[Irish]

Now there is one gorgeous grip, LightningBolt. I haven't done on grip using a full piece of leather ... may I try your idea, I love it!

The leather lacing wrap goes equally above and below the joint. If I have a long enough lace to do twelve wraps ... I try to get six wraps on the topper and six on the stick.

Now, telling a small secret on myself, I love hand tools. I hate power! The few power tools that I do go for are the scroll saw, ban saw, and belt sander. But the table saw, Mike has a Riobi, just is too big and too noisey for me. I know how to use it and do when the job calls for it ... but ... if I can sneak around that beast I do. In this case I knew the basswood topper block was not quite square but instead on throwing it back down on the table saw I trimmed it on the ban saw. I got the square but I also got a small wobble! And, yeh!, I do love my hand plane. It's a true antique, I think late 1900's, fit's the shape of my hand perfectly, and is a delight to us.

But, what can I say. I'm one of those weird carvers that loves to sharpen tools with a stone and strop ... no power sharpening for me.

Susan

(Off to EBay to see if I can bid on a scrap bag of leather ... great idea!)

[Irish]

OK ... I'm still fasinated with the idea of the solid suede wrap. And coming back to the forum to post this and again taking a moment ot "OH and AH" over Carvitie's Fern Man my mind is already designing a forest green suede wrap with a few cut out fern leaves on it for his stick ... that way Carvitiy would have the grip - have the ferns in his greenman emphasised - and let the wood above and below the joint show through the grip ... NOW YOU'VE DONE IT, LIGHTNIGNBOLT. I'm not only thinking carving for myself I'm thinking other people's stuff too!

What I carve as a Walking Stick or in this case a (t a l k i n g )Stick is mostly decorative. But we still want them as strong as possible. Because the toppers are usally tall, up to 12", we use solid steel all thread as the joining material. Even though I put the leather lace wrap at the joint the person using the stick may grip it much higher up on the topper. Where a person ends up holding a walking stick depends on where they are walking (the terain), the speed of their walk, and their height. So a person's grip will change and move over the surface of the topper.

A high grip causes a lot of leverage on a short dowel, whether metal or wood. If the dowel is only 3 - 5" long, evenly divided between the topper and the stick, then a high grip can place the hand well above the dowel area. So we try to get the dowel length fairly long ... 6 to 8" if possible. With an 8" dowel even if the topper is gripped high there is enough dowel material support to compensate the leverage and force.

The higher the grip point of the hand the greater the force on the joint. So a long dowel spreads that force over a longer area ... So in the image please image that the dowel goes down into the stick as far as it goes up inot the topper.

Susan

[Callynne]

Hey Lightningbolt, that is a cool wrap, ideas just keep on a coming!!

Susan, you answered my joining question perfectly and the stick you posted is great, you certainly are a talented lady!!

I too share your fondness for hand tools (I love what power can do but hate the noise, mess and 'fear factor'!) I am curious though, how do you do the holes in the stick and the topper, do you use a hand drill, drill press or what? It seems to me, knowing nothing about how to do it, that it would be tricky drilling that deep a hole into that small an area.

Bob, better make it a very detailed article, lots of pictures!! Obviously it will be a popular one!! Callynne

[BobD]

Callyanne,

Pictures have always told me more than words--I work in words and my biggest challenge is finding the words that can form a picture of what I'm talking about in a person's mind...but it's easier to just use photos!!!!

Bob

[Irish]

Callynne,

I use a hand drill and this delightful little jig that sets on top of the block. It has different sized holes, one for each of the common drill bit sizes, and has a leg that drops down the side of the block. When you place the jig on the block the jig's holes makes sure the drill goes in at a true right angle. Now, for the life of me, I know the thingy has a name but I just can't remember it at the moment ... must be a Senior Moment! I'm sure someone out there in WCI Forum Land knows what I am talking about and will give us both the proper name!

I like the holes just a touch larger then the dowel, whether metal or wood. If the dowel and the hole are a perfect fit when you put the dowel into place the hole will scrap away all of your glue! A lot of glue ends up on the surface areas of the joint but extremely little gets carried down into the holes. With a hand drill I can rock the drill just a bit as I do the hole creating space for the glue.

