what type of wood?

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ESwindell

ESwindell

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2008
Messages
195
Location
Northwood, NH, USA.
Hi all, I am looking for some thoughts on what type of wood I could use to make myself a cane. I am disabled and use the cane for support so the wood would need to be able to support my using it constantly. I would really love to use so exotic woods or burl but unsure how they would hold up to constant weight being put on them. I weigh about 220lbs. I checked on the net and only found sites that used exotics as accents. I was thinking of using the cane kit sold by CSUSA. Any and all thoughts appreciated. Thank you for your time in reading this.
God Bless,
Eric
 
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eric I make canes from nature. branchs etc. and have thought about turning one. Iwould use a long grain wood (tulip,zebra.olive) rather then a burl. burls have no side strength.buy the brass handle thingy also it works great fritz64
 
A friend of mine made one from cocobolo and where it swirled, it also broke in two (when stepped upon). I don't know where he got the coco, but he got the replacement piece from me, free of knots and large swirls. I agree about the lignum vitae, though I'm going to make one for myself some day (I am pretty well able to handle it for short jaunts). Tulipwood, or kingwood would work well. I've sold curly mahogany, curly maple, cocobolo and redheart cane blanks and haven't heard of any breakage in them.

My cane is hand carved (not by me) from what looks like East Indian Rosewood, with sapwood. It held me up, when I weighed 415 pounds and is all wood. It's light enough for the average person too. BTW, it's in the shape of a rippling cobra and I love it.

If you do use bubinga, make sure it isn't highly figured. Waterfall bubinga may be gorgeous, but it would make a weak cane. Otherwise, it sounds like a good choice.

PM sent.
Rob
 
Go online and look up Diamond Willow canes. There several people who cut and drys the cane blanks. They are not expensive and are a really unique eyecatcher. They are strong, light weight and easy to work. The diamonds show up dark red against the white willow and polish out really pretty.

Try this guy http://www.DiamondWillowSticks.com/
 
If you really want to make a cane out of burl, you just have to use an aluminum rod or tub through the center for strength. It would mean making a segmented cane, but it would be burl and it would be original.
 
Originally posted by Jarheaded

If you really want to make a cane out of burl, you just have to use an aluminum rod or tub through the center for strength. It would mean making a segmented cane, but it would be burl and it would be original.
Click to expand...

I would use this method and pick some nice blanks to segment in, it would be really cool looking, and the steel/aluminum would be the actual support. You could pick several different colored burls, or several segments from one type.
 
My father and I make walking "sticks" out of sapplings and branches. The cane will be much much stronger if you don't cut through any of the growth rings. I dig around the base of the sappling to get at the roots. Most of the time, the roots make some very interesting handles. I usually strip the bark while it is green (exponentially easier than when it is dry!!!) then sand, stain and poly it after it dries. Leaving the bark on also looks pretty cool. I have a couple of canes that I made from sapplings that had vines wrapped around them.
 
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