I think you are asking " how can you get supply of cow horn". sort answer is , the same way as finding any other kind of horn. Find other stick makers who may be willing to share their source of supply. Find stick making clubs, where you may get help. Or just go direct to the source and approach a farmer who has cows or buffalo herd. Check out ebay and other on line sites like ebay. Thats the best answer I can offer.

Yes you could use a plank of wood, but if the crook gets dropped it may break along the grain , thats why I like to insert a ply or another timber across the grain to give it strength.

Thank for the fabulous, hope it encourages you to have a bash and start making walking sticks.

@@wrencountrysticks8660 hope you are well I keep looking for new videos .....I tried the double woodcock stick only to find out the wood I'd used was very over seasoned n brittle which was disheartening but a lesson learned do you still make sticks

Sorry used wrong account to write comment, this is mine Cheers Glenn

Hi Glen. Thank you for your kind comment. If one of videos have encouraged you to start on a carving then it has achieved its aim. I am self taught , so have had to figure out things as I progressed, and while a trained carver may not agree with my approach it works for me. What ever you do, do not be discouraged with your early attempts at carving. Like every thing else this is a learning curve, and apart from the few naturally talented carvers most of us have to put some hard work in to make progress. The fact that you and many others ( now have a thousand subscribers ) have taken the time out to watch the videos shows that you have a desire to create something that is both functional and a thing of pride. Without this desire it would be difficult to keep putting the time in to make progress. I still have my first attempt at carving a dog head. It was a poor do, but I kept it and made a paper knife out of it to remind me of my first faltering steps in carving. I think the best advice I can give any one wishing to carve a dog head or similar, is to have as much reference material to hand as possible. Be it a actual pot dog head or lots of close up photos of the subject. Now study that material and try and get to know what a dog head really looks like, look closely at all the contours of the head, how the eyes are set, try and check the whole head from every angle, including from above. This over head view will tell you so much and get the shape of the skull around the eyes right. The eyes and the eye position has always been the most difficult thing to get right. We all think we know what a dog looks like , but try carving a dog head from memory alone and you quickly realize that there is so much you do not know. Now further compound that and decide you want to carve a realistic version of your favourite breed . Everything is about observation and trying to replicate that in the wood. So go to it Glen, and remember do not give up, keep trying and observing other carvers work and promise your self you will get better with every carving. Cheers Joe.

Thank you form your comment.

@@wrencountrysticks8660 are you well or have you got tired of making the videos

Thanks Henry.

@@wrencountrysticks8660 do you make blackthorne sticks sir and how long for one to season

Hi Alan. Thank you for your comment. Hope the videos help.

@@wrencountrysticks8660 just starting out, your videos are a fantastic help for me being a complete novice. I have a lot to learn but with your videos I’m hoping to at least complete a Labrador heads on memory of my old girl Molly.

Hi Lawrence. Re the length of the stick. I like to make all my sticks 52 inches tall, and if the buyer wishes to have a shorter sticks I will reduce the length accordingly . However I never reduce the length where the tall walking stick becomes a short walker. I have always advised customers who need a walking sticks for support to buy a NHS bent wood stick.

@@wrencountrysticks8660 THANK YOU

Hi Lawrence. There is no reason why you cannot glue two sheets of ply together, but remember you will have more material to remove when shaping the handle. You should be able to find 25mm or close ply on ebay. I would be surprised if your local wood yard cannot order some inch ply for you. I would have a look on google and search for furniture quality ply, there is a company some where in the south of England that supplies many different types of ply mostly for yacht building , Robbins Timber Bristol, if I am not mistaken. By having the right thickness material you will save yourself a lot of work and waste.

@@wrencountrysticks8660 🙏🙏

Hi Mike. Thank you for your comment. Glad you like the videos. They are there basically to give folk an idea of how things are done. Some want every minute detail which would make for very long videos indeed. But I believe if a viewer has the natural talent of being practical he or she will be able to use the videos to their advantage. Now as you are a retired pattern maker I would think you are ideally suited to stick making . I have always admired the pattern makers skills and their products, and the pure accuracy of the final product. The industrial world would not have developed without pattern makers . Wish you all the best in your endeavours.

Yes , lots of difference between rams horn and buffalo horn. Buffalo horn is compressed hair and as such will not take the amount of bulking a rams horn will take. There is only so much give in buffalo and no more when it come s to bulking. In essence you could use the buffalo as a piece of timber or plastic. The first thing you need to know when working buffalo horn is that you need to impart far more heat into the horn to make it move. Whats feels very hot on the surface may not be enough inside the horn to allow it to bend without cracking. The easiest way to produce crooks out of buffalo is to firstly have a large enough horn, as you will be cutting back to produce the neck part of the crook. Then you will be also cutting surplus away along the portion that will be the crown and nose. Once you have remove this bulk you can fit the horn into your shaping jig and apply lots and lots of heat to start the bending process. All this bulk removal is a little like the bulking of the rams horn in that you are trying to get to a basic shape where you can start bending into a crook shape. When it comes to shaping the horn around your jig for the crook shape you will find it far harder than moving rams horn, so keep applying the heat. You can use various oils like Neetsfoot oil on the horn to try and reduce some of the burning and to keep the condition of the horn from suffering due to the heat applied, but this does mean a very messy job. Hope this helps a little. Most stickmaking books cover Buffalo horn bending so its a good idea to see what others may do.

Because one of the best crook makers I ever knew made wonderful plywood crooks which the sheep men loved. These would be used for years and survived when a hardwood crook would not last a season. Hard wood is fine and I have made more than I can remember but they needed a laminate centre section to ensure that if dropped they did not break along the grain.

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Pleasure. Pleased you enjoyed it.

Sorry for the delay in answering . I never check messages. sorry. Ply can be bought on the internet. If you order say 3x3 its easy enough to send in the post.