Make
Your Own Walking Sticks
How to Craft Canes and Staffs from
Rustic to Fancy
by Charles Self
Softcover
215 x 280mm
141pp
Published by Linden Publishing Inc, Fresno CA USA
R.R.P.$29.90
ISBN 1-56523-320-1
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 134
Those who believe that there is nothing much involved in making a walking stick or cane have surely never tried to make one.
Firstly, while the walking stick and cane can both be described as a piece of wood long enough to be used as a support while walking, the range of designs is limitless. So is the range of finishes that can be used.
Make Your Own Walking Sticks is a very well presented book that deals with practically every aspect of making walking sticks. The very beginning of the book will be dealt with later.
Part 1, titled Getting Started, begins with the choice, storage and bending of wood and also contains comments on the appropriate size of sticks and canes. The timber species listed are principally of American or South American origin and are consequently of limited value to a reader in this region.
The rest of Part 1, some 38 or so pages, is devoted to adhesives, hardware, fasteners, tools, machines and finishes that may be employed. Again, there are references to products that are only available in the USA, but equivalents will be readily recognised from the descriptions given.
Part 2, which occupies a little more than half of the total book, is devoted to 15 graded projects. The first four are extremely simple Flat Walking sticks. These are followed by several sticks and canes which are made with the bark still attached; then there are a couple of Willow sticks.
At this point, the book switches from the specific to the generic with a dozen pages filled with line drawings that may be used as patterns for carved sticks, canes and staffs. Another two pages provide block drawings for handle shapes that have acquired names such as the Leg Crook, Brighton Crook and Prince of Wales Knob.
The larger of the final two sections deals with turned sticks and the smaller with laminated sticks.
The first few pages of the book, referred to earlier, contain photos of the Albert LeCoff Collection. LeCoff will be known to many readers of The Australian Woodworker as the founder of the Woodturning Centre in Philadelphia and therefore host to a number of Australians who have worked at that Centre, including our Associate Editor, George Hatfield.
The Walking Cane Collection was the result of a combined tribute to Albert LeCoff by many of the world's best known and finest craftsmen. The book offers a rare opportunity to see some of their exemplary work.
Photos: Colour
Units of Measurement: Imperial
Contents
Introduction: A Few Good Sticks
Gallery: Albert LeCoff's Rack of Canes
Part
1: Getting Started
Woods for Walking Sticks, Canes and Staffs
- Wood
species
- Purchasing wood
- Using found wood
- Harvesting roots
-
A Stick Maker's Guide to Hardwoods
- Storing wood
- Bending wood
- Sizing
walking sticks and canes
Adhesives, Hardware and Fasteners
- Adhesives
-
Clamps
- Mechanical fasteners
Tools for Walking Sticks, Canes and Staffs
-
Measuring tools
- Hand tools
- Power tools
- Eye, hearing and lung safety
Finishes
for Walking Sticks, Canes and Staffs
- The finishing process
Part
2: Walking Stick, Cane and Staff projects
Flat Walking Sticks
- Flat
Walking Stick in White Oak
- Flat Walking Stick in Sycamore
- Flat Walking
Stick in Sycamore with Hame Ball
- Flat Walking Stick in Mesquite
Bark-On
Sticks and Canes
- Pine Branch Cane
-
Maple Stick
- Sumac Stick
Willow Sticks
- Willow Stick with Natural Hoof
Handle
- Willow Stick with Ball Handle
Patterns for Carved Sticks, Canes
and Staffs
Turned Walking Sticks
- Cherry Walking Stick and Camera Stand
-
Two-Piece Cherry Cane
- Cherry and Rosewood-Handled Cane
- Sassafras and
Mesquite Two-Piece Cane
- Sassafras Cane with One-Piece Shaft
Laminated
Canes
- Laminated Cherry and Oak Cane
Index and Resources