Texas Cane

[Mike Pounders]

Here is a cane I just finished as a commision piece for a guy down in Texas. Basswood with antler handle and a lacewood butt-cap. I used knife and gouges to relief carve the floral and leaf pattern (based on leatherwork patterns) on about 24 inches of the 38 inch cane. I used a cone sander to give it a flowing look and smooth the background. Finish is polyurethane with a coat of Briwax applied to make the carvings show up a bit more.
IMG_2563.jpg
IMG_2562.jpg

IMG_2564.jpg

[Dan Carroll]

Very nice work.

[Pat Zabinski]

Excellent. How do you attach the handle?

[randall rosenthal]

really nice work...thats a good question....how is it put together?

[Steve Beadle]

Quite nice work, Mike. I have made a few canes myself, but I haven't the tools or know-how for adding the carvings, which I admire very much.
My guess is you have tenoned the shaft into the handle--right?
Steve

[Mike Pounders]

I drill a hole in the antler and epoxy in a threaded rod to hold the handle at the angle I want. I use a bal-shaped burr to dish it out at the bottom of the hole, making it more difficult to pull loose. I use a long saber tooth sanding sleeve to cut the groove in the shaft and get a really close fit with the curve on the bottom of the antler. Not just perfect, because i want some room for epoxy. The threaded rod goes about 7/8' into the antler and about 4
" into the shaft. I use 5/16" rod. When I epoxy the handle and rod to the shaft, I overfill it a bit to get some squeeze out. I let that harden a bit and add and shape additional drips to mimic the bumps and shapes at the end of the antler. After it drys, I sand and paint the epoxy to make it look like part of the antler.