Walking Stick for Toni

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Well, I said I reckoned it could be done on a Leda mini-lathe, and that I'd show how I'd go about it... so here's the start. (Only got a few minutes in the shed this arvo. :( )

Sorry it took me so long to get around to starting, Toni, but I wanted to try Purpleheart's fish-scale type laminations and thought it best to do a test run on a large scale before trying it on a pen. Just as well, too... I don't think you'll see any pens like this from me for a while!

A walking stick should measure from the ground to the crease of your wrist when you're standing comfortably. For me, that's 83cm.

OK, so I started with two blanks, about 30mm square and long enough to just fit in the bed of the Leda with a couple of cm spare for fittings... about 40cm, if I remember correctly. And I do... just ran out to the shed and measured the unfinished blank. ;) I'll lose about 6cm when joining these two pieces together, but I can make this up with the handle and rubber at the working end.

Pic 1 Mark the centres of what will be the top ends of each piece, and then drill them out to a depth of around 20-25mm. I used a 9mm drill-bit in a battery-drill (my drill-press is only a baby) so I took a LOT of care to keep the holes straight and square. Unfortunately, I didn't centre the RH hole too well. :o That's OK, as that'll be the bottom piece and most will be turned away. [Phew!]

Pic 2. Again, I marked the centres of what'll be the bottom ends of each piece, but this time I only just touched the tip of a brad-point drill to 'em. This is just to make sure they sit centred on the drive spur. Again, I went a tad deep on the RH one. :rolleyes: Impatience not only isn't a virtue, it can be a PITA at times. :D

Pic 3. I use a conical centre in the tailstock, so it sits nicely in the 9mm holes I drilled in the top ends. If you can't do this, you can make a small wooden plug (see pic 3 in the next post) that'll be easily removable later.

Pic 4. The blank mounted up. The top of the piece is towards the tailstock end.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Next bit... round the whole blank down. I'll make the top of my walking stick about 25mm wide, the middle 19mm wide and the bottom 13mm. Or around there, anyway.

Pic 1. I left 3cm of the blank at the headstock end alone, it will be turned into a dowel to join to the other piece later. At the tailstock end, I turned it down with a scraper to just over the width I wanted, 25mm, and used a skew chisel to make sure the end was square. I don't have a pen-mill that'd work here. ;) Actually, I dish the end in just a mm or so, so that I know the outside edge will join properly.

Again with the scraper, I turned down the bit 3cm from the drivespur (which will be the dowel!) to just over the size I want for the middle, 19mm. I made them about 1mm oversize to allow for sanding and any mistakes, so I actually turned to around 26mm & 20mm. These two "finished" ends are my equivalent of bushes, I turned in-between them using a skew chisel. I put a bit of a "dip" in below the fish-scales, just as decoration. :)

Pic 2. I sanded and finished (EEE/Shellawax) what I'd already done, making sure that at the top and bottom I sanded it down to the sizes I wanted. (25 & 19mm) This shows you the 3cm length I left unfinished at the headstock.

Pic 3. Now it's time to turn the dowel. If I ltried turning it down as is, I'd have all sorts of fun'n'games. :rolleyes: But with the big hole in the other end, it won't sit square on the drive-spur. What to do? I made a wooden plug that fits snugly in the hole.

Pic 4. So, having turned the blank around, I could turn the dowel down. 3cm long, about 10mm wide. Then I started removing the blank and test fitting it into the hole in the other piece, using sandpaper to bring it down to a size where it went in snugly without needing a hammer to drive it in, but not so loose as to fall out. I used sandpaper for this, as the timber was prone to tear-out. The flat part is dished in a wee tad, again to ensure the edge joins up neatly later.

Another light sanding, to make sure the lip was clean and square, then another coat of EEE/Shellawax over the whole thing except for the parts that'll be glued up. ie. the dowel and the flat end with the hole at at the top.

Pic 5. Well, this is the top piece finished. Hopefully I'll get back to the shed tomorrow and be able to finish the bottom, then make a start on the bands and handles. It all depends on who drops in and whether I gotta be sociable. [shudder]

[jchappo]

I love these tutorials,

thanks Skew ... looking forward to the next episode.

Question: what is the purpose of the plywood disc on the drive shaft?

Also, more info on those fishtails please.

John

[Grizz]

I'll second that; more on the fishtails please. Also, I was thinking that a threaded join in the middle might be an interesting concept in the future. Allow the walking stick to be broken down for storage similar to a pool cue maybe?


Grizz

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Question: what is the purpose of the plywood disc on the drive shaft?

Also, more info on those fishtails please.

