crafting wooden walking and Hiking sticks the traditional hard way .
I love sticks.
I mean all of them all forms and shapes.
I hike with walking stick and practice martial arts using sticks as there primery weapon.
so I decided to craft sticks from the most old and native tree of Israel -the olive tree.
olive tree is one of the "Seven Species" that the land of Israel was blessed with and beside being the source of many organic products it is unique and beutiful wood to work with.
it all starts with collecting the raw material from all over the eastren plains and Jerusalem hilly area.the olive wood is very oily so it takes somthing about 2 years for a 1.5 " diameter branch to dry .
I try to pick up the unique shaped ones, they dont have to be too straight or too perfect the small miss perfection promise the best character .
then come several hands on labour intense tasks of straightening with heat , de barking,filing , sanding ,crafting a handle from a range of materials, putting a suitable tip, oiling and waxing. As a principle I only use hand tools and try to use as much as possible natural materials for the finishing of the sticks such as boiled linenseed oil and shellac.
the wood is very tough and durable and will provide a life time of hiking experieance or just elegant and natural walking support .
I constantly experiment with different methods and sizes, I am willing to craft any form weight hight and diameter that will be requested .
some times when I find another unique local wood type I will also add it to my shop portfolio of hand crafted walking sticks.
as it takes so long from the time of collecting the wood to the final product it is a pitty for me to let them go but it is time to share and I am sure you would enjoy owning one of my sticks as much as I enjoy crafting them.
