What Is Diamond Willow?
On the surface, diamond willow is one of the gnarliest and maybe the ugliest of woods. But get below the grey bark and the weird shapes and you’ll find incredible character. Beauty is definitely more than skin (bark) deep. Revealing that character makes diamond willow a favourite for me.
Diamond willow is not a specific variety of willow. Rather, it’s willow that has been infected by a disease; one or more types of fungus. Once the fungus attacks a branch, the willow tries to grow around the infection site and that extra growth causes the rough diamond shapes to form. The darker section at the centre of a diamond is the heartwood showing itself.
The adversity caused by the disease is what creates the beauty. And the more severe the adversity, the greater the beauty – a bit of a life lesson if you will. Without the disease and the plant’s response, it’s just a plain old stick.
When I go out and cut willow, I don’t usually have a finished product in mind. I just like finding interesting looking pieces and bringing them home, storing them until I need a particular piece. When I decide what to make, I’ll cut them to size. But it’s a shame to throw out good-looking offcuts. That’s why I offer all kinds of diamond willow odds and ends.
(Click on the links below to learn more about each item.)
Diamond willow can be turned into all kinds of things
The Process | 9 Steps
Turning plain old sticks into works of art.
Step 1
Go Willow Hunting
It likes wet areas, the swampier the better for diamond willow. To the trained eye, diamond willow isn’t that hard to find. But it can be a struggle to get it out of the bush.
Step 2
Let It Dry
If it’s still green, I like to let it sit until the next year before I start to work on it. Green willow can split if it’s peeled too soon.
Step 3
Peel & Strip
This is where I find out what’s under the bark with a combination of peeling or scraping. I built something called a shaving horse to help hold the wood while I use a drawknife or a spokeshave to remove the bark. Very satisfying work.
Step 4
Clean Out The Diamonds
I have a few carving knives that I use for this step. This is some of the most time-consuming work in the process; also when I’m most likely to cut myself.
Step 5
Rough Shaping & Cleaning
Once I know how or where I’ll use a piece of willow, I cut it to a rough length and take off any unnecessary bits. This involves saws, rasps, files and sanders.
Step 6
Coarse Sanding
At this stage, the willow starts to look a bit more like the final product. If I’m building furniture, this is also the stage when I’ll drill holes, cut tenons and do some rough sizing and fitting.
Step 7
Fine Sanding
This is where the beauty of the wood starts to show through. This step involves some power sanders and medium grit sandpaper. The insides of the diamonds are smoothed out and sanded.
Step 8
Hand Sanding
Using fine grit sandpaper and going over the piece by hand ensures a beautiful “feel” for the wood. Once this step is done and before the finishing, I use a shop vac to remove sawdust that would affect the finish.
Step 9
Finishing
This is the step when the wood most reveals its true beauty. I like using tung oil for finishing the wood, usually at least three coats. Sometimes some sanding is needed between the coats.
Furniture
Furniture is the most challenging project. There are no flat surfaces or regular angles. Every cut, joint, hole or tenon has to be “eyeballed”. But these are also the most rewarding projects. These pieces usually start with a certain plan but changes are often needed, depending on what the willow gives you. Most of the furniture is made without any screws or nails. Joints are mostly made with tenons or pegs and glue.
Walking Sticks & Hiking Staffs
Walking sticks (the shorter pieces) are intended to be held with the hand on the top of the stick. Hiking staffs (the taller ones) are intended to be held somewhere in the upper third. The thickness and length are personal preference; there’s no “right size”. We have all sizes and shapes of sticks and staffs. Each has a leather strap with a copper or brass tip.
Roasting Sticks
Roasting sticks have a short handle with a chrome fork inserted. Handles are in different thicknesses that fit people’s personal preferences. All regular roasting sticks have some diamonds on the handles. Select roasting sticks are more deeply figured or complex.
Worry Willow
These are small pieces of willow with diamonds that are very tactile; they just feel good. Worry willow is nature’s stress ball or fidget spinner.
Canes
Canes have a handle attached with a tenon and come in various lengths and thickness. They can be cut to the correct length (haven’t figured out a way to make them longer). Canes are made with a copper or brass end with a rubber tip to slip over that.
Miscellaneous Pieces
Smaller pieces are fun to make but still need to go through all the production steps to bring out the beauty of the willow.
We hate to throw out the cutoffs, so we use all parts of the willow to make various items, like candleholders or toothpick holders.
