Some of my work

3975 Views 18 Replies 7 Participants Last post by gdenby, Jun 17, 2013

gdenby

Discussion Starter · Apr 28, 2013

10

As an introduction, let me show some pictures of my work. Not certain if this is the right forum section. Plz forgive if they should have gone into the gallery area. The image titles, if they show up, mention the wood used, if known, and the length.

The sticks range from a few of the ones when I started a couple of years ago, the one that were last worked on a month or two ago. So far, I haven't settled on a particular technique. About the only thing I try to do consistently is to make the grip area as smooth and comfortable as possible. I tend to favor a more rustic look, but have decided that until I can figure out how to make bark more stable, I'll be working down to wood all over.

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1 - 19 of 19 Posts

Rad

· #2 · Apr 28, 2013

Very nice!

JD79

· #3 · Apr 29, 2013

Wow! You do some really good work. Thanks for sharing.

NightKnight

· #4 · Apr 29, 2013

Thanks for sharing some of your work with us!

Sean

· #5 · Apr 29, 2013

Those are great looking sticks. I also like rustic, naturals. What are you using on some of your sticks for a tip? Looks

to be a bit different from what I've seen.

gdenby

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 29, 2013

Sean said:
Those are great looking sticks. I also like rustic, naturals. What are you using on some of your sticks for a tip? Looks

to be a bit different from what I've seen.

Glad you like 'em. I mostly am making sticks for getting thru fields and forests, so a rustic style seems fitting.

The tips. 3 - 4 coats of Plasti-Dip, aka tool dip. The manufacturer says its made in several colors, and clear, but I haven't found anyplace that carries anything but black. Clear would be great.

My wife takes a walk at least 5 times a week. The coating of one of the sticks she uses wore thru in about a year. It had had 2 coats of the rubber. So I've gone to more coats, and am trying to figure out how to bond something really tough to the bottom before the coating. Its nice because the rubber can go as high up as the dipping vessel will allow, and it bonds very nicely to unfinished wood. No chance of falling off, and little, if any, chance of water seeping under and messing w. the wood.

CAS14

· #7 · Apr 30, 2013

Really nice sticks. I have some new ideas now. I learn something every time I log on here. Thanks for sharing!

gdenby

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 30, 2013

CAS said:
Really nice sticks. I have some new ideas now. I learn something every time I log on here. Thanks for sharing!

You are certainly welcome. And I will grab anything you offer. Its good to learn something new everyday.

nameless

· #9 · Jun 14, 2013

gdenby said:
Sean said:

Those are great looking sticks. I also like rustic, naturals. What are you using on some of your sticks for a tip? Looks

to be a bit different from what I've seen.

Click to expand...

Glad you like 'em. I mostly am making sticks for getting thru fields and forests, so a rustic style seems fitting.

The tips. 3 - 4 coats of Plasti-Dip, aka tool dip. The manufacturer says its made in several colors, and clear, but I haven't found anyplace that carries anything but black. Clear would be great.

My wife takes a walk at least 5 times a week. The coating of one of the sticks she uses wore thru in about a year. It had had 2 coats of the rubber. So I've gone to more coats, and am trying to figure out how to bond something really tough to the bottom before the coating. Its nice because the rubber can go as high up as the dipping vessel will allow, and it bonds very nicely to unfinished wood. No chance of falling off, and little, if any, chance of water seeping under and messing w. the wood.

I have been known to just inset a hardened bolt into the bottom. That 'never' wears out, and it's easy to replace. An inch long works fine, epoxy it in and finish with the wood!

A rubber cane tip for extra grip can always be replaced and wears for a long time!

Then, of course, there's the ferrule.

I do rustic, and that doesn't necessarily mean that metal ferrules don't work.

The Irish shillelagh is about as rustic as you get, yet they are commonly metal 'finished' at the bottom.

gdenby

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jun 17, 2013

When I first started looking for info on hiking sticks, such as the appropriate length, I came across a site that mentioned they had rubber tips in accordance w. Nat'l Park regulations. Seemed like a good idea to make ticks that wouldn't cause any problems there. I don't really like the look of standard cane tips, and it would also require forming all the stick bottoms to the same size. I really didn't care for the look of that.

I've seen kits that allow for a metal tip to be screwed in, or removed and replaced by rubber, and have considered those.

I'm going to try for something more durable by affixing a teflon furniture glide to the bottoms of a few, and then put the rubber dip over those.

CAS14

· #11 · Jun 17, 2013

My most enjoyable, but a little tricky, was to drill out the primer end of a 20mm brass shell casing, rasp the stick down to that diameter, and saw off the dummy round so as to insert threads so that a rubber furniture glide can be screwed in. Then when it's worn out I can easily replace it.

The tricky aspect of this for me is to perfectly align the axis of the stick and the brass. I could also have just punched out the primer and screwed in & glued a hanger bolt, and put a threaded insert into the stick to screw the whole thing in. Once again, alignment is a very tricky part of that.

I bought a 90° drill extension last week. I hope to connect this to my poor-boy's drill press (it's cheap), fasten a larger table designed to align several feet of stick horizontally, in line with the 90° bit. Maybe then I will improve on my poor ability to drill a hole into the end of a stick that is more nearly aligned with the axis of some portion of a natural stick which isn't straight to begin with.

I thought about making a jig for the drill press to hold a stick vertically, but my drill press table is only about 42" above the floor. So I ruled that out.

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nameless

· #12 · Jun 17, 2013

gdenby said:
'm going to try for something more durable by affixing a teflon furniture glide to the bottoms of a few, and then put the rubber dip over those.

Think; a teflon glide on the end of a stick that will be leaned on for support and balance?

Y'all want some oil on that teflon? *__-

gdenby

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 17, 2013

Yeah, I was thinking about that after my morning walk. I had put some new glides on my father's walker yesterday. The material is not very slippery, and fairly durable. But it did cross my mind that the gripping quality would not be as good as the rubber when the rubber wore away.

As a back track, the Plasti-Dip is available in clear, or any color, but appears difficult to obtain. I would prefer a rubber coat that was more invisible, but have used the default black for practice.

And, I would like something that could be formed to match the shaft cross section, and be very tough. After my mid-morning ponder, it occurred to me that a metal epoxy would be good under the rubber. Or, if I could find a way to cut it adequately, some steel belted auto tire.

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CAS14

· #14 · Jun 17, 2013

gdenby said:
some steel belted auto tire.

What a concept! Steel belted stick tips! You could pick the appropriate tread for the conditions, snow and ice, wet pavement, etc. Bet someone knows how to cut them. The Vietnamese made some of their Ho Chi Minh sandals out of tires. I don't know how they flattened them. Could you hack saw a square and then sand the corners with carbide paper on a rotary or belt sander?

Rad

· #15 · Jun 17, 2013

CAS said:
gdenby said:

some steel belted auto tire.

Click to expand...

What a concept! Steel belted stick tips! You could pick the appropriate tread for the conditions, snow and ice, wet pavement, etc. Bet someone knows how to cut them. The Vietnamese made some of their Ho Chi Minh sandals out of tires. I don't know how they flattened them. Could you hack saw a square and then sand the corners with carbide paper on a rotary or belt sander?

Why not just use a hole saw?

CAS14

· #16 · Jun 17, 2013

Hole saw works if you can get the right size, and it will cut through any steel wire it encounters. Good idea!

gdenby

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jun 17, 2013

I did find a vid that showed a lady cutting a traced footprint out of a tire. She was using a standard chisel and a hammer. The rubber was still curled, but the shape was decent. I have some smaller chisels that could make finer cuts.

As far as I know, there aren't any treads for "mushy forrest preserve," but I suppose a chunk of ATV tire would work.

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CAS14

· #18 · Jun 17, 2013

gdenby said:
I did find a vid that showed a lady cutting a traced footprint out of a tire. She was using a standard chisel and a hammer. The rubber was still curled, but the shape was decent. I have some smaller chisels that could make finer cuts.

As far as I know, there aren't any treads for "mushy forrest preserve," but I suppose a chunk of ATV tire would work.

NOW you're talking! Serious off-roading! Might even have to craft a tip with an inflatable innertube for flotation through the swamplands.

gdenby

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jun 17, 2013

I did trim some tire belt wire. I trimmed the tread wires w. bullnose fencing pliers. More common wire snips were a chore, and did not do a good job.

And, hmmm... A floatable walking stick. Suitable for a trek across quick sand.

Wait. Stop here. I'm beginning to take this seriously. What size neoprene foam elephant foot will have 150 lbs of buoyancy in a 50 - 50 mix of muck and water...

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