From Hatchet to Walking Cane -- photo essay

[smith357]

My latest project, I saw one of Beaver Bill's Bear Claw canes in real life and had to have one, but sadly it's way out of my budget.

So on a budget of $20 I'm re-purposing an old $5 hatchet to make my own Bear Claw Cane.

I went to the big box store to look at the shovel handles, they were just a tad small in diameter so I picked up a post hole digger handle. I had to rummage through a bunch of them to find one with good straight grain. It's made of ash not hickory but it should work just fine. After cutting off the attachment holes I still had 4 extra inches for a fudge factor. I used a plane to do the shaping the shaft More than half the weight of the wood wound up on the floor. So far $5 for the hatchet and $10 for the handle and I'm still $5 under budget.

I fitted the head to the staff before finishing it so as not to mar the polished head with tool marks from the fitting. I then gave the staff a quick burn, stain, and wax and set it aside until the head was polished and ready.

I finished the head with a lot of filing, emery cloth, wet sanding down to 400 grit and then buffing with a heavy cutting compound. I went with a cold blue finish, it's not perfect, but it's close enough for me.

I hung the head, cut off about 3" from the foot and added the rubber shoe. It's now ready for the street and it came in under budget.

 

[rjdankert]

Nice looking cane :thumbup:

 

[stabman]

I like that a lot.
As I now need to use a cane, I may just do the same thing at some point.

 

[joejeweler]

Very nice job!

As I've grown older these types of emergency defense devises seem more appropriate, and will not raise the scrutiny of LEO's like carrying around an AXE might.

I thought of doing one similar shaped to yours, but with less pronounced point for the above reason, and overall looks less "weaponry-like".

Attention to detail gets my Kudo's,......nicely done. :thumbup:

Also related,... Cane Fu!

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/cuomo-cane-fu-seniors-martial-arts-self-defense-2020-17166420

.....and a full training course if you have the inclination:

http://www.canemasters.com/index.php?main_page=index&zenid=e2f43a478977c28693fa548e9bc2db28

 

[bobs1415]

Amazing work. Thanks for posting that.

 

[lmalterna]

That is some serious sweat equity!! Very nicely done.

Bill

 

[Scottman]

I wonder how what Law enforcement would think about this sweet work?!!!

 

[300Six]

You sir are an artist! Artfully and thoughtfully planned out, and masterfully done.
Notice that no one has slighted you for desecrating an otherwise 'top drawer' vintage American hatchet?
That's rare on here; even grinding off mushroomed polls or suggesting innocent modifications tends to draw negative comments.
Your cane is not my style (I made one for my 90 year old dad last year out of an Ironwood sapling complete with curved root for handle) but there is no denying that you knew exactly what you were doing and that the end product is not merely a 'fashion statement' piece.

 

[stabman]

You sir are an artist! Artfully and thoughtfully planned out, and masterfully done.
Notice that no one has slighted you for desecrating an otherwise 'top drawer' vintage American hatchet?
That's rare on here; even grinding off mushroomed polls or suggesting innocent modifications tends to draw negative comments.

I think that's because it turned out so well.
If he'd floated the idea beforehand, someone would probably have not liked the idea.
But when the finished product turns out to be so good, it's hard to naysay. :thumbup:

 

[stabman]

My wife just saw the pics...and she loves the finished product.
You did a really good job on it.
I daresay I like it better than the product which served as inspiration for it in the first place.

 

[cmshoot]

Outstanding!

 

[Alocksly]

Cool! Like a shepherds axe. I saw an article in Backwoodsman a few months back showing someones similar project. He left a small blade (about 2 inches or so) and made a leather sheath to cover the blade and cushion his hand.

I wonder how what Law enforcement would think about this sweet work?!!!

I'm gonna say law enforcement wouldn't care if you chose to walk around with this. The only legal issue might be if you got in a fight (not a "help I'm getting mugged!" fight but more of a "whutt're YOU lookin' at?" fight) while wielding this. I believe a prosecutor would have no trouble charging Assault with a Deadly Weapon (felony) over Simple Assault (misdemeanor), which would also apply to a baseball bat or crowbar.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Cool! Like a shepherds axe. I saw an article in Backwoodsman a few months back showing someones similar project. He left a small blade (about 2 inches or so) and made a leather sheath to cover the blade and cushion his hand.



I'm gonna say law enforcement wouldn't care if you chose to walk around with this. The only legal issue might be if you got in a fight (not a "help I'm getting mugged!" fight but more of a "whutt're YOU lookin' at?" fight) while wielding this. I believe a prosecutor would have no trouble charging Assault with a Deadly Weapon (felony) over Simple Assault (misdemeanor), which would also apply to a baseball bat or crowbar.

Law enforcement might care very much, so might the prosecutors office.


Baseball bat or crowbar used as a weapon would also most likely be charged as a felony (if it was felt you were not responding in self defense to a pretty substantial threat).




The cane looks wonderful.

 

[Alocksly]

Law enforcement might care very much, so might the prosecutors office.


Baseball bat or crowbar used as a weapon would also most likely be charged as a felony (if it was felt you were not responding in self defense to a pretty substantial threat).