The plywood disk? :o That's what I use to stop the chuck from "binding." Most people use a nylon washer or similar, I use what I have ready to hand. Being of Scottish descent may have something to do with it, too. :rolleyes:

Those fish-scales I'll describe a bit later, the way I did them really needs more pix. After doing them "my way" I realised (while laying in bed one sleepless night) that there's a much easier way. I'll try it out first and if it works I'll show that method instead. :D


Also, I was thinking that a threaded join in the middle might be an interesting concept in the future. Allow the walking stick to be broken down for storage similar to a pool cue maybe?

Yup. I've been thinking along similar lines. At the moment I don't have the fittings and as this is only the 2nd walking stick I've turned I'm working entirely from imagination using methods learned turning other items... so you'll have to bear with me. ;)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

OK, so I managed to sneak another 20minutes shed time to finish turning the bottom section. :) 'Twas turned in almost exactly the same way as the top section...

Pic 1. The blank mounted. As you can see, this time I used the wooden plug right from the beginning (See? I am capable of learning from mistakes... especially when it's easier. :D) so this time around the "top" of the blank is at the headstock end and I won't have to flip it over to turn the dowel.

Pic 2. Using a scraper, I turned the top end down to the same dimension as the bottom of the other piece, so they'll match up when joined. I want it to be 19mm so I turned it to 20mm to allow for sanding.

Pic 3. Again with the scraper, I turned the bottom end down to 15mm... I wanted 13, but can see that'd be getting to be a tad too thin. I forgot about allowing for the dowel :o which is why the very end was turned... but quickly realised my booboo and measured in 3 cm for the dowel and cut it down again.

When cutting this slot I cut two-scraper widths wide, so that the scraper wouldn't bind in the slot.

Pic 4. So, using a skew-chisel, I turned the middle to match the two ends. Because the blank is the full length of the lathe bed but only 15-17mm along most of it's length it starts to flex and chatter. So I curl my LH fingers over the piece to support the back, while using the thumb to guide the skew on the toolrest. My RH holds the chisel at the ferrule and does most of the work in controlling the chisel.

You might find it easier to use a scraper this way instead, as one-handed use of a skew chisel takes some practice, after a lot of bangs, clunks, UFOs and blue air... :rolleyes:

Pic 5. The blank turned down, ready for sanding & finishing. After this, I turned the dowel down to size, again to about 10mm, then cleaned up the edge the same as I did previously and re-sanded/refinished the whole thing.

[DJ’s Timber]

Looking good Skew. Look forward to the next installment.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Just a pic of both pieces finished. I've glued up a couple of laminated blocks, white Corian between two thin slices of Redgum, and am only waiting for the glue to dry before moving on to the next step and turning them into rings for the joints. :)

The tops section's dowel should slip into the hole of the bottom section and, with luck, everything should be dead straight. If it's not, now is the time to refill the hole in the bottom section with epoxy resin so you can redrill it properly and not have a big dog's leg.

Also, the dowel shouldn't go all the way into the hole. There should be a gap of around 5mm - 1cm for the band which will, hopefully, help to hide the joint. If it does go all the way in, I'd recommend remounting it on the lathe and making the dowel section a bit longer to make up the difference. ;)

For the curious, the reason the top length is shorter than the bottom piece is because of the laminations. For every 2mm laminate I added, I had to trim 7mm away,.. so it grew 5mm shorter with every pair of fish-scales. :( As I said before, I'm not too worried about losing of a few cm at this stage, I should be able to make them up when I add the handle and rubber stopper.

[Gil Jones]

G'Day Skew,
Very cool article on stick making, thanks!! (could even make a pool cue like that??).
Does Purpleheart change colors as much as it seems to in your pics?

[tashammer]

How much weight would a screw-jointed stick take? Don't know that i would trust it. Anyone here with experience of such a beast. I use my walking stick most of the time so there is no need to be able to take it apart. i would go for uninterrupted strength every time.

p.s.

A Skewky's Book and DVD of Turning Ideas, Tutorials, Tips, and Experiences

I would like to place an order now please.

[jchappo]

The plywood disk? :o That's what I use to stop the chuck from "binding." Most people use a nylon washer or similar, I use what I have ready to hand. Being of Scottish descent may have something to do with it, too. :rolleyes:

Ahh, right .. I cut a washer from the plastic top of a spray can.

John

[ss_11000]

another great thread from skew. very interesting mate.

[BernieP]

G'Day Skew

As usual a very useful tutorial, and another one for me to file away

Cheers
Bernie

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

How much weight would a screw-jointed stick take? Don't know that i would trust it. Anyone here with experience of such a beast. I use my walking stick most of the time so there is no need to be able to take it apart. i would go for uninterrupted strength every time.

