Cane for a friend

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Sylvanite

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Jul 18, 2006
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3,113
Location
Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA.
A while back, a friend brought me a cane kit that his father had purchased but never completed. So I turned a piece of his father's lumber and assembled it.

2008310143011_Cane7x4.jpg
 
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Sylvanite

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Jul 18, 2006
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3,113
Location
Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA.
Originally posted by bradbn4

...how hard is it to attack the head to the cane? Can that design hold up to heavy use?
I'm not worried about the handle end. There are heavy brass ferrules at each end. The top one is threaded and screws into the cast brass handle. It is also threaded on the inside and screws onto a large tenon. The bottom ferrule is epoxied onto a tenon as well.

The weakest point of this cane (in my judgement) is the join in the middle. The brass fittings there are made to screw into the wood and the top one doesn't leave much wood for support. I didn't have matching taps and was afraid of splitting the wood, so I overbored the holes and epoxied the fittings in. On the upside, I think the epoxied joint is much stronger than a threaded one. It also allowed me to align the grain (and true the cane) more easily.

If I were to do it again, I think I'd drill, glue, and join the two sections first, and turn them together.

Regards,
Eric
 

wdcav1952

Activities Manager Emeritus
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Mar 18, 2004
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8,955
Location
Montgomery, Pennsylvania, USA.
Eric,

Where did the kit come from, or do you know. This last week, my knee has really gone bad, and if I have to use a cane, I wanted to look a little bit classier than the metal one my boss lent me to keep me coming to work. [8D]

Anyone with any advice as to kits, handles, good woods to use, or anything else, please chime in. I would like to make a nice cane.

Thanks in advance, and yes Andrew, you can call me old if you like! [B)];)
 

Rifleman1776

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Joined
Dec 18, 2004
Messages
7,330
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA.
Originally posted by wdcav1952

Eric,

Where did the kit come from, or do you know. This last week, my knee has really gone bad, and if I have to use a cane, I wanted to look a little bit classier than the metal one my boss lent me to keep me coming to work. [8D]

Anyone with any advice as to kits, handles, good woods to use, or anything else, please chime in. I would like to make a nice cane.

Thanks in advance, and yes Andrew, you can call me old if you like! [B)];)

Sorry about the knee, Cav. Wood should be something with a little flex and stout. Hickory is preferred in my part of the country. Ash in others. Also Osage Orange is excellent. I will be making myself a hiking staff soon from Persimmon, very tough stuff. I made myself two canes from hickory with brass horse hames for the handles. One is a full 3/4" with a large hame. I call it my 'New Orleans' walking stick. (think about it) The other is lighter and more practical for day to day. Thankfully, I don't need either yet but they are there. A good wood handle is fine also, suit yerself. Irish Blackthorn is a great cane, albeit expensive.
 
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