# Here's a couple of mine.



## JD79

The first one is the cane I made for my gramps. This pic is of the "not quite finished" stage. I'll make sure to snap a new pic of the finshed cane when I go visit in about a week. The second is my walking around stick. I threw a close up of the elk antler handle in. I made the stick in my avatar also. It is Alder I think, with the root for the handle.


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## Rad

Nice! Thanks for sharing.


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## Sean

Welcome to the forum JD, those look really cool! I'm sure your Grandpa is going to be absolutely thrilled when

he receives it.

So whats your technique inserting the antler into the wood shaft of your sticks if you don't mind me asking?


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## JD79

Glad y'all enjoy them. I use the metal rod and epoxy method for my canes. I plan on doing that for my wife's hiking stick too.


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## Rad

Sean said:


> So whats your technique inserting the antler into the wood shaft of your sticks if you don't mind me asking?


Thanks for asking Sean, I was wondering the same thing!


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## JD79

On the first picture you can see the epoxy oozing out around the driftwood ring.


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## Markus

Hello JD, your sticks look great. Were you able to find your antlers as sheds?


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## JD79

My dad shot the elk that the antlers came from. I'm running a little low now though. I'm going to keep my eye open for sheds and maybe buy some off the net if I can't find family or friends with some laying around.


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## Paul2281

Wow brother...Thats a cool idea to use the antler as the handle...And if anyone gives you any crap you could spike them in the head with the handle end,lol...Love the looks,wtg....


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## JD79

Thanks again everyone. I went out looking for some new stock and found this great chunk of oak. It was part of a huge branch that had fallen of a very old tree. The section I took was off the ground so I'm hoping there isn't any serious rot going on. Pictures will be up soon.


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## JD79

Ok, here are the pics. Sorry about the quality, my phone was being wonky. The third picture is of a piece I snagged off a downed tree that is still alive for some reason. I grabbed some nice straight sticks off that too. They should make good cane shafts at some point.


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## Paul2281

Wow,that 1st one should come out with quite a cool looking handle if it stays together....Looks like it`s got some age to it....

WTG on the finds....


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## JD79

It feels pretty solid, but who knows how long it was off the tree. The only time I've ever dealt with oak in the past was making cabinets out of the stuff. This should be a pretty cool adventure.


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## Paul2281

JD79 said:


> It feels pretty solid, but who knows how long it was off the tree. The only time I've ever dealt with oak in the past was making cabinets out of the stuff. This should be a pretty cool adventure.


Ya it might have some pretty cool colors under the bark from laying on the ground....Good luck...


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## JD79

I've started peeling the bark off. This thing had a pretty good larvae infestation (maybe termites?) It seems to just be on the surface, but they made a bunch of cool little channels and paths in the wood. The color is pretty dark, looks like it had a little mold on there. I'll post a pick when I get it ruffed out.


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## Paul2281

JD79 said:


> I've started peeling the bark off. This thing had a pretty good larvae infestation (maybe termites?) It seems to just be on the surface, but they made a bunch of cool little channels and paths in the wood. The color is pretty dark, looks like it had a little mold on there. I'll post a pick when I get it ruffed out.


Oh man,thats too cool...If they got in there and laid down some good patterns that will look cool..

Here`s a pic. of one I found and the patterns were right on the handle part....cool...


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## JD79

Well, I got it sawed down and started working on getting the trails cleaned out. Some of them are pretty deep. Might have to go buy another wire wheel and battery for my Dremel.


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## Paul2281

JD79 said:


> Well, I got it sawed down and started working on getting the trails cleaned out. Some of them are pretty deep. Might have to go buy another wire wheel and battery for my Dremel.


OMG that looks cool...Buy the time you sand it down to size it will look killer....Love it dude....Hopefully no cracking,"knock on wood",lol....


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## JD79

It shouldn't crack. The wood is pretty dry. The only issue I'm having right now is that it is oak and I don't have all the cool tools I had when I made my canes. The tools I do have right now are a fixed blade survival knife, hatchet, folding saw and a dremel with a bunch of attachments. The dremel is nice for little stuff, but I'm going to need some big guns to get this oak shaped. I'll have to snag some rasps and stuff when I go visit my family this weekend.


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## Paul2281

JD79 said:


> It shouldn't crack. The wood is pretty dry. The only issue I'm having right now is that it is oak and I don't have all the cool tools I had when I made my canes. The tools I do have right now are a fixed blade survival knife, hatchet, folding saw and a dremel with a bunch of attachments. The dremel is nice for little stuff, but I'm going to need some big guns to get this oak shaped. I'll have to snag some rasps and stuff when I go visit my family this weekend.


Dammit man,no hand tools,yikes,lol....The ONLY power tool I use is my bench grinder that has a place for some sand paper and that how I get shape,the rest is by hand with 80 grit sand paper and elbow grease....


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## JD79

I mostly use sand paper when getting the final shape. I had a whole wood shop at my disposal before with table saws, drill press, band saw, bench grinders and all the old school hand tools you could dream of. The wood shop was my great grandpa's. I'm hoping my gramps let's me take them soon as I am the only person who uses them. Sure would look good in my garage.


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## JD79

Alright, got the picture of the cane I made for my grandpa. Hope y'all like it, he sure does.


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## Paul2281

Wow,that came out great man....Good job...


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## gdenby

All some nice work there. Good luck w. the oak, considering how few tools you have just now. Can't imagine grandpa not parting w. a few tools.

Maybe try rapping the oak before you go too far. I also take most of my woods from downed trees and branches. Too often, I find really bad rot or bug damage. The worst failure was when I dropped an almost finished stick on a concrete floor. Snapped in half, revealing a mess of worm holes at the center. I bang each new stick now at the start, hoping to find any flaws. Doesn't always work, but at least I have a couple of pieces laying around to test for staining, etc.


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## Paul2281

gdenby said:


> All some nice work there. Good luck w. the oak, considering how few tools you have just now. Can't imagine grandpa not parting w. a few tools.
> 
> Maybe try rapping the oak before you go too far. I also take most of my woods from downed trees and branches. Too often, I find really bad rot or bug damage. The worst failure was when I dropped an almost finished stick on a concrete floor. Snapped in half, revealing a mess of worm holes at the center. I bang each new stick now at the start, hoping to find any flaws. Doesn't always work, but at least I have a couple of pieces laying around to test for staining, etc.


Great advise on the internal parasites with some good sticks found...I`ve run into the same deal sometimes...Almost got done with one and looked at it close and kept finding new holes cropping up...Damn stick had some kind of bugs still in it...Corrupted the integrity of the stick too much for my liken...


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## JD79

Thanks for the advise. I cut the oak stick down so it is hand held club size now. I've been smacking it on concrete and keep finding larvae in there. It might be a lost cause but I'll let it sit for awhile. I need to get my wife's walking stick sanded down. Dipping the ends in wax really worked well for it. No checking and it has been in our guest room since I cut it.


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## gdenby

If you really want to keep the oak piece, here's a suggestion.

I used to work at an art museum. Once in every great while, wood that had been carved decades earlier would show activity. Little tiny piles of sawdust on the floor. The museum was not big enough to have a conservation studio. For less important items, such as carved wood frames, we would seal them in large plastic bags after spraying them w. insecticide. I'm uncertain what we used, might just have been Raid. The bagged items then went into a store room for 6 - 9 months.

I suppose fumigating found woods might be a good idea in general. Might also be a good reason to dunk woods in stabilizer, so the pests don't have any water or air.


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## JD79

Great idea. I might have to try that out.


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