Defensive walking stick DIY

[OrenG]

I thought I'd start another discussion to keep the cold steel walking stick thread on track, this one is about my defensive walking stick I'm building.

I made a huge mistake and cut it too short, so I cut off an extra length and glued it on, however I've tested it and it will not hold, because I stupidly make a parallel cut instead of an angled cut.

I'm thinking of getting some steel tubing with an inside diameter the same as the outside diameter of the stick, and epoxy-ing the inside of the tube and fixing it to the stick to hold the two pieces together.

I've also rubberized one side to make a grip. I'm thinking of going to the dollar store and picking up some bulk wire to coil very tightly around the stick adding reinforcement and a harder surface.

 

[Steel Talon]

What is your stick material?

You can just start over since it now has a weak spot, or drill into both ends deeply find metal round stock to fit snugely. Cut boh ends of break into an "angle cut" check fit. Epoxy in the rod and mate the ends

 

[OrenG]

What is your stick material?

You can just start over since it now has a weak spot, or drill into both ends deeply find metal round stock to fit snugely. Cut boh ends of break into an "angle cut" check fit. Epoxy in the rod and mate the ends

I was just thinking about starting over, but I decided to just use the length I had cut originally and I just finished making an appropriate rubber handle for it.

I'm still debating either directly painting it or staining it for a more sophisticated look.

 

[Steel Talon]

I say stain it wont chip away.
ST~

 

[OrenG]

Well I didn't have any stain on hand so I painted it navy blue. I just finished the most daunting task of this project which was wrapping wire around the stick up to the top. I managed to do it with quite a bit of ease, as I knew the wire would become like a spring after so many wraps, that it would want to spring out and uncoil. So to prevent that I used a bit of super glue and drew a small line of it over the completed wraps as I went.

After I had finished the stick weighs probably 3-4 times more. Having wrapped it around the stick in an unbroken coil it's basically like I wrapped it in a sheet of steel.

I'm now struggling to spray paint over the wire because unfortunately I didn't count on the wire being oiled so the paint does not want to adhere.

Does anyone have any advice on how to make the paint stick?

 

[Cougar Allen]

Um ... degrease the wire.

There's a product called Imperial Cleanwoode -- it's a mixture of solvents not including water, so you can use it to clean wood of oil and grease before finishing it. There are probably other brands that are just as good; that just happens to be the brand I've used.... Go to your local paint or hardware store.