walking canes?

[glycerine]

Just curious if any of you make walking canes? I've been wanting to pour some clear acrylic into a long pvc pipe and make a clear one... but would the acrylic be strong enough for a cane? Or should it be supported through the center with something else?

 

[jthompson1995]

Your best bet might be to purchase a cast clear acrylic rod and make one from that. I'd think PR would be too brittle for the abuse a cane would take and alumilite might be too soft at that length. The cast acrylic will be less work and more durable. Look up US Plastics, I think they have them in lots of diameters.

 

[hewunch]

I have made a cane but it was made out of wood.

 

[dalemcginnis]

I would not trust an acrylic cane. I've dropped a couple of my longer pen blank casts on the shop floor and had them break.:frown:

 

[glycerine]

Your best bet might be to purchase a cast clear acrylic rod and make one from that. I'd think PR would be too brittle for the abuse a cane would take and alumilite might be too soft at that length. The cast acrylic will be less work and more durable. Look up US Plastics, I think they have them in lots of diameters.

Ok, thank you.

 

[glycerine]

Did you actually turn that??? Looks like you'd have to have a crankshaft lathe or something!

I have made a cane but it was made out of wood.

 

[hewunch]

Turned the ends but not the middle.

 

[mranum]

I made this one about a month ago, first time I ever tried one. Made it for my Dad. I ended up having quite a time with wobble in the middle, I needed a steady rest and didn't want to take the time to make one so I ended up turning a bunch of depth cuts on the shaft them taking it to the bench and proceeded to mill it down with hand planes and spokeshaves. Didn't take long maybe 45 min or so, them re mounted it on the lathe and finished it off with very light cuts from a skew. The handle was all done by hand with microplane rasps.

The wood is Maple & Walnut with Watco Teak wood finish.

 

[glycerine]

I made this one about a month ago, first time I ever tried one. Made it for my Dad. I ended up having quite a time with wobble in the middle, I needed a steady rest and didn't want to take the time to make one so I ended up turning a bunch of depth cuts on the shaft them taking it to the bench and proceeded to mill it down with hand planes and spokeshaves. Didn't take long maybe 45 min or so, them re mounted it on the lathe and finished it off with very light cuts from a skew. The handle was all done by hand with microplane rasps.

The wood is Maple & Walnut with Watco Teak wood finish.

But there aren't any problems with flexing when he puts weight on it?
How thick is it on each end?

 

[mranum]

No, no real flex issues while using it. The wobble I referred to was more vibration/chatter while engaging the tool. He's about 150 lbs and I'm 300+ and there was very little flex while I tested it with a lot of weight at all different angles. Shaft is 1" at the handle and 7/8" and the tip and the shaft is 29" long, which is a long distance between centers. The handle/shaft joint is drilled and doweled together.

 

[philipff]

My walking sticks are all natural wood limbs that I clean and sand of all debris and make them smooth to the hand. Then, I put a leather loop on the top to allow the walker to sling it on the arm if/when you have to reach for a beer/coke/donut, or to pet a dog. I don't sell them until they work for me. If they don't work they get degraded to the wood pile. Phil

 

[glycerine]

No, no real flex issues while using it. The wobble I referred to was more vibration/chatter while engaging the tool. He's about 150 lbs and I'm 300+ and there was very little flex while I tested it with a lot of weight at all different angles. Shaft is 1" at the handle and 7/8" and the tip and the shaft is 29" long, which is a long distance between centers. The handle/shaft joint is drilled and doweled together.

Ok, thanks for the info!