I'd imagine they'd take a fair bit of weight. They'd certainly be stronger than the dowelled end I'm currently using as a joint. :D I've tried using pool cues as crutches and they didn't break...


A Skewky's Book and DVD of Turning Ideas, Tutorials, Tips, and Experiences

I would like to place an order now please.

Writing the book would be easy, if time consuming. Proof reading it and cutting out the waffle, misleading remarks and utter crap to bring it down to a more readable size would be the work of a lifetime... :D:D

[hughie]

Skew,

Facsinating post, kinda held off making a comment as it took off with a bit of a life of its own. Food for thought for us ''oldies'' ho ho :D

It has a few spin offs...pool cues, hiking sticks,tall lamp stands, midnight intruder whackers :D etc

[Hickory]

Reading your post with great interest as I am a frequent and regular user of a walking stick. I have made a few by different means but never gave my lathe a thought. I wilst from now on. Looks like I have a few winter projects in mind thanks to you.

Keep up the tutorals w/pictures.

Lest I forget..... Greenie on the way

[tashammer]

...Writing the book would be easy, if time consuming. Proof reading it and cutting out the waffle, misleading remarks and utter crap to bring it down to a more readable size would be the work of a lifetime... :D:D

ARGHHH, no ,ONLY do proof reading, spelling. LEAVE IN the waffle, misleading remarks and the utter crap.

he said.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

OK, I grabbed a bit more shed-time this arvo, so onto turning the rings (or bands) for the joints...

Pic 1. I drilled a centre hole in the blanks I glued up last night, using the same drill-bit I used to drill the shaft ends, then roughly rounded them on the bandsaw & linisher just so I didn't have to turn so much away. ;)

I actually made 3, but I already had one mounted on the lathe when I thought to take this pic. :o Why 3? One for the centre joint, where the two shafts I've turned join together. Another to go on the very bottom, to conceal the joint for the "foot" and the 3rd... well... it's mainly a spare in case I should blow one of the other two up, but with luck I'll be able to use it at the joint for the handle. Dunno yet whether I'll use it there even if I can, I haven't really thought that far ahead. I'll wait and see how the rest of it comes together before making a final decision. I've never been one to make a plan and stick to it. :p

Now, I don't have a mandrel to mount these blanks on... or do I? They fit perfectly over the dowels I'vd already turned, after all, that's where they're gonna go! So how to "lock" them temporarily to the dowel so I can turn them? Simple. Remember that wooden plug I made earler to hold the end of the blank with the hole? I made another out of more scrap, to hold the end with the dowel. Again, drilled with the same drill-bit. :) Pic 2 shows both of wooden "plugs."

Pic 3 is an "exploded diagram" of how everything will be assembled so I can turn the ring..

Pic 4. Mounted in the lathe, the tailstock is providing the clamping force. Now to get stuck into it...

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The rings were fiddly little beggars to turn, mainly because the way I clamped 'em meant I had no access to the end faces to ensure they were square. [shrug] I decided to worry about that later... first I turned the centre-most ring down to the size and approximate profile I wanted. I could've turned the rings flush to the stick's shaft, but I wanted to leave them a bit proud to help hide the joint, while adding a bit more decoration.

The outside was brought to shape, then came cleaning it up and sanding/finishing without doing damage to the shaft or dowel. :rolleyes: So, I flipped the stick over so the dowel was now at the tailstock end and removed the timber "plug" to get access to one end of the ring. Fortunately, the ring was a tight enough fit that for sanding it didn't slip.

Pic 1 shows how I dressed the face of the ring with the skew, cupping it in slightly just to ensure it will sit square when glued up. Scraping like this is NOT the best way to use a skew chisel, but it did the job for what I wanted. ;) I wedged it in position with a bit of paper through the hole to prevent slippage. This threw it slightly off-centre, but I decided I could live with a 0.25mm deviation. :D

Then I sanded and finished the end of the ring closest to the tailstock, stopped the lathe, removed the ring and flipped it over so I could repeat the process on the other half. I removed the ring altogether and gave the entire shaft yet another coat of EEE/Shellawax to repair a couple of minor scratches I made when turning the ring :o A bit of PVA glue on the dowel, placed the ring back into position (I used the lathe & the "plug" for the dowelled end as a vice) and, once the glue had set, gave it a final cleanup and yet another coat of EEE/Shellawax. Pic 2 is the end result, I think it accomplishes the concealment I was after. :)

(Edit: actually I told a lie... on taking a second look, that pic was taken before gluing. There's still a bit of a gap where it wasn't pushed up tightly, visible at the bottom. :o)

I repeated the above process with the ring for the bottom section of shaft, which left me with the 3rd ring for the handle. Will I use it? Won't I? I'm still undecided even now, but if I'm going to use it, now's the time to turn it. But how? Well... the wooden plug to the rescue yet again! :D (Pic 3.) BTW, that gap disappeared one I tensioned up the tailstock.

