I am interested in making walking canes and I'm glad I found this forum. I've seen some truly awesome work here. As a newcomer I have limited experience in wood working and tools. Some personal background: age 64, retired, married, Vietnam veteran, would love to build a decent cane. Not having a lathe can I use a round spokeshave to transform a 1" x 1" x 35" square oak blank into a cane shaft? I have many questions and I appreciate and thank all who will take the time to share their knowledge.
beginner
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Welcome aboard!
Thank you for your service and good luck on your new hobby
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Thank you for your service and good luck on your new hobby
...
Joined
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419 Posts
Welcome, you 'can' use a round spokeshave, but that could be tedious, depending on it's size. Just a long knife (KBAR CAS style) or draw knife can do a possibly quicker job. just remember to keep it shallow if you use one of these instead and watch your grain, as you could chunk up a piece if you hit it just right.
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131 Posts
If your blank is square, you can also take down each edge evenly (draw two lines on each face trisecting each face into three equal parts, cut or plan down your edge until it meets the nearest lines on each adjoining face) and and make an octagonal cane. When you finish, if that doesn't look like you want, then take those edges down and pretty soon you'll have a round one. This can be done with a simple block plane, a drawknife or a whittling knife.
As JJireh said, watch the grain. Make sure you're cutting "uphill" with the grain as much as possible. If you use a drawknife, then make sure you put the bevel side down against the wood to avoid, as much as possible, the knife digging in.
Here's how to get to the octagon stage with a table saw. But as a hand-tool woodworker, I would use a plane or a spokeshave. Your choice.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easiest-way-to-make-octagons-for-wood-turning-NO-/
As JJireh said, watch the grain. Make sure you're cutting "uphill" with the grain as much as possible. If you use a drawknife, then make sure you put the bevel side down against the wood to avoid, as much as possible, the knife digging in.
Here's how to get to the octagon stage with a table saw. But as a hand-tool woodworker, I would use a plane or a spokeshave. Your choice.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easiest-way-to-make-octagons-for-wood-turning-NO-/
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Welcome aboard airborne. I too served in Vietnam. I was with 1st ANGLICO, Sub Unit 1, Det. 5, detached to the Korean Marine Corps Blue Dragon Brigade. In October 1967 I was in the mountains in far western Binh Son province, and in December the entire brigade moved farther north in I-Corps to a new TAOR around Hoi An. We had just settled in when the 1968 Tet offensive began.
As you know, we won the war that year, militarily. But our leadership had already decided to lose. Welcome home Bro.
CAS,
I was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, 319th Artillery. We got there in November "67", so I too was there for Tet. I still struggle with the politics of that war and the reception we received on return. We were up north in the A Shah valley. I'm glad you made it back, so many did not. Hope to hear from you in the future in this forum. And we are brothers!!!
I was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, 319th Artillery. We got there in November "67", so I too was there for Tet. I still struggle with the politics of that war and the reception we received on return. We were up north in the A Shah valley. I'm glad you made it back, so many did not. Hope to hear from you in the future in this forum. And we are brothers!!!
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1,126 Posts
Somewhere I have a CD that has a song that mentions the A Shaw valley. It's impossible to listen to that CD without crying, so I haven't in a long while. There are some humorous tunes as well, one about Saigon warriors.
Update - just found "Angel in the Ashaw" by Ron Jones. Bootleg copy, maybe too scratched I don't know. A fellow Tulsan was the squad leader for the first to cross the bridge over the Perfume River into the Citadel at Hue. Barney gave me some CDs a few years back.
Update - just found "Angel in the Ashaw" by Ron Jones. Bootleg copy, maybe too scratched I don't know. A fellow Tulsan was the squad leader for the first to cross the bridge over the Perfume River into the Citadel at Hue. Barney gave me some CDs a few years back.
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