Workers Of Wood

Over the years I have made walking canes for a few friends that were in need. I always found that making the handle was the tedious part and then needed glued to the stick. Has anyone else made a cane and what was your method.


This one I made as a two piece.

Excellent!!!
what is your choice of woods for your canes???
is just gluing the handle to the stick adequate or do you think it should be pinned also???
what was your process for shaping the handle???

They look nice and more importantly they look more ergonomic on the grip. I got one of the old fashioned shepard's hook style oak cane but the fit in the hand isn't great. I also have one of those telescoping aluminum ones with the same basic handle shape as yours but it isn't as contoured as your grips are so it still isn't really ergonomic to use either. Maybe I should try making one. I know LV used to sell cane making hardware but I don't know if they still do.

The first cane is a White Oak shaft with a Cherry handle and the two piece is a Birch shaft with a Purple Heart Handle.
To shape the handle I viewed different canes in Google Images and then drew one out and copied it onto the wood. Cut it out on the band saw and then went to shaping by hand with wood chisels, knives and and sand paper until it felt good in my hand. The shaft was done on the lathe and the rubber tips I picked up at the drug store. The shaft is tapered for looks but I thought to make the bottom 6" a straight 3/4" so it could be trimmed to length if needed. 3/4" was the required diameter to fit the tip. I got a measurement from the palm down from each recipient for length before making.

Cherryville Chuck wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:39 am I know LV used to sell cane making hardware but I don't know if they still do.

Woodcraft sell cane parts. Here's their page. They have some nice looking brass handles too.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/wood ... g-hardware

Nice work . I really like the handle on the one in the second pic . The first one doesn’t look as comfortable, but is probably fine

HandyDan wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:22 pm Cut it out on the band saw and then went to shaping by hand with wood chisels, knives and and sand paper until it felt good in my hand.

can I recommend a spoke shave(s) for that process...
there's routers and RO bits too for the rough in.......
.

When I made a tote for one of my planes I did most of the paring with a chisel. I found it took more wood off at a time and it was more controllable amd was easier to get around the curves than any other tool I tried. If I was going to do the shaft of the cane by hand I would use a spoke shave but the handle I would probably do like Dan. I looked at doing sections of the tote with a router bit but I wasn't sure how it was going to react to changing grain direction.