At the end of the day, I had two rings finished and glued to the dowelled shafts and a loose ring for the handle end. Pic 4 shows these pieces, with the loose ring still held by the "plug." Now how could I leave it like this? Out came the epoxy and Pic 5 shows the shaft completely assembled.

There is a small dog-leg at the middle joint, but all in all I'm happy with it. The rings make the joint less obvious, although there's one side of one I'm not too happy with. Once the walking stick is completely assembled with handle and rubber, I'll re-assess the joints and if I decide a couple are too obvious I'll notch the joint a bit and inlay a length of gold or silver wire. But that's a decision best left to later... if only the one joint is a bit iffy by the time I finish, I probably won't bother.

Next session, hopefully I can complete it!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I was going to do a 'T' handle but opted for just another knob instead. So call me lazy. [shrug]

Using a redgum blank, about a 6cm cube, the end-grain faces were centre-marked (Pic 1.) and mounted in the lathe with the grain running parallel to the bed. (Pic 2.) This was so I could turn a dowel for mounting to the shaft in the same way as the other joints. I could've made a seperate dowel instead, but opted for the easiest option. :D

This was roughed down, again leaving a 3cm length for the dowel next to the headstock. (Pic 3.)

For a bit of decoration, I thought I'd add a corian inset in the top of the handle. Unfortunately, I lent out my forstner bits today and don't think a spade bit would cut a clean enough hole... but rather than wait I just used the largest brad-point drill I had to hand. (Pic 4.)

I then turned down a bit of Corian to suit, glued it in position, using the lathe to clamp it in position until the glue dried (Pic 5.) then I simply finished turning the dowel and sanded/finished, before parting off the corian. I did remount it with the dowel in the chuck so I could clean up the top of the knob though.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

OK, so Pic 1 shows the finished knob, ready to assemble, but I decided to make the tip first and glue both ends at the same time.

I dry-fitted the knob and measured the total length, less the tip's dowel and came up with 76cm. As I wanted the total length to be 83cm (that's the height to the crease of my wrist from the floor.) 'twas 7cm short... the rubber accounted for 1.5cm, so the tip needed to be 5.5cm long. Simple, eh? :D

First step, I slapped in a blank (about 7cm long) and drilled one end to mount onto the dowel from the tip of the shaft (Pic 2.) The blank was remounted using the same wooden plug I used for the shafts (Pic 3.)

OK, the rubber tips I'm using are 18mm wide, so I measured in 5.5cm from the tailstock end to determine the desired length and turned it down to about 19mm to allow for sanding & mistakes. The tailstock end was turned to... errrmm... (I forget :o) ...the same diameter as the bottom end of the shaft, anyway, (Pic 4) and then 'twas all shaped, almost but not quite parting off. (Pic 5)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Next, the tip was sanded, finished, then parted off and I mounted the rubber to the tip before gluing up (Pic 1) so I could rest it on the ground and apply clamping pressure on the knob end without worrying about scuffs or marks. :D The rubber is simply screwed on, through that hole in the middle.

Pic 2... finished! I'm still contemplating wrapping brass wire over the joints but don't know if I'll bother... there's a couple of little things about it that annoy me and painting a rock in glitter doesn't make it gold. :rolleyes: In hindsight the corian was a mistake; I should've stuck with the same timber as I used for the fish-scale inlays.

Still, 'twas more lessons learnt, more experience gained for the next one and I believe I achieved what I set out to do: showed that it is possible turn a halfway decent walking stick on a mini/midi lathe.

ie. mission accomplished.

[DJ’s Timber]

That looks great Skew.

I would say your right about the corian, ah well next time.

[rodent]

ie threaded inserts ...I think you will find the parts at the wood smith & carolls should also stock it and yes i have a cheep comercial one its held up with my abuse for years just dont push it sideways as there,s not much wood there.

[rodent]

yep much better pic skew the grain looks great on the handle

[ss_11000]

finish product looks great as usual. greeny if i can.

[lubbing5cherubs]

OH mate thanks nearly missed this with being away. I am doing some printing and I am going to play. Thanks heaps mate much appreciate
Toni

[lubbing5cherubs]

Skew what the idea of the wood over the thread on your headstock?
bye Toni

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Skew what the idea of the wood over the thread on your headstock?

Post #5 in this thread already answers that. :D But it's just a home-made washer I use to make it easier when I want to remove the chuck.

[lubbing5cherubs]

hmm that teach me to skim to only the tutorial part ot see each step hey?? LOL no probably not. :D
Toni