Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Walking Cane's links?
MarkP4583
>I have been asked by a friend if I could turn him a Walking cane, Dosn't seem to be to difficult to do but then again I have never done one.
Any good resource links for the hardware and if anyone has experience in this, Any thing I should know before I start?
Thanks
Re: Walking Cane's links?
Gary Little, Manitoba, Canada
>Lee Valley has some cane hardware.
Re: Walking Cane's links?
Tony - Memphis
>No experience, but ...
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com
has some parts.
Tony
Re: Walking Cane's links?
YoYoSpin
>Here's a cane I made a few months ago from Padauk, using copper fittings from Home Depot to piece it together...36" cane off a 24" lathe.
best regards,
Ed D.
Re: Walking Cane's links?
Brad Schmid
>I recently turned a cane and ordered the hardware from Craft Supplies. I chose to turn it in one piece (Bocote) which presents a few added challenges.
1. The long consistent taper from one end to the other - I used a long straight edge, a delicate touch, and kept the skew very sharp.
2. "wobble" - I didn't have a spindle steady, but I will for the next one. I backed it with my hand to minimize the wobble and also made small adjustments in speed to eliminate harmonics. At certain speeds, the 38" cane would start to get pretty wobbly in the middle.
I like the look of a one piece best, but if bed length is a limitation, obviously the multipiece with threaded connections is the way to go.
One final challenge was the handle. The coupling threads on to the end of the cane and the handle threads into that, but what I found with Bocote is it is so hard that threading is pretty tough. What I ended up doing was turning a tenon just slightly larger than the thread id and I screwed the handle/coupling on by hand. I then backed it back off and cut a slot in the tenon with a razor saw, screwed the coupling back on, drove a wedge into the slot (wedged tenon) and then threaded the handle on. This provided me with the most solid connection.
I don't know if it's the best way, but it worked well.
Brad
Curved Handle Reference
Al Kapocius, Metro Greendale
>If'n you want to consider a curved handle, check out Wood Bender's Handbook by Zachary Taylor (Sterling Publishing Co, ISBN 0-8069-9702-8). It describes an English operation that uses steam bending as well as a procedure with boiling water for home workshop. One gimmick is to notch and leave the handle a mite long so it can be lashed for drying.
Kinda thot I'd try it someday with bamboo. Garden stakes of the right diameter are available at nursery stores. Even picked up an electric teapot and radiator hose matching the spout diameter. The Walmart teapot was half the cost of the Lee Valley part number.
Al Kapocius