# Building a Walking Cane



## Lewey

Hey folks!. I just completed my latest build and I documented the process. I've got the whole process on my website blog. Here is a link. Feedback is welcome.

http://lewca.com/1/post/2013/01/building-a-walking-cane.html


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## M_J

That's a beauty!


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## Sean

Fantastic, and thanks for the tutorial. I've always wondered how you went about it.


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## NightKnight

Looks amazing! The tutorial taught me a lot too!


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## CAS14

Wow! Pretty sure I will never achieve such ability.


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## Shawn C

Awesome, Bill! Love the tutorial, and clever ideas on doing the inlay. Do you ever install ferrels at the bottom, or do you keep it open for cutting to length options?


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## Lewey

Shawn, I have not installed ferrules at the bottom. I like the way they look though. Mostly leave them long so they can be cut to length. Thanks


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## CAS14

Question from a novice:

Humor me, as this may sound wierd. A gun show visits Tulsa this weekend. If I am able to pick up a few large caliber brass casings without primers, might these work as ferrules? Perhaps you have seen those "swagger sticks" with a .50 cal. brass casing as the handle and usually a .30 cal. or 7.62 mm lead round on the other end of the stick? 

I have even looked for a 40 mm casing from those old M-79 grenade launchers, my favorite weapon and target marker. Now that would make me happy at the top of a walking stick.

So, these are pretty rough-hewn sticks, I have no lathe. I'd have to be able to sand a precisely circular area of the correct diameter at the end of the stick in order to slip a casing over the epoxy coated stick. Perhaps a hole cutter for your door knob, but the diameter surely wouldn't be right as 40 mm = 1.57 inches and a .30 cal is much smaller. Can you think of a tool for me to prepare a stick end for a brass shell casing?

Thanks!


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## Shawn C

Personally, I would rasp, file and then sand it to shape, but something like this may work:

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2061600/22016/lumberjack-tools-industrial-tenon-cutters-60-degree-2.


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## CAS14

Thanks Shawn. You're 100 times the woodworker I am, so I will go with the rasps, files, and sandpaper, persuant to the KISS principle.

Gun show this weekend. If I can find a parking place, I will be looking for brass.


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## Lewey

Another option might be to use files/rasps to get it generally round and slightly undersized but if you have some sloppy fit, then coat the end in a good epoxy. Slip the casing on and let it set up. You can easily sand off any excess that squeezes out.

Bill


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## Shawn C

Bill's right; I forgot to mention the epoxy. That is actually what I typically do. I sometimes use copper conversion fittings.


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