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48 Posts
Apparently since I use an android phone, I can't post pictures here, but that's okay. My humble attempt is a little embarassing compared to the ones shown on this site. But I did manage to fashion a cane that I like, using information I learned by coming here.
A while back, a stick fell out of a tree and hit my 9 year old son. Since I didn't see it happen, I don't know what kind of tree it was, but my guess is oak, since where we were is full of oak trees. Anyway, he knew I wanted to make a walking staff so he brought it to me. The wood was completely dead, probably had probably been hanging up there for a long, long time. Where it had broken off from the trunk, there was still a good amount of wood left on it that kind of looked like a bird's head, if you used your imagination.
I decided I liked the bird head, so I ended up cutting the stick to the size of a cane, using the bird head for a handle. The wood has numerous purple stains from wild grapes, and black mold (I guess) stains all up and down one side of the shaft. It has a nice crook in it, that kind of makes it like one of those ergonomic canes.
Anyway, I ended up sanding on it for a couple of hours, finally with 220, and carving some designs and my family's names in it. I shaped the bird head's beak to fit my hand pretty nicely, and have applied 4 coats of tung oil so far. Oh, and I found a rubber tip in my shop that I robbed from a floor scraper. It just happened to fit perfectly.
The $1 is for the tung oil I bought at my local Habitat for Humanity's 'Restore'. I've ended up with what I think is a pretty nice cane. The carvings are not pretty, and some people probably wouldn't like the stains in the wood, but I do. The bird head handle fits my hand pretty well, and the thing is really comfortable to use.
I just thought I would share with you all, and let you know how much I appreciate all the knowledge contained on this site. See, I view my cane as a success, and now my mind is working about making more sticks.
A while back, a stick fell out of a tree and hit my 9 year old son. Since I didn't see it happen, I don't know what kind of tree it was, but my guess is oak, since where we were is full of oak trees. Anyway, he knew I wanted to make a walking staff so he brought it to me. The wood was completely dead, probably had probably been hanging up there for a long, long time. Where it had broken off from the trunk, there was still a good amount of wood left on it that kind of looked like a bird's head, if you used your imagination.
I decided I liked the bird head, so I ended up cutting the stick to the size of a cane, using the bird head for a handle. The wood has numerous purple stains from wild grapes, and black mold (I guess) stains all up and down one side of the shaft. It has a nice crook in it, that kind of makes it like one of those ergonomic canes.
Anyway, I ended up sanding on it for a couple of hours, finally with 220, and carving some designs and my family's names in it. I shaped the bird head's beak to fit my hand pretty nicely, and have applied 4 coats of tung oil so far. Oh, and I found a rubber tip in my shop that I robbed from a floor scraper. It just happened to fit perfectly.
The $1 is for the tung oil I bought at my local Habitat for Humanity's 'Restore'. I've ended up with what I think is a pretty nice cane. The carvings are not pretty, and some people probably wouldn't like the stains in the wood, but I do. The bird head handle fits my hand pretty well, and the thing is really comfortable to use.
I just thought I would share with you all, and let you know how much I appreciate all the knowledge contained on this site. See, I view my cane as a success, and now my mind is working about making more sticks.