Finished Sticks and UNfinished Sticks

Sticks for Walking, Hiking, etc. shipped world-wide.

The URL of this website is now: http://www.sticksite.com/
....... or ............................................... http://www.DiamondWillowSticks.com/

Welcome from Ken Laninga (me); e-mail me if you like.

You can tap the F11 key on your keyboard to see more of this page, click it again to return.

PayPal can now be used so your stick order could be on its way to you TODAY.

(Please note: I've re-done this page completely; if you see any bugs or bad links, please tell me; thanks!)

Diamond Willow Sticks

(this, my main, home page, was getting so long I had to divide it into two "chapters")

Chapter 1

UNfinished sticks:
These are most popular; you can finish them YOURSELF! All varieties here.
There is a change in the DISCOUNT scheme; see the page and you must ask me for it.

I call these my "Regular" sticks.

Super Sticks

NOTE: The annual auction of the VERY BEST sticks has ended; all were, of course, sold. Next regularly scheduled auction of SUPER sticks will run January 1 - 31, 2009.

Finished sticks:
For those who want them already done. GREAT for gifts. First come - First serve. Paypal advised.

INTRODUCTION: ALL the information you might ask for about Diamond Willow.

Previous specials went to Alabama, Arizona, Washington, Nebraska and England.

Special 11 consists of 25 dry, skinned Diamond Willow sticks. You can see all the details HERE.

E-mail me:............ ken@sticksite.com

Thick ones:......... NOTE THE FREE OFFER!

Rails are thick pieces with great diamonds. These look fantastic around a stairwell etc. Pictures on that page show what others have done with Rails.

Short, Thick & Fancy:

These would make great "Coffee Cup Stands," Lamp-stands" or "Telephone Stands" etc. See my sample Cup Stands there.

BIG ones:

Great for light-posts, bird-feeder posts, sign-posts or mailbox posts etc. Note also the "Totem Pole" on the right in the picture. About the only way you can get one of these beauties is to come and take it home on your RV.

NOTE: the largest Diamond Willows I ever found are shown on that page.

Something NEW -----

Diamond Willow STOOL kits; stools you can build YOURSELF!!! The seats are PRE-drilled so you don't have to do the "hard part." All stools are FOUR-legged, not 3-legged like these samples. This might be a great project for a group of young?) people; make; sell them. Lots of kits now available.

Scout Sticks:

Frequently I get a request from somebody for a large number of VERY LOW PRICED sticks for a club of boys or girls who want to finish sticks but cannot afford to buy C$20 sticks. On this page, ALSO SEE the OTHER great ideas for projects: "animal tracks" and "put-put boats."

ORDERING: All the information you need to get your own supply of finished or unfinished sticks: look for this blue bar on any of my pages:

'Scuse me, I have to interrupt here and shamelessly show off 3 VERY UNIQUE pieces I found in 2007. Here I am holding them. The BIG one on the left is like a huge ribbon; up to 5 inches wide. NEVER in all my years of Stick-ing have I ever seen one flat like that. The grey one is a pine tree killed by fire about 75 years ago. It would look VERY nice, varnished (no sanding on that one!). The other one is fantastically "carved" by Mom Nature; too big for a hiking stick but great for whatever project comes to mind. All three sold in my annual SUPER sticks auction which takes place every January. (sometimes more often)

Finishing Sticks:

MAKING sticks: My own discoveries about making sticks; as I learn from others, I pass their suggestions along here. THANKS to all those who have helped make this page so useful. This page keeps getting better all the time thanks to YOUR input.

Make a Cane:

My late friend Jerry Tanner showed me how to make a cane so I took lots of pictures of him making one. Here they are; a complete tutorial.

TESTIMONIALS: Actual comments from my friends (read "customers") who have bought my sticks. I could add many more.

A few pictures of carvings and other amazing projects made from my sticks.

Note how Gary used the branch stub for the beard.

LOTS of other things you can do with Diamond Willow; check out this page for LOTS of ideas.

If you cannot view this page, you probably are not using a computer. Get one soon!

NOW HEAR THIS: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Remember Victor Kyam who liked that electric razor so much that he bought the company? Well, I like the FLEX DRUM SANDER so much that I want EVERY stickmaker to have one. my friend Terry Weber now has a dealership on them. Whether you make ONE stick or loads of them, this tool is a "MUST HAVE!" Mr. Weber is in the USA so there is no problem with all those stupid Canadian taxes like GST (Gouge and Screw Tax). PLEASE NOTE: he has TWO PRICES: the super-low price is for my stick customers and the "regular" price is for everyone else. YES, the sander needs for you to provide the electric motor but the website will explain how you can get the motor entirely FREE.

Finding Sticks:

People often ask me where to find their own sticks. To help them, I am inviting YOU to come with me on a photographic, virtual stick-ing trip. Come on!