All thread has the nice advantage of the threads that also hold the glue. With a hardwood dowel, especially a smooth, rounded one, I use a pair of heavy toothed (teethed?) pliers and add some crimps up and down the dowel. These make spaces for the glue. Because the dowel has just been crimped, the moisture from the carpenters glue will make the dowel re-expand to it's original shape making everything tighter.

Susan

Susan

[Carvity_Carve]

Wow, nice to see my little thread has developed into a fascinating conversation! It shall be most helpful when I get around to making the green man a staff. Can't wait to start experimenting.

BobD if you do include a bit about all the fun with canes we're having here, be sure to mention that its all Squbrigg's fault!

Ooh, I like that leather fern idea! Though you might want to change that “his stick� to “her stick�, since I am quite female rather than male. Ah, the problem with voiceless words! Maybe I should start putting my name at the end of my posts.

I also prefer hand tools to power. It would seem like cheating to me, because when I started I wanted to learn to carve the “good old way�. Perhaps I just like sharp, pointy objects too much.

Oh, and nice cane there! You certainly have fun with hair.

Sabrina

[Irish]

Ok ?!? Which one is the little s m i l e y Face that portrays total and through embaressment ... the one with the neon pink cheeks and wide eyes looking down at the floor ... and the sort of 'I really blew that one frown' ?????

My apologizes, Lady Sabrina!

Susan

[Lightningbolt]

As the hilarious late actor Walter Matthau always said, "Holy Moley"!

I leave the forum for a measly 24 hours and look at all that I missed! All that I know to say is that forum members might actually get the article written here before the such slowwwwwwwww mass print media. There sure are a lot of talented folks here which is the only way that I can survive the two months between WCI print issues.

Thanks everyone for the comments on the leather grip but it's hardly an original idea... but if compliment you must, then I can surely use a few!

OK Susan, I now have a much clearer "picture" about how you do the leather wrap thing and inserting the threaded rod... I'd also like to try it your way as soon as I can get a topper going. I also have a partial bias in favor of using hand tools as much as possible. As a woodshop teacher we have all the big ole power tools imaginable but as my own personal classroom style I place a premium on teaching the kids how to discover the joys of using hand tools. I probably have one of the few woodshop programs around with a homemade shaving horse and that thing is used every single day of the year! I also require kids to master using a hand miter saw and a hand rabbet plane to make a box before they move on to the other power tools.

By the way I purchase 8 1/2" X 11" sheets of suede leather for about $6.00/ea. in the craft department at Wal-Mart but I imagine that I could get a better deal if I searched around for scrap bags from saddle shops, general stores, ebay, etc. If anyone knows where to get good deals on leather then I'm sure a lot of us would be interested.

As for your dowel rod tool I've always called it a "dowel rod jig". My dad bought one for me back in the '80's before the popular advent of plate joiners (also called biscuit joiners) in the '90's. What you described sounds exactly like mine, which now I'll have to go dig out of the stuff I haven't used in a while. Looks like I'm gonna need it again! The dowel jig used to be the method of choice for joining wood but for cabinetry the biscuit joiner is now a lot faster, strong holding, and just as accurate. Unfortunately, the biscuit joiner wouldn't be much help at making sticks 'n canes.

[squbrigg]

I love this board....LOL.....always something un-expected! Sabrina my dear, I was under the same illusion! I must shift my mental image from "a nice young man enjoying learning to carve" to "a nice young woman learning to carve"! LOL

I love the suede grip idea, I wonder if it will work on a horizontal grip? I must pick up a piece and give it a try? Might be comfortable too, on the hand. Of course leather and suede can also be burned too! More interesting!!!

I seem to have stirred up the creativity pot with my dragon's head cane.....great! I love it when something can inspire! It is quite comfortable by the way.

Bob

[Callynne]

Ughhh, sorry Sabrina, I was thinking male also. Now doesn't that just say something though, about this woodcarver 'calling', that unless it's an obvious 'feminine' name, we automatically think of men?!! Hmmmmm, wonder why that is?!!

Susan, thank you for explaining how you do the holes. I like the idea of doing it that way so much more than with power tools....I can just see not keeping it going in straight and coming out the side into my hand!

Lightningbolt, thank you for putting a name to the device! It's so much easier to ask hubby about a specific thing than trying to describe what I want, he gets just a tiny bit frustrated with me when I try to do that! Callynne