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Bob's Stickmaking Pages Welcome to Walking sticks, market sticks, thumbsticks, crooks and staffs hand-crafted inwood, horn andantler by stickmaker Bob Goddard, now in West Yorkshire, UK.  Sticks For Sale | Antler Sticks | Collectors' Sticks | Horn Sticks | Market Sticks & Crooks | Thumbsticks | "Womble" Sticks | One-Piece Sticks | Other Sticks | Work in hand | Stick FAQ | About Stickmaking Materials | Custom Sticks Price Guide | Feedback from customers & visitors | Contact me | Useful links Follow the links above to see examples of my work and learn more about thematerials and processes involved. This will give you some idea of what I can doand how much a decent stick costs. Important Announcement!!!My stickmaking activities are now shut down while I get settled into my newhome in Halifax, West Yorkshire. There is (inevitably) more work to be done onthe house than I had originally bargained for, and it will take a couple ofmonths before I can even start to think about setting up my workshop. This willinvolve some damp-proofing work in the basement and creating a level workingarea on the sloping floor in the garage, so I don't see myself getting backinto stickmaking mode until well into the summer. Update 24 September 2006:Well, so much for that theory! I can't go into all the gory details here, but arelatively minor bit of structural work needs to be done before I can startsetting up my workshop. Unfortunately, this can't be put in hand until adispute with my surveyor has been resolved - so I'm still sitting heretwiddling my thumbs. :-(Update 27 November 2006:Still no progress to report. Thumb-twiddling continues.Update 13 December 2006:Still no progress. Meanwhile I have changed my ISP and my Web hostingproviders. This all seems to have gone smoothly, but it does mean I no longerhave access to PlusNet's "My Circular" newsletter management tool. In fact mynewsletter never really got off the ground as, what with everything else goingon, I never had time to compose a proper newsletter anyway. Sorry, folks - I'mnow removing that page, but if and when I do have any time on my hands I willtry to find an alternative way of setting it up.Update 05 January 2008:The saga continues. Over the past year I've had quite a bit of work done on thehouse, much of it unrelated to my stickmaking activities. Currently I'm waitingfor the Council to mend the pavement outside my garage so that the new garagedoors can be adjusted to keep out the rain. This should have taken place beforeChristmas, but like everything else it's all taking far longer than it ought to.However, once the garage doors have been sorted out it will then be down to meto deal with any remaining problems and start creating my workshop. It's boundto take several more months, but I am hopeful that I will be up and runningagain some time this year! All sticks are for sale except where stated. On request I can cut most sticks down to suit the user. Making them longer is a bit more difficult! Ifyou're interested in a particular stick, just drop me an email at document.write(""); document.write("");Buying a stick without seeing and handling it in Real Life is not ideal ifyou mean to use it for its intended purpose. However, my sticks, particularlythe less conventional ones, do seem to be attracting the attention ofcollectors, whooften don't need to have the stick cut to a specific size. If you want topurchase a stick by post, I'll be happy to oblige and will advise on how todetermine the correct length if needed. However, if I cut a stick to acustomer's own measurements, this will be entirely at their own risk. Note that most of my sticks pictured on this site are shown without ferrules.This doesn't mean they will be supplied without ferrules! I fit all my stickswith top-quality steel-tipped brass ferrules after they have been cut down to size (think about it).  Photos taken by Dr Nicol Murray at Stockwood Park Craft Museum, Luton, where Iwas assisting with his stickmaking demonstration.  Many people see a walking stick as merely an orthopaedic device; something onlyto be used by the elderly or infirm, a utilitarian aid to be employed only inthe last resort then discarded as soon as possible. The hiker, casual walker,shepherd, farmer or other country person knows better. A good walking stick,well made and carefully designed for the user's particular purpose as well asits aesthetic qualities, quickly becomes a constant companion, a joy to use,and something to be appreciated and admired. When out walking, a good stick ismore than just a piece of wood to stop you falling over. A well-balanced andcomfortable stick helps maintain the natural rhythm of your gait and seems tomake the miles less fatiguing. At the same time it comes in handy for pushingaside brambles and nettles; hooking over tree roots to help you scramble up abank; or fending off flocks of kamikaze geese. (For some reason, I find themost aggressive goose will back off if you just wave a stick at it). A stickcan help steady your aim with gun, binoculars, telescope or camera. A shepherd,of course, will use his stick to help control his sheep and signal to his dog,while a reluctant sheep can be hooked and captured with a proper crook. Thefarmer uses his market stick to move animals around in their pens to get abetter look at them, to point out their good or bad points (depending whetherhe's buying or selling), to lean on while yarning with his friends, to signalhis bid to the auctioneer, or to emphasise his point when seeing unwelcomevisitors off the farm - especially that nutter waving a stick at his geese!  