BIRCH sticks:

A very FEW are available; they are drying now. VERY few. They still have bark on them. They are on my SCOUT page.

Burls and Fungus:

Once in awhile I get lucky and find these unique items in the woods. They are rare; used for various medicinal purposes and Native Americans use them in ceremonial activities; details on that page.

BLOG: Some of you already know that sometimes, out in the bush at my cabin, "Stick-ing" it can get quite exciting. I've been told I should keep a Blog to amuse my many readers. So, here goes.........

As you have probably gathered by now, my computer is filled with "Stick Stuff" as you can see here:

This is my Toshiba Satellite laptop. It was nice, I thought..... but a month after I bought it at Staples, the monitor went south. Then, 3 years after I got it, it started turning itself OFF at the most inconvenient times. The "guy" at Toshiba was no help. But "Brenda" was. She suggested putting bottle caps; the plastic ones from 2-litre soft-drink bottles, under the laptop to provide more ventilation. I did and that worked. THANK YOU, Brenda. Later I got a can of compressed air and cleaned it out. If Toshiba had been a little more "on the ball" then maybe I would have bought another one. Instead, I got an Acer. ;-( Unfortunately, it has major hardware problems and I won't buy another Acer.

And now, a few more of my interests and, hopefully, some of yours:

FIRST, a neat tip; thanks to Terry D and Marie T:

if you want to change the size of the text on in (almost) any window, hold down your Ctrl Key and roll the scrolling wheel on your mouse!! (Why did nobody tell me this before!?)

Copy your music from tape to CD:

If you are like me, you probably have a lot of tape cassettes around the place and would much prefer to have all that music on CDs that you can play, e.g. in your car. I converted mine and here are my very detailed notes so you can do it too.

SENIOR CITIZENS:

will enjoy this one; FUN stuff etc. etc. If you are an "elderly" person, you won't want to miss this one!

ALZHEIMERS:
My late mother suffered from Alzheimers. This webpage has been made to share with all the others who are facing this situation. Thanks to those who submitted suggestions!

Freeware:

My favorite free software made by some very talented individuals across the world. There are 80+ items in the list now.

My Cabin in the Bush:

My favorite place to go........ far from civilization...........! Silence; some days all you can hear is a wolf howling. Deer walk across my lawn all the time. Moose sometimes. And bears.
A set of 2 DVDs is now ready for you; details HERE.

COTTAGE ideas:
I have a lot of fun at the cabin and some of the things we do, you might enjoy too. So here is a long list of ideas (80+) to make your Cottage experience, hopefully, more enjoyable.

PICNIC TABLE: Complete, free, detailed INSTRUCTIONS so you can make it EASILY!

A great weekend project; make a picnic table. Great for all kinds of things, from use as a saw-horse to actually having a backyard picnic. This article was featured in the Cottage Magazine of May/June 2001. This is a really good table; I've made many dozens of them. This is one of my most popular pages! Lots of photos.

IF YOU want to be able to make beautiful 3D headings, visit my friends at Xara:

FARMING in CANADA:

Yes, at my cabin I'm farming too. This page details the results of my 2003 crop of Canola. (Canola is an oil-seed; used to be called "Rapeseed."

JOKES:

To put a smile on your face! What would a website be without some jokes? Besides, laughing is good for your health. FINALLY updated again, December 18, 2007.

GOLD Panning:

There's GOLD in them thar hills!! We find it all the time! You can too. FREE GOLD! A FREE workshop will be held May 17, 2008. My complete HANDOUT (33 pages) with my Lecture Notes and "Portasluice" plans are now available for YOU. Click the miner.

Would this be a good time to add this page to your BOOKMARKS or FAVORITES? Hit Ctrl - D to do so.

IF you are into Crafts:

WHAT is this???? Yes..................MOOSE POOP.........a.k.a. "Moose Nuggets." Great for crafts if you have a fertile (pun intended!) imagination. You can use them for fertilizer too. "Moose Nuggets: Good to the last dropping!" You may have seen earrings made from these, being sold on Ebay.

My website gets a lot of traffic; I can help you get more as well; check out my idea HERE if you have a website.

Best Books:

When I'm at the cabin where there is no TV and no Internet, and weather is not too good, then I read; I have a LOT of books there. Here I'm sharing with you, which books I found to be REALLY good books and where you can get them. You'll find ALL kinds of great books listed and even some RARE BOOKS.

Big GRIZZLY BEAR:

ONE MORE for the hunters: this page was originally intended only for family but I hate to keep something so unique to ourselves so here it is: GRIZZLY!

.....Confessions of a Bear Hunter....

Disabled:

My feeble effort to be of some help to those less fortunate; the disabled.

ON TO CHAPTER 2

ken@sticksite.com