Thread: Walking stick

I've turned walking stick shafts regularly without the aid of a 3-point steady, which would probably be the preferred method, but get a good result through the use of a ROS to spread the load along the length of the shaft while it is on the lathe to remove the rough finish I can achieve with a gouge.

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I bought the threaded insert set up a long time ago and I forget what purpose I bought it for but it has come in very handy in this situation.

A bit further along, I am going to do some off-centre turning to get the handle shaft started

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these were test pieces and works quite well.

next I wounded the job in the chuck and brought the tail stock up, just resting/supporting rather than adding any pressure. Then turned it round from 35mm square. Tapering from 25mm down to 18/19mm at the toe end.

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I turned roughly round before reducing overall diameter, and I ended up using tape around the shaft after the first round I found the wheels had dug a small rut. And I wasn’t applying very much pressure.

I will remount and have made marks on the timber and chuck so that it goes back into the same position for finishing the ferrule and high end sanding.

Hi

Having just made 4 walking sticks without the use of a steady, they can be multiple piece using round mortice and tenon joints when you cut an integral dowel on one end and hollow out the other end on the next section. You can turn an offset T-piece for a handle and use a forstner bit to cut a hole in it to fit the dowel end of the stick. I am away from home so can't access pictures to show what I am describing - sorry. Good luck and good turning.

Chris

A bit further along, and after using the table saw to trim the end of handle block I roughly shaped the underside then mounted it off center in the scroll chuck to drill the holes and turn it down to fit the ferrule.

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next up, size, slim down and shape the handle.

I’m surprised all you woodies haven’t pointed out my HUGE faux pas. The one with the wrong grain direction for the handle. There is a cross piece with the grain direction running across to stabilise but still wasn’t thinking that the grain is running north south instead of east/west.

I have now machined up a new piece to replace.

A bit further along and shared up now need final sanding.

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I dunno how I missed this thread.

Nice job shaping the handle and good catch on the grain direction, that's important.

May I ask if this is to be a functional walking stick or is it more of a swagger stick?

If it's to be functional, then I wouldn't put faith in that joint as it looks like it relies entirely on wood-metal glue bonding. There's nothing structurally "failsafe" here and glue breaks down over time. I'm discounting any end-grain to end-grain gluing here, because it's very difficult to get tenon lengths just right for a strong bond while also not having air trapped inside.

For a round ball type handle it'd probably be OK but the T-handle adds a lot of leverage, much of it loaded near the outer end by the heel of the hand.

I strongly suggest drilling through the top of the handle, down an inch or so past the joint and gluing in a good strong dowel. The dowel could be hidden with a fancy plug or bit of simple inlay if you'd like to be fancy.

Skew, it’s going to be for recovery purposes for a hip replacement. So sort of functional. please have a look at the first round of pics as the threaded insert goes 30mm into the shaft and a left handed thread and course thread into the handle another 30mm which will be epoxy’d in for extra stability and strength.

Yeah, I missed that in the pix. Mistook it for marking out the centres.

One o' these days I may open my mouth and accomplish more than just swapping feet.

Phew, I thought I as going to have to redo, so you think that will be ok for strength?

An interesting thread and timely. I am looking at making African walking stick out of 100 year old iron bark. Its length will around 1200 to 1500mm so its more of a badge of office type/weapon, still figuring out the design and embellishments

Originally Posted by Fumbler

Phew, I thought I as going to have to redo, so you think that will be ok for strength?

So long as the thread goes into both the handle and cane far enough, then it should be fine for a handle.

Originally Posted by hughie

An interesting thread and timely. I am looking at making African walking stick out of 100 year old iron bark. Its length will around 1200 to 1500mm

100yo Ironbark AND 1.2 to 1.5m? Got a few steadies to hand have we? Or are you seeking penance?

Originally Posted by Fumbler

I’m surprised all you woodies haven’t pointed out my HUGE faux pas. The one with the wrong grain direction for the handle. There is a cross piece with the grain direction running across to stabilise but still wasn’t thinking that the grain is running north south instead of east/west.

I have now machined up a new piece to replace.

Never had much success with cross laminated handles myself. I find over time that the different shrinkage/movement leads to an uneven finish. These days I just use solid handles with the grain running across rather than up/down. I put a steel reo rod about 6" long into the handle/shaft joint.