A Lady's Fancy Dress-Up Walking Cane, with Handcarved Red Long-Stem Roses

Mark,

That’s one nice walking stick and a great story.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Very classy!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

wow…. Thanks Mark.

-- Chris

What a classy cane. Nice touch of adding the nice stand. Another quality piece by Mark!! Thanks for sharing.

-- " All Things At First Appear Difficult"

as always Mark, you do fantastic work.
This cane is beautiful and sounds like it matches exactly what your client is looking for.
excellent photography as well.

as a side note, I’d still be interested to see how you might incorporate the Celtic Knot design that we penturners use in one of your canes.

-- www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.darrylmasterson.etsy.com

Thanks guys for the compliments. I do appreciate the encouragement. I built 18 canes in January-February, but I shuttled them out to stores so quickly I didn’t get any photos. Something I try not to do very often.

Darryl, I’ve looked pretty intently at pen turning to get ideas on what to use in my canes. I have been reluctant to do canes with multiple pieces just counting on glue to hold it. People lean their body weight on the canes, and they also carry them in all kinds of weather, leaving them in cold cars, and then by the warm fire, etc. So, the life of a cane is pretty harsh. Also, the pens have the brass tube that supports the wood, but even then I have seen older pens that were coming apart, and showing splits, and other problems.

Cane design is an interesting thing. I get quite a few questions and comments about canes from the internet. My goal is to introduce something unique, safe to use, comfortable to use, and a conversation piece. I have seen internet photos of canes that looked like stair ballisters with a handle, and others that folks have turned, or whittled, and I have several books on the subject that also offer inspiration.

Recently a guy asked me about a celtic knot carved down the cane in a spiral, and so I looked at it. The cost was prohibitive to him, but it would make a cool looking cane.

So many cane ideas, so little time,
Mark

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

Mark. A great looking cane. I’m glad that you are among the living. I talked to Dusty a week ago and he said that you told him you were under the weather for a month.

God bless you brother.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Thanks Karson. I was down for a month with that flu/pneumonia crud going around. Two weeks in bed, and two more weeks just tired and not worth much in the shop.

I feel great now, probably better than 100% of what I was. Why? I cut back on my junk-food and diet soda pop, including M&M’s. I was going to quit the soda pop completely, but I’m back to one can a day now. It is easy to quit soda pop, I’ve quit it hundreds of times.

thanks,
M

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

I’m with you on that. Glad that you are better.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Nice one Mark!

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Mark,

I agree with the other comments that this a very nice cane. But to me the story behind it is almost as important as the project itself. With these pieces you are are able to follow your dream in life and make a difference in other people’s lives.

This is an inspirational post. Thanks for allowing us to share a small part of your life story.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Very Elegant Cane Mark – The women should have no problem using this one.

-- Joel Tille

Outstanding.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Mark, that is one dandy walking stick. The lady ought to be proud to show it off.

-- Thos. Angle

thats a great cane. who ever bought it must show it off to everyone who she sees. i love the rose on it too. keep up the great work.

Hey Mark;

As usual…

I thought about ending my post right there and save some typing, since there all the same ie.. Great job,
beautiful, fabulous, etc…

But that would be doing you an injustice.

Your cane is beautiful and the carving is very elegant. I hope you remembered to leave the thorns off though.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

thanks again folks, your encouragement is much appreciate.

No Thorns Lee.

Thanks,
M

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

It is wonderful. The rose inlay really makes it special.

as always Mark, a great artistic job well done!

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Thanks Rikkor. The roses are carved, being raised out of the surface of the round shaft. I start with a block of wood about 1-3/4” x 1-3/4” x 38”, and turn it round and tapered to about 1-1/2” diameter at the point where the roses are. Then, I draw the artwork on the wood, and remove everything that doesn’t look like a rose/stem/leaves, or a round tapered shaft. I use a Legacy Ornamental Lathe machine to do the tapering, and making the tenons for the brass tip and handle. Lots of sanding to get it smooth. It is much quicker to just quickly texture carve the shaft, which I do at times on other canes, but for this dress-up cane, it needed to be smooth to pull off the design. The difference makes a $60-$75 difference in cane pricing, which can be hard for non-woodworkers to understand, since it is hard to see how long it takes to do something like that.

In the process now of working with another customer that wants a Shamrock Spirit/Irish themed cane. I will do this work in the same process as the rose, only carving Shamrocks and a Smiling Wood Spirit style face in place of the roses. I’ll be back with photos of that cane when it is finished.

Thanks PanamaJack, I appreciate your encouragement.

Mark

-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com

Man you always surprise me, you can bang out the most masculine, beautiful objects, then turn around and make something this delicate and petite and just as beautiful. That rose is just stunning on that cane. I can just picture the women you made it for. You’ll always be the man. mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Hi Mark!

A beautiful cane for a beautiful lady.

A very nice rosebud, Is there one on the other side too?

You’ll be getting a lot of requests for this model.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

great job and story , i enjoy your storys almost as much as looking at your work . thanks for posting both

Very beautiful cane.

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

The rose one reminded me of a rennie mackintosh special rose he designed.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

A wonderful cane great work as usual

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon