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Any one ever play around with putting a flash light in their stick I'm tossing the idea around but I'm not having much luck finding material to use for it.
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I've never tried it and searching the site with the "search community" button yielded nothing, but there was a post a while ago by a great maker named Rodney who used what appeared to be components from a flashlight to make a light-up jackolantern stick.
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More Pumpkins
I decided to make 3 more pumpkin canes this year to sell. I've refined the wiring a bit. The first one I made is a pain and not suited to sell. This one is carved from oak with a maple handle and a dyed black maple shank. I used India ink for the black color. It's a great shade of black but...
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Yeah every search I do comes back empty that's why I was asking. I have been playing around with some ideas. It's still on the drawing board.I've never tried it and searching the site with the "search community" button yielded nothing, but there was a post a while ago by a great maker named Rodney who used what appeared to be components from a flashlight to make a light-up jackolantern stick.
More Pumpkins
I decided to make 3 more pumpkin canes this year to sell. I've refined the wiring a bit. The first one I made is a pain and not suited to sell. This one is carved from oak with a maple handle and a dyed black maple shank. I used India ink for the black color. It's a great shade of black but...
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132 Posts
the LED lights are becoming more and more brighter - and smaller.
it wouldn't take much engineering to put a light in a walking cane with a small, indiscreet push-button to turn it on and off.
all the parts needed are available at Radio Shack or online sources.
Be careful advertising "your" design because you will see it soon on the TV Infomercials for $19.95 - BUT WAIT !! we will include a FREE rubber foot for the cane.
excellent idea, Chris - I would like to see you turn it into a successful project.
it wouldn't take much engineering to put a light in a walking cane with a small, indiscreet push-button to turn it on and off.
all the parts needed are available at Radio Shack or online sources.
Be careful advertising "your" design because you will see it soon on the TV Infomercials for $19.95 - BUT WAIT !! we will include a FREE rubber foot for the cane.
excellent idea, Chris - I would like to see you turn it into a successful project.
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I'm just playing Around with different ideas. I currently have 3 sticks partially started haven't made any serious plan for either of them. Thank you for the advice I had not even thought about that.
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Search for pumpkin got this for me...
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Another Reason Why....
.....I don't carve. Sometimes I get hare-brained ideas that I just have to act on. This was one of them. I started this one after Halloween last year. I turned and hollowed the pumpkin on my daughter's lathe. A real woodturner would laugh at the job I did hollowing, it's pretty rough...
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Yeah, that was Rodney's first try at it. The one I linked was a revised version. The guy's an incredible craftsman, in my opinion.
You might be able to tell from my avatar pic why that project of his was a favorite of mine. I used to grow giant pumpkins. I'm resting my arm on what could have been a state record if it hadn't split on me. It was in the vicinity of 800 pounds with a couple of months left to grow. Could have easily hit 4 digits.
You might be able to tell from my avatar pic why that project of his was a favorite of mine. I used to grow giant pumpkins. I'm resting my arm on what could have been a state record if it hadn't split on me. It was in the vicinity of 800 pounds with a couple of months left to grow. Could have easily hit 4 digits.
Just a thought - - - Harbor Freight used to have a periodic giveaway of some small 1" diameter cylindrical black aluminum LED flashlights. They have recently substituted a rectangular blue plastic flashlight in their giveaway program, but the black aluminum units were still for sale when I was in the store last week. The on-off switch is button under a rubber bump on the non-light end of the flashlight. They have 9 LEDs and are pretty bright, and use three AAA batteries that seem to last quite a while.
Several years ago, I made a wooden holder that mounted one of those flashlights in the tailstock of my lathe to make it easier to see inside vessels for hollowing. The holder was a simple spindle with a 1" hole to receive the flashlight and with a morse taper to fit into the lathe tailstock, and a hole in one side that I could stick my finger into to press that on-off button.
I would think that I would not be too difficult to incorporate a similar axial hole in the handle of a cane to receive one of those flashlight. If I were to do it, I would design the handle so that the portion that holds the flashlight is forward of the shaft, while the portion of the handle that the user grips is aft of the handle - that was, any weakness in the handle caused by the cavity for the flashlight would not affect the structural integrity of the cane itself.
Several years ago, I made a wooden holder that mounted one of those flashlights in the tailstock of my lathe to make it easier to see inside vessels for hollowing. The holder was a simple spindle with a 1" hole to receive the flashlight and with a morse taper to fit into the lathe tailstock, and a hole in one side that I could stick my finger into to press that on-off button.
I would think that I would not be too difficult to incorporate a similar axial hole in the handle of a cane to receive one of those flashlight. If I were to do it, I would design the handle so that the portion that holds the flashlight is forward of the shaft, while the portion of the handle that the user grips is aft of the handle - that was, any weakness in the handle caused by the cavity for the flashlight would not affect the structural integrity of the cane itself.
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Thanks for the kind words Dana. Keep it up and my head won't fit thru any doors.
The pumpkin canes I made used LEDs with 2 AA batteries and a 10 ohm resistor hid in the handle. I found the circuit design online. The light is more decorative than useful. It also turns out there isn't enough meat in the handles where they meet the pumpkins. I broke one I was using. A design flaw on my part. I plan to re-drill the handles and add a piece of pipe inside to fix them. I haven't done it yet because I know it's going to be a pain.
Flashlight canes have been around since at least the 1930s in various styles, including one really hideous modern one I remember seeing. I don't know how practical they are as a light source ( I prefer headlamps over flashlights these days) but the older ones are pretty cool. Louie's idea is good.
The pumpkin canes I made used LEDs with 2 AA batteries and a 10 ohm resistor hid in the handle. I found the circuit design online. The light is more decorative than useful. It also turns out there isn't enough meat in the handles where they meet the pumpkins. I broke one I was using. A design flaw on my part. I plan to re-drill the handles and add a piece of pipe inside to fix them. I haven't done it yet because I know it's going to be a pain.
Flashlight canes have been around since at least the 1930s in various styles, including one really hideous modern one I remember seeing. I don't know how practical they are as a light source ( I prefer headlamps over flashlights these days) but the older ones are pretty cool. Louie's idea is good.
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