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Step 3Pointing and Smoothing
First, make the points, if they don't already have them, or if you trimmed of the pointed ends of already pointy sticks.
Easy way: Use a pencil sharpener for this. It will put a quick and easy point on your sticks. YOu'll have a little more work to smooth it out, and you can over shorten a stick really easily, but it produces a nice round, symmetrical, point.
"Harder way" Alternately, if you want to do it the hard way, you can whittle the sticks to points with an xacto or penknife. This looks especially good on natural sticks, and you have less sanding to do to get a nice smooth finish and transition from point to shaft of the stick. Dont' do this without practicing first, though, and be careful.
Next, sand the point until it is slightly round (like a ballpoint pen), then the point/shaft transition, so it's really smooth (you don't want a bump here), then smooth the rest of the stick, until it feels silky smooth. Work the sand paper around the stick, as well as up and down - this will ensure that there are no snags.
If you like, you can add a gentle shape to the shaft at this point. Experiment with shapes, to see what works best!
If you do not have any sandpaper, you can use a soft nail file (the type with foam in the center) to sand.
If you want unfinished natural wood, use several increasingly finer grades of sandpaper, take lots of care rounding the point without splitting it, and forego finishing.
Easy way: Use a pencil sharpener for this. It will put a quick and easy point on your sticks. YOu'll have a little more work to smooth it out, and you can over shorten a stick really easily, but it produces a nice round, symmetrical, point.
"Harder way" Alternately, if you want to do it the hard way, you can whittle the sticks to points with an xacto or penknife. This looks especially good on natural sticks, and you have less sanding to do to get a nice smooth finish and transition from point to shaft of the stick. Dont' do this without practicing first, though, and be careful.
Next, sand the point until it is slightly round (like a ballpoint pen), then the point/shaft transition, so it's really smooth (you don't want a bump here), then smooth the rest of the stick, until it feels silky smooth. Work the sand paper around the stick, as well as up and down - this will ensure that there are no snags.
If you like, you can add a gentle shape to the shaft at this point. Experiment with shapes, to see what works best!
If you do not have any sandpaper, you can use a soft nail file (the type with foam in the center) to sand.
If you want unfinished natural wood, use several increasingly finer grades of sandpaper, take lots of care rounding the point without splitting it, and forego finishing.
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