Elm has Character

    Elm is also strong, heavy, prone to splitters and looks good with a clear finish.

   I have been trying to get some exercise to help with my waist (waste) line and to ease my back pain issues.  My doctor says walking is the best option and so I have been walking, not enough, but some.  Walking with a straight back and erect posture tends not to bother my back much at all so I have been walking with a hiking pole rather than a cane lately.

   My hiking pole is green and aluminium and when I looked around I found that wooden hiking poles are crazy over priced and pretty basic wood working. 

  

    As they used to say in "the six million dollar man" we have the technology, my technology is in my basement.

   This morning I started out with a 48 inch piece of elm that I jointed and planed before marking out the potential hiking pole, walking stick. 

  The first stop after the flattening was the band saw.  I have used a Viking Blade in my saw for more than 2 years and it is still cutting acceptably.  The next time I take on a big re-saw project I will replace the blade, but for now it is fine.  Once I finished on the saw, I just put my head down and sanded, and sanded and sanded.

  If I make another stick I will use my hand planes to get the basic, rounding shape and then sand things smooth if necessary. I skipped the hand planes this time because I was too lazy to figure out a good clamping arrangement, but as is so often the case the short cut turned out to be the long way 'round.

   Once the stick got a coat of Minwax Tung oil it looked pretty good.

    I even took the stick for a "test walk" today, it preformed up to expectations.