Tapered Dowel for Canes

[Bob Fleege]

I have recently progressed from making pens to making canes. For me this is a natural progression since I am handicapped and associate with others who also have to use a cane to get around.

Since tapered cane blanks are virtually impossible to find, and when you do they are extremely expensive, I need to figure out how to make my own. I plan on starting with a 1-1/4" X 1-1/4" square piece of exotic wood that is 36" long. I need to find the easiest way to turn or router this piece of wood into a tapered cane blank that is 1" at the top and tapers down to 3/4" at the bottom.

I have been experimenting with various ways to do this using the lathe, router, band saw, etc... and have not figured any reliable technique out. I know at least one company who makes pool cue lathes also offers a "Cane Lathe" but I cannot afford the $1,900 price tag. Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

Bob - Don't invest in an expensive piece of equipment to make a straight tapered cane blank. Here's a couple "free" alternatives.

1) Figure out the diameter you need at six inch intervals. Some simple math will get you these numbers. Mark your blank at the 6 inch intervals and then use a parting tool to turn down to slighly more than the diameter you need at each point. You can get digital calipers dirt cheap at harbor freight if you don't have a good caliper.

Now, use a tool rest that is at least 6 inches long and angle it to match the angle you need on the work. Practice cutting a straight line between the points with your favorite spindle tool. It's only 6 inches between points, so it should be doable to get a reasonably straight line with a little practice. As you get more experience you can spread your points out further and further until you only need the start and end.

Building the skill to do this will take a little time, but you will be able to produce canes a lot faster this way. The lathe and a sharp gouge can remove wood a whole lot faster (with a cleaner finish) than a router.

2) Alternatively, don't get hung up on straight canes. Add a little flair to your canes. Beads, coves, gentle curves....whatever. Just make sure you don't undersize any part of the cane so that the strength of the cane is reduced.

Have fun. Learn to use the lathe and your turning tools to do what you need. Forget the pricey equipment for simple tasks like turning a taper. At least that's my opinion anyway.

Ed

 

[john lucas]

Exactly what Ed just said except to turn something that thin that is that long you will probably need what is called a spindle steady. You get a lot of chatter when the wood tries to flex at that length. the Spindle steady helps that.

 

[Bob Fleege]

I have a Spindle steady so I got that covered. I give your technique a try this weekend and let you know how it came out. Thanks in for the advice.

Bob

 

[john lucas]

Here's what I do and you may find a better way. While the wood is thick I turn a spot near the middle that is perfectly round. Then I put the steady in place. I rough out the spindle and cut my depth cuts using the parting tool. Then I just right or left of my steady I turn it down to the proper size leave it just a hair over. I move the steady rest to this area and then turn the rest of the spindle. You can then sand down the bruised area where the spindle steady was.

 

[Richard Coers]

If you have a table saw, you could make a tapering fixture that mounts the blank by centers, and saw a tapered octagon. Then mount that on the lathe and clean up the high points. The table saw fixture would have end blocks and use screws to locate and hold the blank. Those screw holes will help with the mounting on the lathe for keeping it centered. Actually, you could just as easily make it a 16 sided taper and probably just go with that as a cane. When doing a bunch of canes for the eagle cane project, I found the little 2 1/2x14 Porter-Cable belt sander to be quite handy. I reversed the lathe, skewed the belt sander on the cane blank, and cleaned up some long tapers really quickly.

 

[john lucas]

Richard My dad is not a good turner. He uses the belt sander all the time to clean up the longer areas of turnings. It works quite well but will leave sanding lines that can be a bear to get out.

 

[Bob Fleege]

Bob - Don't invest in an expensive piece of equipment to make a straight tapered cane blank. Here's a couple "free" alternatives.

1) Figure out the diameter you need at six inch intervals. Some simple math will get you these numbers. Mark your blank at the 6 inch intervals and then use a parting tool to turn down to slighly more than the diameter you need at each point. You can get digital calipers dirt cheap at harbor freight if you don't have a good caliper.

Now, use a tool rest that is at least 6 inches long and angle it to match the angle you need on the work. Practice cutting a straight line between the points with your favorite spindle tool. It's only 6 inches between points, so it should be doable to get a reasonably straight line with a little practice. As you get more experience you can spread your points out further and further until you only need the start and end.

Building the skill to do this will take a little time, but you will be able to produce canes a lot faster this way. The lathe and a sharp gouge can remove wood a whole lot faster (with a cleaner finish) than a router.

2) Alternatively, don't get hung up on straight canes. Add a little flair to your canes. Beads, coves, gentle curves....whatever. Just make sure you don't undersize any part of the cane so that the strength of the cane is reduced.

Have fun. Learn to use the lathe and your turning tools to do what you need. Forget the pricey equipment for simple tasks like turning a taper. At least that's my opinion anyway.

Ed

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I used Ed's technique because you all seemed to be on that same page. For my first attempt I was very pleased with the results. I tore off a 6" strip of 120 grit sanding mesh from the roll I have on the wall and found that it was excellent for smoothing out the taper.

I'm going to experiment with different designs, maybe adding some beading towards the top and then starting the taper.

 

[Dave Roller]

When I had to turn the back legs of a ladder back chair, I marked a center line for my taper on a 2x4 and then the top and bottom diameters at each end of the proposed length of the leg. After connecting these points with taper lines, I was able to get an accurate dimension at any point along the taper. I now use shelf paper in place of the 2x4.