View Single Post
  #7   Report Post  
Ken Moon
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"mac davis" wrote in message
...
I've been researching on the web, but now I'm looking for anyone with
practical
experience...

SNIP........
Most canes for sale on the web (other than the standard institutional
type) are
sticks with separate handles attached... he says that they are weak and
awkward,
so we'd like to learn about bending green? wood for canes...

Any info appreciated, and idea, hints, tips, etc...

=========================
Mac,
Not all shafts with separate handles are weak and awkward. I made a mesquite
cane for my Dad for his 80th birthday. The shaft was a reasonably straight
(there is no such thing as STRAIGHT mesquite) sapling, about 7/8 inch on the
bottom up to about 1-1/4 at the handle end. The handle was larger, about
1-3/4 cut near a fork, so the cut revealed the usual maroon of the mesquite
heartwood. I made a ball on the end of the shaft and a socket in the handle
to receive it. There was a slight taper on the mating surfaces of the shaft
and handle to maximize the mating surfaces. After every thing fit like I
wanted it to, I filled the socket hole in the handle with epoxy and fitted
the shaft into it to set up. I was worried that the setting process of the
epoxy would cause the handle to split, but it did OK. I engraved his name on
one side of the handle and his birth date on the other side, as well as
carving reliefs on the handle for finger grips. Then the whole thing was
finished with clear poly.

SInce my Dad had been a life long woodworker, I knew he would test it for
strength, and he did. He put his full weight ( about 175#) on it, but I knew
it would hold because I'd put my 300# on it before I gave it to him. So the
separate shaft/ handle configuration can be a viable option. I brought the
cane home after his death, so if you're interested, I could try to post
pictures or e-mail them to you.

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.