# Walking canes



## mranum (Mar 27, 2008)

Thought I would post some pictures of a couple walking canes that I have done recently. One was made from some figured Maple scraps I had lying around looking for a project and the other is Walnut with a Maple accent. Shafts turned on a lathe with skews and the handles done by hand with rasps and microplanes.

The Maple had Deft Teak wood finish applied and the Walnut had the Deft and then 5 coats of gloss lacquer.


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## b00kemdano (Feb 10, 2009)

Those are really nice! 

I'd like to make some canes for some of the seasoned folks at church, but I can't figure out those handles. 

What's your secret?


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## mranum (Mar 27, 2008)

Not too much to figure out really, that was the easiest part of making them to me. Start out with a block that is roughly 6 x 1 x 2-1/2 high. Layout a pattern that will fit 3 fingers behind the shaft, like what I did here unless you want it centered which is fine too. Just make sure to keep the thickness of the curves and the transition area to the grip narrow enough for a comfortable hold. I made these for my Dad who has a smaller grip than I do so the shape was actually too small for me but fit him well.

The fine toothed half round and flat microplanes I found worked extremely well for shaping these. http://us.microplane.com/8snap-inrasps.aspx My local hardware store carries these.

I am making some more and perfecting my construction techniques and the biggest change coming is increasing the size of the dowel rod connecting the handle to the shaft. I used 5/16 on these and it is just too weak I think and has a little too much flex for my tastes.


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## slatron25 (Dec 18, 2007)

Those really look nice. Great work.


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

That is good looking work. I have wanted to do a cane for awhile now. I've seen the kits for them but I like your idea of making the handle and joining with a dowel better. What size dowel do you anticipate trying next?

John


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## mranum (Mar 27, 2008)

I plan on using a 1/2" x 3 at a minimum maybe a little longer yet and then pinning it with a 1/8" or 3/16" dowel across the joint on each half to hold everything in place in case the glue joint should break at some point. A 1/2" dowel would be aprox. half of the mass in the shaft & handle and should add a lot of strength that way.


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## ed sherk (Feb 9, 2010)

*cane*

very nice work great photos too:smile:


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## Mitch Cholewinski (Mar 11, 2007)

mranum
Very nice ,each and every one of them. I especially like the first one. Nice work. The handle, did you make this on a router table, or just how did you do that? I can see a few different ways to do that, but, how did you make the handle? Mitch:thumbsup:


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## mranum (Mar 27, 2008)

The shafts I turn on the lathe, the handles are all done by hand. Sketch it out then shape it with rasps & microplanes.

Working on some more, and thought I would see what a shaft would look like with a celtic knot in it. First time I ever did one and the alignment got off just a little but not too bad. I'll post some pics of that here when I get it done but it won't for few days as I will be tied up with some rather serious medical/family issues for a couple days.


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