Cane repair

[YD Forums]

A friend, who collects canes and walking sticks, had to a cut a newly acquired walking stick in order to get it into his luggage. Now he's asking me how best to join the two pieces back back together.

I've not yet seen the stick, but I'm guessing it's irregular in cross section, as he prefers those with interesting shapes.

My first thought is to drill oversize holes in the ends to be joined, fill them with epoxy, and then use a smaller diameter dowel, using the slop to adjust.

My second thought is to join from the outside by cutting some grooves around the circumference and filling them with splines of some sort, then carving or sanding them down to more-or-less match the contour.

I don't believe he has a drill press, and neither do I, though I doubt it would be much help here.

I don't consider either of these to be particularly elegant solutions.

Any better ideas?

Thanks.

 

[SimonStevensCanes]

Oooh, a topic I could actually be considered somewhat of an expert on

Short version, it's going to be a little tricky no matter what tools are available.

My tool of choice for cutting shaft/handle mortices (I pin with brass rod) is a lathe with long hole boring jig. But this is before the wood is cut to shape, meaning the accuracy doesn't matter as the mortice becomes the reference point afterwards. Attempting to do this once the wood is in it's finished shape is going to be damn near impossible (if you figure out how, please share!) as even the slightest inaccuracy will be very obvious.

Not having a lathe, I would resort to the method I employed when I first started, which is roughly what you describe. I cut a 10mm mortice freehand with a power drill, using a couple of laser levels to get it as plumb as possible. I then used 8mm brass rod and plenty of epoxy to gap fill. Adjust sizes to suit ofc.

No matter what you do, you're not going to be able to line it up perfectly, and you're just going to have to make your peace with that. If the design of the cane lends itself, then you can blend the transition to be invisible, but if it's just a straight shaft then you can just do your best. One thing to consider might be adding something to make the transition look intentional. Copper, brass, contrasting woods all make good transitions. You could even consider making an additional cut and join to make it more convincing, although that would be a bold choice .

I'd love to see photos of what you're working with, and how you solve this.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I like the brass ring idea!

 

[Inspector]

Ask him if he would consider take down hardware. If he went on an another airplane he wouldn't have to saw it apart again.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/272...ts&ref=sr_gallery-1-10&organic_search_click=1
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/hardware/fasteners/connectors/41005-brass-cane-joins
Pete

 

[williams1185]

how about using the screw together fittings for a pool cue that way he can take it apart again if he ever needed to

 

[williams1185]

oops same idea as inspector

 

[Richard_C]

Wholly irrelevant to the question or solution, but whenever I hear "cane" in this context I think of Joni Mitchell song Carey, on the album Blue.

Carey get out your cane
And I'll put on some silver
Oh you're a mean old daddy
But I like you fine.

We'll go down to the Mermaid cafe
And I will buy you a bottle of wine...

No Carey, no Mermaid cafe, but its Friday and I do have the bottle of wine. Off to the vinyl record shelf. Happy cane-fixing.

 

[YD Forums]

Very gratifying that someone with way more experience than I came up with a similar solution.

I have not seen this stick, so I have no idea how irregular the cross-section is.

I saw a link to this very interesting video on woodworkingforums.com, and it might be applicable here. Anyway, a clever method for any doweled joints. I'm also very impressed with this guy's freehand drilling. I'm sure mine wouldn't come out as well.

Oooh, a topic I could actually be considered somewhat of an expert on

Short version, it's going to be a little tricky no matter what tools are available.

My tool of choice for cutting shaft/handle mortices (I pin with brass rod) is a lathe with long hole boring jig. But this is before the wood is cut to shape, meaning the accuracy doesn't matter as the mortice becomes the reference point afterwards. Attempting to do this once the wood is in it's finished shape is going to be damn near impossible (if you figure out how, please share!) as even the slightest inaccuracy will be very obvious.

Not having a lathe, I would resort to the method I employed when I first started, which is roughly what you describe. I cut a 10mm mortice freehand with a power drill, using a couple of laser levels to get it as plumb as possible. I then used 8mm brass rod and plenty of epoxy to gap fill. Adjust sizes to suit ofc.

No matter what you do, you're not going to be able to line it up perfectly, and you're just going to have to make your peace with that. If the design of the cane lends itself, then you can blend the transition to be invisible, but if it's just a straight shaft then you can just do your best. One thing to consider might be adding something to make the transition look intentional. Copper, brass, contrasting woods all make good transitions. You could even consider making an additional cut and join to make it more convincing, although that would be a bold choice .

I'd love to see photos of what you're working with, and how you solve this.

 

[YD Forums]

I also particularly like this Joni Mitchell song, and it's certainly more upbeat than Citizen Kane.

Wholly irrelevant to the question or solution, but whenever I hear "cane" in this context I think of Joni Mitchell song Carey, on the album Blue.

Carey get out your cane
And I'll put on some silver
Oh you're a mean old daddy
But I like you fine.

We'll go down to the Mermaid cafe
And I will buy you a bottle of wine...

No Carey, no Mermaid cafe, but its Friday and I do have the bottle of wine. Off to the vinyl record shelf. Happy cane-fixing.

 

[xy mosian]

On aligning the two parts.
If the cane is made of part of a stem from a plant or bush. Then surely the pith could be used as a centre for alignment.
geoff

 

[recipio]

Saw one on Antiques Roadshow recently where a hardwood stick had been cut in two to fit into a trunk. It devalued the item by a few hundred ! Those cane joints from Lee Valley look like his best bet. I made a jig for the lathe to drill holes in the ends of dowels and it works a treat. Doing it freehand will probably lead to tears.

 

[YD Forums]

On aligning the two parts.
If the cane is made of part of a stem from a plant or bush. Then surely the pith could be used as a centre for alignment.
geoff

Hi Geoff. I thought of that as well. As I've not seen this cane, I have no idea if that's the case.

 

[YD Forums]

Finally got a picture from my friend of the repaired cane.

As suggested, he drilled both pieces, inserted and epoxied a threaded rod, and then "decorated" by winding a leather thong. Not too bad looking. anyway, I think that the cobra head will draw most of the attention.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.