William McGonagall, Poet and Tragedian. (Definitely not a nutter. Oh deary me,no.) If anyone were to write a book of "101 Things To Do With A Stick", they wouldhave no trouble compiling the sequel "101 More things To Do With A Stick"! I guess it's true that many of us will become infirm sooner or later and have aneed for some sort of walking aid. But let this be an excuse to acquiresomething we enjoy using, something that looks good, feels good and makes others almost envious ofour condition, at least as an excuse to be seen about town with a good-lookingwalking stick.Good walking sticks don't happen by accident. They don't grow on trees, youknow! They have to be designed and crafted by someone who has the skills toturn the raw materials into a thing of beauty - one which precisely fits boththe user and the use to which it will be put. Recent years have seen the introduction of the "hiking pole", hailed as a newinvention developed from the poles used by skiers. In fact, there's nothing newabout it at all, it's simply a metal or composite fibre walking stick. Its mainselling feature is that it's adjustable for length and can be collapsed whennot in use. Well, it's not exactly a thing of beauty, so I guess it needs to behidden away. It lacks that indefinable individual character of a real stick, atone with both its owner and the environment in which it is being used. Thehiking pole is an artefact of modern industrial society that marks out the useras a foreign body in the rural landscape. As for its adjustability, I mustconcede this can be handy for those who can't be bothered to select a stick ofthe correct size and style and alter their grip to suit the terrain. You can also buy factory made sticks quite cheaply. I've seen some quite niceones lately, but of course, by their nature, they are mass-produced itemsmachine-made from bland and uninteresting materials and poorly finished with aquick spray of lacquer. They also tend to be made on the short side, so thatmost people can pick one out of the rack and use it, after a fashion, withouthaving it cut to size. As for the traditional mass-produced steam-bent ash orchestnut orthopaedic walking stick, the less said the better. They are clumsy,plug-ugly and suffer from serious design faults. Firstly, the bending processflattens the handle into an uncomfortable shape to grip, and secondly the bendis unstable. At the slightest hint of damp weather, it starts to straightenout. Take a look in any second hand shop and you will see a sorry lookingbundle of these things lurking in a dark corner with their handles distortedinto unusable shapes.   See what I mean?A real traditional stick is different. The shank will be made from a straightstem of hazel, blackthorn, ash, chestnut, holly or other wood having the rightcharacteristics of size, strength, stiffness, weight, balance and attractiveappearance. The wood will have been thoroughly seasoned and carefullyselected, discarding pieces that don't come up to scratch. Typically, hazel isbest left to season for two years, while blackthorn and holly can take up toseven years. The handle will be fashioned from a suitable hardwood, carefullyselected to complement the shank, or from antler or horn. These traditionalmaterials each have their different characteristics, requiring different andsometimes quite arcane techniques to turn them into a good-looking,comfortable, strong and durable stick. There are different traditional shapesof stick to suit the many and varied requirements of different types of user.Crooks, market sticks, thumbsticks, Cardigan sticks, knobsticks, "walker"sticks, wading poles and other types each have their uses. For my own use, Ikeep a burr elm handled market stick for use around town and mooching aroundcountry fairs, markets and car boot sales; a slightly shorter, round-shouldered,rams horn handled market stick for general country walking; and I've recentlytaken to using a thumbstick for downland walking, where the extra length can behandy on occasions. It has to be said that not all handmade sticks are equal. I have seen sometruly dreadful examples at craft fairs which have clearly been thrown togetherby someone who has never learnt the finer points of stickmaking and has noappreciation of how a stick should look or feel. At the other end of the scaleare superb works of perfection, created with mind-boggling precision with thesole aim of collecting prizes at stick shows. Such sticks, if they are offeredfor sale, will cost you several arms and legs and leave you afraid to use themin case of scratching them or getting them dirty. They are also not necessarilythe most comfortable in use, especially if they are embellished with ornatecarvings. I greatly admire the talents involved in creating such works of art,but on the whole I prefer not to go down that path myself. My first priority inmaking any stick is that it must be well-balanced and comfortable in use.Secondly, that it should be pleasing to the eye and suffer no obvious fault inits design, construction or finish. I think that's enough to be going on with. Just remember: every hand-made stick is unique, one of a limited edition ofjust one. Since every piece of wood I use is different and my sticks are madeby eye and judgment rather than by measurement, it would be impossible for meto make two identical sticks, even if I tried. The wood tells me by the curl ofits grain and by the position, shape and size of its knots and knobbles, whatshape it wants to be. I have an image of what shape I want it to be. Theshaping process, mostly carried out with simple files, rasps and abrasives, isa two-way dialogue between myself and the piece of wood. During thesenegotiations, I will "win" some points and concede others in order to bring outthe best in the wood. The result, hopefully, will be a stick that expresses aharmonic union of these points of view. I started making sticks properly in September 1999 under the eagle-eyedtutelage of Dr Nicol Murray at evening classes in Luton, Bedfordshire, andquickly found that I had some natural talent in the craft. Any survivors ofthis course will have acquired a great deal of practical wisdom of the kind youcan't learn from books - along with a long list of entries in Nick's infamousList Of People Who Owe Me Beers and a considerably broadened vocabulary. Nick isone of a kind, a great guy and always ready to help out a fellow stickmaker.Anyone in the Herts/Beds/Bucks area who's interested in joining one of hisexcellent courses should contact me for his details.  Dr Nicol Murray Like Nick and most of the other good friends I've met on his courses, I'm now amember of the BSG, which is not an unmentionable disease, but the BritishStickmaker's Guild. If you're interested in stickmaking or collecting, youshould seriously consider joining. They now have a Web-site at http://www.thebsg.org.uk/ Sticks For Sale | Antler Sticks | Collectors' Sticks | Horn Sticks | Market Sticks & Crooks | Thumbsticks | "Womble" Sticks | One-Piece Sticks | Other Sticks | Work in hand | Stick FAQ | About Stickmaking Materials | Custom Sticks Price Guide | Feedback from customers & visitors | Contact me | Useful links Visitor number  This page last updated Saturday 05 January 2008 |
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