Somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago, my late father collected and set aside several branches suitable for making into hiking staves, which remained in one of my Mom's storage sheds until today. He'd made a number of hiking staves during the 1990s and very early 2000s. It's very good for unfinished wood to sit around drying in a controlled environment for many years.
I chose this one (which looked like a piece of driftwood this morning) and, today, I sanded it with coarse, medium, and then fine sandpaper; cleaned off the dust by blowing and wiping with a cloth; applied three coats of a mixture of mineral and orange oils, and then three coats of beeswax, allowing time for absorption/drying and buffing after each coat; and I created the grip by doing what's called a "common whipping," which essentially means I tightly wrapped and secured fine twine around the handle.
One of my father's flies that he tied with his own hands is wedged into the crack and wrapped around with the twine.
I just need get the tip of the staff shod, preferably with a brass or copper jacket. I've already gone further than what's shown in the picture and treated and sealed the twine grip, and trimmed off the ends. This picture is from slightly earlier in the process. I should have a final picture (that won't look much different) pretty soon.
