Goadinanhour.

How fast can you make a goad?  

Since this winter is providing weather as if we're on "Let's Make a Deal," (Behind door #3 today, we find an ice storm!) I was home from school again today.  After chores, I stopped at the woodshop.  Outside the door, a white oak board lay there, looking for all the world like it had straight grain along one side.  

A quick pass over the jointer and the board kept up its ruse.  

I ripped out two 1" by 1" blanks, each 4 feet long and toted them inside to the basement shop.  At this point, the jig was up and a knot, some twisting grain and a reversing-grain section became evident.  

I figured I was working on "free time" this morning, so I looked the other way on the grain issues and tapered one down to about 9/16" at the one end, using a foreplane.  

From there, the same plane made quick work of the corners. Then I had a wonky, tapered octagon.  Three quick rounds of "shade-in-the-high-spots-with-a-pencil-then-plane-off-the-pencil-marks" and I had a smoothly tapered octagonal stick.  

10 minutes at the shaving horse and a lapful of shavings and the stick was nearly round.  

4 sloping ripcuts in the butt-end of the stick resulted in 4 points useful for keeping the nigh ox from crowding me, a-la Ray Ludwig's twisted goads.

A little sanding,  trimming of the points with a chisel, wiping a coat of polyurethane on the handle, wrapping the shaft with electrical tape, and carving the end with a knife finished it off.

Less than 60 minutes.  About the same length as "Let's Make a Deal."