Walking Sticks & Canes.

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Greetings All:
Hey HJ, funny how life is. Later in the day that you mentioned my sticks i was at Walmart pondering just which ketchup i wanted. Started to turn and felt/heard two pops in my knee. Forgot about the ketchup. Lol
Guess it’s time to get some stick fit pics. Ha
Think i’ll start with my first.
Be weller. Bowen

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Wish I had this kind of talent.

 

[MikeBravo]

Here's a pic of my current walking stick and shooting stick collections.

 

[MikeBravo]

Walking stick as a weapon? An excerpt from Wikipedia re the Battle of Crete during WW2:

Cretan civilians joined the battle with whatever weapons were at hand. Most civilians went into action armed only with what they could gather from their kitchens or barns and several German parachutists were knifed or clubbed to death in olive groves. In one recorded incident, an elderly Cretan man clubbed a parachutist to death with his walking cane, before the German could disentangle himself from his parachute.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Wish I had this kind of talent.

Geez....it seems to have taken the wood carver about a year to make that one cane....I was almost wondering if the film of this would end with his being a few years older! However the talent and time involved is amazing.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I'm always looking for old cane & umbrella handles made from root, antler, bone/ivory, celluloid/Bakelite, or metals for sticks & canes if anyone has anything. Victorian era thru the 1940's or so. Not interested in repo handles. Working on a nice black Victorian cane now & need something. Also need straight pieces of antler 4" - 6" long X 1/2" - 3/4" dia.

 

[Bamaboots]

Also need straight pieces of antler 4" - 6" long X 1/2" - 3/4" dia.

Good looking pieces, HJ. Have you tried Petco or Pet Depot for antler?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Good looking pieces, HJ. Have you tried Petco or Pet Depot for antler?

They usually only have broken tines for dog chews. I have a box of broken tines myself but I've been collecting pcs to carve a chess set. I'm a few pcs short from having enough.

 

[bighatsmallpond]

I'm thinking about getting one of those Irish Blackthorn walking sticks next.

My Irish Blackthorn walking stick by them saved my life or almost got me killed depending on how you want to look at it. But it was effective. I was in a nice hotel in troy and I invited my cousin over who brought me to Detroit proper, im still wearin a 3 piece suit carrying a cane, we get checked in his neighborhood for being white boys and they almost ignored the cane so I reached for my wallet, but grabbed the cane and swung it than got the guy in front of me with a straight shot to the teeth. At which point I heard a gun cock and shit got real as there was a guy behind me I did not have time to get to...luckily he seemed to find it more funny his friends got hit by a white boy with a stick than pissed (good day?) and robbed me and sent me on my way, didn't even take the cane, like it was invisible. But things to note the blackthorn cane is propylene plastic (sp) or something like that not a real blackthorn.

 

[busmatt]

Ever since I saw Poirot carry his Swan cane I’ve wanted one

Now, thanks to a broken antique walking stick, a handle from eBay, 15 minutes of my time and some glue, I have one

It’s not perfect but it’s got that nicely aged look.

I’ve got another handle coming as a friend of mine has recently taken up wood turning after the sad passing of his wife and he’s offered to make me a stick, he’s warned me that it’s his first attempt and might not be the best stick in the world but I’m not too bothered as it’s helping him come to terms with his loss.

Matt


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[Hurricane Jack]

Ever since I saw Poirot carry his Swan cane I’ve wanted one

Now, thanks to a broken antique walking stick, a handle from eBay, 15 minutes of my time and some glue, I have one

It’s not perfect but it’s got that nicely aged look.

I’ve got another handle coming as a friend of mine has recently taken up wood turning after the sad passing of his wife and he’s offered to make me a stick, he’s warned me that it’s his first attempt and might not be the best stick in the world but I’m not too bothered as it’s helping him come to terms with his loss.

Matt


Brought to you by HYPNOTOAD

Be sure & post what he makes for you.

 

[busmatt]

Be sure & post what he makes for you.

I will, in fact I can’t wait [emoji106]

Matt


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[Hurricane Jack]

Sea serpent.

 

[busmatt]

Be sure & post what he makes for you.

Here it is

He had to make it in three sections and join it but I like it and it’s helping him in his mourning period.

Matt


Brought to you by HYPNOTOAD

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Here it is

He had to make it in three sections and join it but I like it and it’s helping him in his mourning period.

Matt


Brought to you by HYPNOTOAD

Good job for his first stick. I like partially peeled bark & knots on sticks. I especially like wormwood & vinewood sticks. You never know what you will find under the bark until you peel it. It's hard to find.

I also like Diamond Willow. I have a couple of blanks dried now. You peel the bark & sand the knots to bring out the diamonds. From something like this:

To something like this when finished:

 

[Hurricane Jack]

As told to me by my grandfather when I was growing up, late in her life my great-great-grandmother was blind from cataracts, widowed & lived alone. All of her children lived nearby including my great-grandfather. From one of the columns supporting the roof over the back porch he ran 3 lines of stiff clothesline wire from a single eyebolt. The left line ran to the outhouse; the center line ran to the clothesline where she hung her laundry to dry. And the right line ran out to the beehives she always kept for honey. She would step out on the porch, reach up for the line to where she wanted to go & hook the neck of her cane over that line & follow it out & back. She died in 1908.

I have the old cane my grandfather used late in his life. I have no way to know if it could be the same one she used, but I highly doubt it. It has been painted at some point & while some of the paint has worn off I see no signs of wear around the neck from sliding along a wire. Wish I had her cane too.

 

[Bamaboots]

I have the old cane my grandfather used late in his life.

Great story and thanks for sharing it, HJ. Glad you have that cane.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I tried to take some 3-D like pics to show the ribbon work & the like that can be done with a gnarled piece of wood with plenty of knots.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I'll post up another. Canes were made tapered up until ~1930 which coincides closely with the beginning of the Bakelite & Catalin era. This is a straight Ash cane with a Catalin handle & nickel silver collar. Butterscotch colored Catalin tends to turn a nice green color over time from the oils of the hand, creating some nice effects.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Greetings All:
Have had canes my whole life. These are them. Some carved 50+ years ago, some by me, some by my daughter, some by others. Think there’s one fraud in there.
Every day i get closer to using them so guess i ought to show them.
Be well. Bowen