My Granddad's Walnut & Ambrosia Maple Twist Cane with Antler Handle, Abalone Inlay, w/ Scrimshaw Art

This walking cane was made as a gift to my grandfather, if you would like something similar please email me:

mark@decoustudio.com

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Project Story:

This is a walking cane that I made for my grandfather, who is elderly and needed a walking cane.

He has several canes that are important to him, all because of who owned them, being that they are inherited from family members who have died. So, I decided to make him one as a gift for all of the wonderful things he has given me over the years.

I suppose that he, and his family cane collection, is the reason that I grew up seeing that walking canes can be important family heirlooms.

I’ve made more than a hundred canes since I did this for granddad, but this one is still my favorite one, since it is his. I asked him to leave this cane for me after his time on this earth is finished, if he precedes me in death. I can assure you that this is one cane that I will not sell.

Description:
The shaft has a combination of two woods, the bottom 2/3rds is Walnut, the top 1/3 is Ambrosia Maple. The cane handle is a section of a whitetail deer’s naturally shed deer antler, with 4 abalone shell inlays.

The shaft has a double turning barley twist style, with a basket weave top section, and a double inlay of legal pre-ban elephant ivory. On the elephant ivory, I put his name on one side of the cane, and his favorite wild animal to watch for, the Kansas Whitetail Deer. He’s no hunter, just an animal lover.

This cane has a lot of special meaning, and all of the elements of the cane are symbolic of things in his life, or my relationship with him. They are too personal to share on the internet, but I wanted you to know that they all have a purpose.

The tip has a lathe turned brass ferrel with a replaceable rubber tip.

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If you like Walking Sticks & Canes, here are few more posted at lumberjocks:

Folk Art Face Carved Canes

1. Sculpted Wood Spirit Face Cane
2. Folk Art Mountain Man Face Cane
3. Shamrock Wood Spirit Irish-Theme Face Cane
4. Walnut Wood Spirit Face Cane with Antler & Turquoise
5. Collection of Face Carved Canes
6. Moses-Inspired Face Carved Cane w/ Antler & Turquoise

Native American Theme Canes

1. Folk Art Native American Face Cane Set
2. Apache Chief Cochise Folk-Art Face Cane
3. Folk Art Carved Cane of Shoshone Chief
4. Indian Guides Chief Big-Red-Cloud Hiking Stick
5. Apache Chief Cochise #2 Folk-Art Face Cane

Hand Carved Canes/Sticks

1. Amazing Grace Music Notes Carved Cane
2. A Lady’s Elegant Red Long-Stem Rose Carved Cane
3. Prairie Fire Hand-Carved Hiking Thumb Sticks
4. A Folk-Art Carved Albatross Head & Snake Walnut Cane
5. Carved Folk-Art Walking Cane; 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' Story Stick with Scrimshaw Artwork

Scrimshaw Artwork Canes

1. Walnut & Curly Maple Cane with Scrimshaw
2. Scrimshaw Art Walnut Cane
3. Fancy Barley Twist with Scrimshaw Cane
4. Lady's Dress Cane, Red Oak, Walnut, Black Lacquer, & Scrimshaw Artwork of a Purple Cone Flower

What’s Scrimshaw Artwork?:
A Scrimshaw Art Journey: What it is & How to Do it; Five Simple Steps to Success

Natural Tree/Limb Canes/Sticks

1. Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Cane
2. Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Walking Stick
3. Shepherd's Crook Hiking Stick

Barley Twist Style Dress Canes

1. White Oak Barley Twist Cane
2. Osage Orange Barley Twist Cane
3. Walnut & Figured Maple Barley Twist cane
4. Black Walnut and Spalted Sycamore Barley Twist
5. Red Oak Barley Twist with Black Lacquer
6. Red Oak Barley Twist with Walnut Handle
7. Bryan's Cane, The Start of my Cane Journey

Various Dress Style Canes

1. Fancy Walking Cane, Camphor Burl, Maple, Bubinga, Whitetail Deer Antler, Inlays & Silver End Caps
2. Custom Dress-Up Walking Cane, Walnut shaft with a Camphor Burl Handle
3. Walnut & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
4. White Birch & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
5. Walnut Bamboo-Style Cane with Chrome Ball Top
6. Walnut & Buffalo Horn Dress Cane
7. Bird's Eye Maple Cane
8. Spalted Sycamore Walking Cane
9. Walnut Tall Knob Top Opera Cane
10. Zebrawood & Walnut Knob Top Opera Cane
11. Dress Cane Set, with several Material Options Shown

My Website page with Canes

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I have a few canes in stock at:

1. Hatman Jack’s Wichita Hat Works in Wichita, KS
2. Hutchinson Art Center in Hutchinson, KS
3. Cottonwood Mercantile in Cottonwood Falls, KS

You can contact these gallery stores directly and see what they still have in stock. They will ship to you if you buy something. If you prefer, you can also email me, as I keep fairly current on what is “unsold.”

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Background: My Cane Making Story:

I enjoy sculpting walking canes. Some folks call them Folk-Art Canes, while others call them Artisan Canes, some call them Carved Canes, while others call them Walking Sticks. There is quite a bit of argument about whether something should be called Sculpture or Carving. They could be considered Functional-Art, which is the type of work that I am usually drawn to. No matter what these canes are called, they seem to bring joy to the owners, and I have been asked to make quite a few of them in the past 5-6 years.

I started making canes on the request of a nice married couple I met on a church-building short-term mission trip to Mexico City in the early 1990’s. Several years after our trip, their son-in-law was diagnosed with bone cancer, and so they wanted to get him a specially made cane that he would enjoy using. They had heard from others that I had quit my corporate office job and started doing woodworking full-time. So, they contacted me to make his cane.

Sadly, I also built him a casket, another first for me, about a year later

Since the time I did that first Cane for Bryan, I have enjoyed the work on the canes that I have been able to make, but more importantly, the people that I have been able to meet and help along the journey. I do make a bunch of unique items and furniture, but without a doubt, I receive more correspondence and thank-you cards from cane customers than any of the other items I make, combined. So, they are fun for me to build, and I look forward to each new person and situation.

To keep a handle on all of the memories, I engrave a small serial number on each brass cane tip, and then I keep a detailed database log of each cane, customer, and situation. The list always brings me warm memories each time I scan it and remember the folks that have supported my work over the years, and vice versa.

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(This text, all photos, project design, and anything else you want to steal, is protected by copyright 2008, M.A.DeCou, all rights reserved and protected, ask permission first! Weblinks to this page are permitted)

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flinthill's Artisan