Perhaps I phrased it poorly but I meant to include bat and bars with spikey canes and other large blunt objects as potentially deadly weapons. As for what a beat cop might think, If this cop saw a fellow strolling along with that cane while I was on patrol it would not cause me undue concern. It also would be perfectly legal (In my state ,WA, and jurisdiction of course.) Downtown NY or Chicago might give you some trouble.

 

[smith357]

Thank you all for the kind remarks, my head gonna get too big.

Law enforcement might care very much, so might the prosecutors office.


Baseball bat or crowbar used as a weapon would also most likely be charged as a felony (if it was felt you were not responding in self defense to a pretty substantial threat).

If deadly force is justified, then it matters not what tool you use.

The only legal issue might be if you got in a fight (not a "help I'm getting mugged!" fight but more of a "whutt're YOU lookin' at?" fight) while wielding this. I believe a prosecutor would have no trouble charging Assault with a Deadly Weapon (felony) over Simple Assault (misdemeanor), which would also apply to a baseball bat or crowbar.

Luckily I'm too darn old to get into those types of fights, now way back when I was a US Marine, fighting was part of the fun.

My wife just saw the pics...and she loves the finished product.
You did a really good job on it.
I daresay I like it better than the product which served as inspiration for it in the first place.

This was made up for my wife, she wanted a sword cane, but those are considered concealed weapons and illegal to carry in public unless you grease some politicians palm.

I wonder how what Law enforcement would think about this sweet work?!!!

As long as you don't try to conceal it, this is no more frightening than a worker with his a claw hammer in his tool belt.

 

[jmclfrsh]

Very nice work! $15 for the materials...

The forethought, execution of plan and the ability to do so in such a well manner? Priceless!

 

[Loosearrow]

Outstanding work. It has a well balanced look. I was doing some physical therapy this morning on my back and shoulder. I have a basket with some walking sticks and one of those alpine ice axes. The vintgage ones with the small blade like a hoe and a point on the other end. It also has a sliding metal ring with a strap attached. The blade and point of axe has a leather cover over both side with a buckle in the middle. I was using it do to range of motion on the shoulder. The wooden end has a pretty sharp spike on it. I thought about using it as a walking stick but also thought about the trouble that might come my way. Then I just got on the forum and saw your walking stick. It just might be the stick to visually keep trouble away. Nice mod. Very well done. Enjoyed the post.

 

[joejeweler]

Just a thought as I went back in to admire (and "borrow" your images for my own use ),...is that I believe your main purpose in creating the head conversion was to allow for effective self defense possibilities.

That said, in going over the pics I just wondered if you meant to taper and thin the shaft to the extent it ended up? I have several "crook" style bent wood canes, and the one I like the best has a full 1 inch diameter ALL the way to the rubber foot.

One inch is a very easy to grip diameter, and I would think the strong taper you used (looks to be terminating at maybe 1/2 inch diameter from the look of it?), would make it much easier for an attacker to rip it from your grasp. (even if you get a one good "stick" into his arse! ) It can't help to also create a much weaker breaking strength should you need to swing the head with a lot of force, and at a most inopportune time. A uniformly thick 1" or so shaft world also give you a more effective "mass" should you garner a strike with the lower section of the cane.

Anyway,...not nitpicking as the head looks wonderful, but just want to point out a possible weak point as the obvious intent here is for self defense.

It's also possible the head to shaft point is much thicker than I'm picturing, and so the rubber cap end is thicker that what it appears to be. But even then the strong shaft taper will allow the cane leave your grasp much easier than it might otherwise, should a bag guy gain access to the handle end.

 

[smith357]

Just a thought as I went back in to admire (and "borrow" your images for my own use ),...is that I believe your main purpose in creating the head conversion was to allow for effective self defense possibilities.

That said, in going over the pics I just wondered if you meant to taper and thin the shaft to the extent it ended up? I have several "crook" style bent wood canes, and the one I like the best has a full 1 inch diameter ALL the way to the rubber foot.

One inch is a very easy to grip diameter, and I would think the strong taper you used (looks to be terminating at maybe 1/2 inch diameter from the look of it?), would make it much easier for an attacker to rip it from your grasp. (even if you get a one good "stick" into his arse! ) It can't help to also create a much weaker breaking strength should you need to swing the head with a lot of force, and at a most inopportune time. A uniformly thick 1" or so shaft world also give you a more effective "mass" should you garner a strike with the lower section of the cane.

Anyway,...not nitpicking as the head looks wonderful, but just want to point out a possible weak point as the obvious intent here is for self defense.

It's also possible the head to shaft point is much thicker than I'm picturing, and so the rubber cap end is thicker that what it appears to be. But even then the strong shaft taper will allow the cane leave your grasp much easier than it might otherwise, should a bag guy gain access to the handle end.

The shaft tapers from 1 3/4 at the eye down to 7/8 at the shoe and it still pretty strong with minimal flex. The plan was, to keep it as light as possible, velocity over mass. It was never designed as an entry tool, it's meant to be fast and agile and I sure as heck don't want to get hit with it, maybe giving it to my wife is a bad idea. Ive considered some small rounded brass or steel studs for grip

 

[jnich67]

That is really cool. Nice work. I want one!

Jordan