Walking cane

[Donny Lawson]

Has anyone turned a walking cane? Any pics out there? I'm trying to work on one now and I will post some pics of it when completed.
Donny

[Richard Allen]

I have turned a few walking canes for older loved ones. They are three piece canes with tapered joints and trim pieces at the joints. The top piece is turned on two axis with the handle hollowed out to save some weight. Most of the handle is carved.

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[Sid Matheny]

I turned this one a few months ago. It is cherry and walnut. The hardware came from Craft Supply.

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af350/Sidro59/Cain1.jpg

Sid

[Donny Lawson]

Those look good. What is a good length for a cane? I was thinking about 40". One more question, When making a 3 piece cane would dowels be better to join them together or would a mortise & tenon be better?

[Michelle Rich]

Hi Donny..I have poseted canes here...if you are talking about a cane, 40" is VERY long, unless you are 6'8" The average is around 32-36 for most folks ..as for putting it together in sections, dowels ok, but check out Craft Supplies. They have metal joins for sections.they are threaded so you can break down the cane for travel, or putting in a suitcase or such.

[John Keeton]

Donny, I have never turned a cane, but given the likely prospect that someone may be bearing weight on it to avoid a fall, I would use riven wood.

[Russell Eaton]

Donny if you are ever at the local Rockler store they stock the metal parts for the canes as well.

[Brian Weaver]

I turned this one a couple of years ago.

211945

[Robert McGowen]

I have turned 3 canes. The first one I used the joints from Craft Supply and made a 3 piece cane. It broke at one of the joints. Sure, the guy using it was 300+ lbs., but it still broke. The amount of wood surrounding the insert is not that much and after seeing them, I personally would not use them again. As "Lawyer" John alluded to above, there is a certain amount of risk involved in making sure the cane does not fail. The second and third cane I made from a single piece of straight grained jatoba and they turned out nice. It was kind of weird making the last cane, as it was for me. I was having a total knee replacement, so I made my own cane knowing that a week later I was not going to be walking too well for quite a while!

[Richard Allen]

Those look good. What is a good length for a cane? I was thinking about 40". One more question, When making a 3 piece cane would dowels be better to join them together or would a mortise & tenon be better?
This is my limited experience. Other folks may have different experience.

I have used the metal connectors, dowels, mortise & tenon and tapered mortise & tenon.

Metal connectors - I have found these to create a break point and creating a straight line is problematic. I no longer use these. If I were to use them again I would add ferules to each side of the joint.

Dowels - I have problems line up the cane into a straight line. The dowel can be made of any material but the joint between the upper and lower add a LOT to the strength of the joint. Just like a shoulder on a tenon to fit in a chuck. The effort is a bit fussy to get everything lined up and fitting perfect.

Mortise & Tenon - this is a good choice as it is strong and fairly easy to make. The one weakness is that the tenon base makes a break point.

Mortise & Tenon Tapered - I like this joint for a cane. It has the strength of mortise & tenon while eliminating the break point. The taper is a bit fussy but used with epoxy and filler a tight fit is eliminated. I also like to use a trim piece at the joint to help with the fit and to add visual interest.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I made one a couple of years ago for my uncle. Made it in one piece from ash. He is 240+ and has served him well.

[Donny Lawson]

I was wanting to use Dogwood. Since we get alot of it at work I thought it would be a good hardwood.