Turning a cane/walking stick

First of all, what was the problem you had? First attempts rarely work out well. Give it a few dozen attempts and then make up your mind.

I don't make multi-segmented walking sticks but I do make single piece ones with lightly carved handles. For multi-segments, you'll probably need threaded inserts at each joint. I'm assuming that you want to turn each segment individually because of problems with whipping or similar? You'll have to be quite careful doing these 2 or 3 segments so that they "flow" together and look good. That's not an easy thing to do either.

I find an interesting piece of wood with a nice "crook" for what will become the handle and then a fairly long, straight shaft that I'll turn. I hold the handle end in a 4 jaw independent scroll chuck (the kind that most woodturners see no use for ) and turn the shaft starting at the bottom with a skew. I work my way up about 2" at a time and use steady rest(s) as needed. I turn these at around 2000 rpm. After turning up to within around

3" of the handle top, I sand and finish. Then I shape the handle with a carving knife.

Overall, it's a really simple turning operation. You just have to get used to turning long spindles.

- Andrew