[Woodcarver] cane segments

[Classic Carving Patterns]

Good Morning Butch,
 
Canes and walking sticks comes in several different versions.  
 
The most basic of walking sticks is created from one piece of wood.  A
folk art stick is made from a branch that has been harvested and dried
then the carving is done somewhere on the stick.  Often a one piece
stick will use some feature of the branch as the handle or holding area.
Sticks are usually harvested in the fall or winter as this is when the
sap levels in the wood are lowest.  Plus it is easier to visually see
the shape and line of the branch or small truck that you are choosing if
the leaves have fallen.  Around our area, here in the North East of the
US we look for young trees, about 4 to 5 years old, that have a nice
feature to them as a twist created by a honeysuckle vine or an unusual
bend in the middle.  Also we look for a tree that has a small bulbous
root end that can be used as the handle area.  The sticks are cut, hung
upside down under the roof overhang of the shed and allowed to dry ....
about one year per one inch of thickness.  Now this style of cane is
fantastic for wood spirit carvings, green men, bark carvings, and story
cane carvings.
 
Now, not everyone wants a folk art cane and not everyone is blessed to
be living next to a 600 acres old oak forest where they can harvest
sticks.  So you then go to pre-cut woods.  Oak, walnut, ash, and maple
make great canes because of the hardness and strength.  But they can be
a real pain to carve.  So you create cane segments of softer woods for
the carving areas and join these to the stronger hardwoods.  Also by
working the carved area in a small unit you have a little more control
over the carving work ... you don't have four more feet of wood hanging
off one end as you turn the piece to "under cut the little dude's nose".
 
The softer wood carving sections can be cane toppers, these are used as
the handle/holding areas. Cane toppers are fun because they allow for
angles and changing widths in the work.  You can make an L-shaped
carving where one leg of the L is for the hand and the other joins into
the vertical of the cane.  Example:  a hunting hounds head cane where
the dog's muzzle fits into the palm of the hand, his ears become the
thumb grip and his neck and collar area join the stick.
 
Cane segments can be sandwiched somewhere in the mid section of the cane
between two or more hardware pieces.  This technique is great because
you can not only change the width but you can used different colors of
wood for decoration.  This has always been my Michael's favorite version
of cane work.  Using an ash staff he makes me the cane segment, usually
about 6 to 8 inches long for carving.  Then when he joins that to the
main staff he uses rosewood and walnut spacers between 1/8" to 1/2"
thick above and below the carving.  So your eye goes from creamy ash to
rosewood to walnut to white basswood or silvery butternut and then
reversed back through the colors.
 
Friendship cane segments are for canes created in small units then
joined to create one work. Usually they are done as round robin carvings
where everyone is a group gets one unit to carve.  Each unit is the same
size and everyone gets to carve whatever they want on the piece. All of
the pieces are joined to create the full length of the staff.  These are
fantastic because each small carving is created by a different artist so
there is a lot of variety and memories behind each area of work.
 
Everyone that does cane work has their own technique for joining.  Mike
tends to create thicker shafts than most canes, more like wizard shafts
than walking sticks, so these dimensions may be off for other people's
works.  He starts with a 2" wide wood shaft that can be reduced to a
finished size ( with about 1 1/2" thickness at the widest point in the
staff) that is appropriate to the work.  My carving segments are up to 2
1/2" thick which allows me a little extra wood for whatever shape the
carving takes.  A central hole, 3/8", is drilled through the cane
segment (all the way through if possible) and about 2" to 3" deep into
the adjoining hardwood sections.  Make sure the holes are on vertical
true and at the center point for each piece for accurate alignment.
When the carving is completed he used solid all thread cut into
appropriate lengths and two part epoxy glue (the over night drying type
not the instant or one hour).  Some epoxy is put into the hole, a little
more on the thread all, some on the face of the wood, then the thread
all placed into the drilled hole.  Clean up any extra that oozes out
immediately.  
 
So for a small cane segment carving, say four inches high, a 2" hole is
drilled into the preceding and succeeding hardwood pieces and a central
hole is drilled all the way through the cane segment.  This way one 8"
piece of all thread can be used for joining.  Longer carved segments can
mean the thread all has to be  cut so that one piece is used to join the
top section of the segment and another for the bottom segment.
 
Once the entire cane has been sectioned together this way the cane is
braced for the next couple of days under tension for drying. Now since
we only do a very few canes a year we do not have a bracing jig for this
process.  So our technique involves a lot of strong tape for vertical
bracing, lots of bench dogs and clamps, and a lot of cussing to insure a
good tight tension and straight alignment! (Not recommended at all!)
Once dried the entire work can be dressed down so that you have a
gradual and graceful transition between the segments.  
 
For friendship canes the all thread is one complete length the height of
the finished cane.  So a four foot tall friendship cane has one four
foot tall piece of all thread running through the middle of the stick.
I have heard of gluing all the sections together and also where the
units are secured with hided locking nuts at the top and bottom. I am
not sure about gluing friendship canes ??? Someone will clarify this for
both of us. But I would tend to not glue or glue only enough to secure
the units from twisting as I would want to be able to save each
individual unit if something ever happened to the stick.
 
OK, Susan, your rambling again, so finish up .... grin ... Please
remember that a cane or walking stick is only as strong as it's weakest
area.  So an ash shafted stick is only as strong as the basswood segment
that you inserted.  When making cane segments we take into account how
strong our softest wood is and how strong our joints will be when
finished. Example: that hounds head handled cane is only as strong as
the 90 degree angle in the handle segment not matter how hard a shaft
wood we use.  You may need to reinforce areas with thread all, hidden
with dowel plugs, to make sure your cane can support the weight of the
user.
 

Susan

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-----Original Message-----
From: woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net
[mailto:woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net] On Behalf Of butch johnson
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 9:06 PM
To: [Woodcarver]
Subject: [Woodcarver] cane segments


What are cane segments? How do you join them together to make a cane if
they are all different? I have heard the term cane segments for a while
and hated to be dumb and ask, but here goes.
Thanks
Butch Johnson
http:216.106.57.170/~bjohnson/index.html
cmjohnson at i-55.com

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