A few years back, the local water company cut down some blackthorn bushes at the end of my garden and a piece was protruding into the road. I grabbed my bow saw and went to clear it. I was just about to make a cut, when I noticed a bend and realised this could be the handle for a walking stick. So I cut out the stick and left it in the corner of my garage for a few years. Then one day I set to work making a walking stick. There were some side branches to be cut off and I also cut the thorns back. I then used fine sand paper to smooth the bark. When this was done I cleaned the stick with a damp cloth and applied some wood oil. I cut the length to 36 inches and put a rubber ferrule on the end, I'm thinking of fitting a brass one. The unusual thing about this stick, is that it has a perfect natural handle which exactly suits my needs and along the shank are three evenly spaced features caused by the branch rubbing against another branch in the wind, so the stick carries scars from standing against past gales. The stick is so amazing to look at and to hold; it almost has a magical quality to it. I have never seen another like it and I can't believe it was my luck to find it by chance, not looking for, or even knowing about blackthorn sticks.
Iazzaboyce just had a look at your slideshow nice stick but are you sure it's a blackthorn it's looks quite different. What is the length of stick and the weight.
+Francis McCaffrey The stick is 35 inches, 39 inches with the handle and is just under an inch in diameter. It weighs 15 ounces. I'm sure it's a blackthorn, but I'm in Cornwall, England so our blackthorn may differ from the Irish kind. There's a large thicket of blackthorn at the end of my garden and that's where the stick grew. White blossoms in early Spring, then the leaves and sloes.
@@FrancisMcCaffrey5 very interesting content I loves carving spoons and other kitchen utensils I'm looking for new avenue to explore I found it thanks to you I subscribe I has one I carved ole way no electric tools way I prefer to do greetings from Essex but does wood have to be blackthorn ? Can ya use another wood ?👍🐺🐾:-)
Interesting video, would have loved to see the finished product. When cutting, always tap the wood at the base and ask the spirit if its ok and to give it chance to go to the roots.
I came back to this. I should send you a photo of the Honey Locust trees in the state of Misery. Just outside Kansas City. They can be used for long lasting fenceposts. The tree protects the sugary inner bark with lots of wicked long thorns. Be Well.
We have Bradford pear trees where I live, they grow thorns like those blackthorn trees, and they will leave their thorn tips in your skin the way you described for the blackthorn, and they don't even bear any fruit.
Whal,them loppers you snipped the brush with,would have cut a cleaner cut than the saw. I use them all the time to cut hazel & willow. A bit of elbow grease & Bobs yer uncle you have a lovely CLEAN cut!
Thanks for the video. As you mentioned, blackthorn spikes seem to be loaded with bacteria, so if I get jabbed with one I come out in the hell of a rash.
What happens is the tip breaks off under the skin and you get infected. It's very painful. You have to get the tip out or it stays forever under the skin.
yes I did i got 3 of the bunch you saw at the end. Most rootball this trip didn't have much of a handle when I dug them up. decent roots are few and far between
Do ye graft likely twigs to the stumps for to continue the bush's growth under your control ? Ye have a stump where ye can graft two orthree branchings to grow from towards a path to the sun that you have chosen.
I find it a bit amusing that you were talking about using gloves, I certainly would have in that mess but, you dove right in without the gloves, I also found it quite curious that you referred to those sticks as being "straight". do you steam and straighten you sticks at all?
IF I was not a poor man, I'd love to come and pick out a stick. And to ask many questions. I do love to visit places, when I can visit the people, not the tourist sites! They tell me the part of our ancestors [US state of Virginia] that we know is 39 or more % Irish and from Kerry county... my older brother's middle name is after the county. Alas, the call in my heart is to come, but might it ever be?
Hello Francis I've always liked the blackkthorn sticks, but seem to be hard to find here in Wiltshire, SW UK. There are hawthorn though, would they make good sticks, as I usually get the hazel as there are literally thousands of trees where I live. And any nuggets of information that you'd wish someone had shared with you as a novice.. hope to hear back. Steven
There was two guys went out ghost hunting, they got to where they were going and discovered there were some other people there, so the one guy tells the other, "looks like there may be trouble", he asked the first guy, "do you have a gun?" The guy said "no", the other guy said "well, do you have a knife?" The man said "no, all I have is some shillelagh", what the hell is shillelagh? The man asked, "it's whatever I can put on their ass."😂😂😂😂
@@FrancisMcCaffrey5 I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with property sizes in Ireland. Where I live, they can be hundreds of acres and without fencing or even hedging. Homes represent a very small part of the total area of the region. I'm looking for anjan trees. They coppice well to produce straight and hard sticks with interesting texture. I'll upload a video if I can.
When is the best time to cut blackthorn sticks? I've seen a couple of really nice sticks, one of them has an almost ready made handle. I'm eager to cut them but not sure I should risk cutting to soon.
Hunting For The Pot cut when it looks the best! Winter time is best when there is less sap, tends to dry a bit faster and less cracking. Any time from now to before the while flowers start to come is best
