my new blog – Lord’s Country Sticks.
This blog is about my hobby of stick making and love of the great British countryside. I will be showcasing the sticks I make together with the processes involved in making them and my interests in the countryside.
So, to start with here is a photograph of the first 8 sticks I made last year, 7 of which sold within 1 week at a local pub in South Oxfordshire.
From left to right we have a burr elm crook on a hazel shank, ash/rosewood laminate thumb stick on hazel, red deer antler capped with cow horn capping, a one piece crook style fruit picking stick, a churchill buffalo thumb stick on chestnut with a bone spacer, large antler thumb stick with walnut cappings and walnut spacer, a buffalo crook with copper collar and a lovely birch staff.
Lord's Country Sticks 