Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
http://www.enasco.com/farmandranch/?&q=cane
I wanted to see what Nasco had to offer, and ordered an assortment of what seemed would be more utilitarian crook-top canes and straight sticks. From the link above, I ordered:
36" Medium Weight Octagon Stockman's Cane
36" Elephant Octagon Cane
Extra-Heavy Round Cane
54" Plain Wooden Octagon Stick And Sorting Pole
66" Plain Wooden Octagon Stick And Sorting Pole
All the canes and sticks are single piece, not glued or laminated, and appear to be well dried red oak. While all are smoothy sanded, none are finished to any degree- no stain, varnish, oil etc. All appear to be ready to finish in whatever fashion the owner desires, or modified in any way imagination leads.
The cane handles are deeply bent- that will limit their utility to some degree for 'hooking,' but the depth of the handle curve will help with the critical front snap strike from a resting position, I think.
I really like the 'elephant' cane. It's a full 1 1/8" thick but weighs only about 10 ounces. It has a good heft and is a good handful. Its octagonal shape lends stiffness and the corners ought to serve to focus impact well. I'm going to have to find a rubber tip for this one and get it stained and finished- it will be a great companion, I think.
The Extra-Heavy Round Cane isn't really extra heavy, IMHO- it's slightly less than an inch thick across the shaft, the shaft is round and the curve of the handle is a half octagon on the top and sides and half round underneath. But it's a good solid cane, and of the three versions I ordered, my wife liked it best. It's apparent I'll be cutting this one down to fit her, finishing it and putting a rubber tip on it as well.
Last is the Medium Weight Stockman Octagon Cane. This one is about 7/8" across the shaft, but is still plenty sturdy- leaning it with the tip on the floor at about a 45 degree angle, holding the crook and pushing on the middle of the shaft, it flexes only a little. This one will make an elegant, lightweight and very useful cane for someone who likes a smaller diameter stick.
The wood sorting sticks are a new tack for me- I haven't used wooden ones before, having always made do with the 1/2" fiberglas model. The dogs always get excited when the fiberglass sorting stick comes out- they know it means we're going for a walk. The Nasco wooden sticks are octagonal. The 54" one is about 7/8" at the widest and tapers to 1/2" at the tip. The 66" one is an inch thick for most of its length and tapers to 5/8" at the tip. I haven't made any hiking staffs before, but the 66" stick seems like a good base for one. The components at http://www.treelineusa.com/ might well come in handy for this project, as well as a couple of other cane projects I've been thinking about.
Overall I am very pleased with this assortment- these sticks are IMHO well worth the money, and will give me several useful projects to while away the rest of the winter. Since I only got singles of each item, I paid full price for them- there are discounts for greater quantities however.
Someone always seems to be needing a cane- it's good to have some spares on hand.
lpl
I wanted to see what Nasco had to offer, and ordered an assortment of what seemed would be more utilitarian crook-top canes and straight sticks. From the link above, I ordered:
36" Medium Weight Octagon Stockman's Cane
36" Elephant Octagon Cane
Extra-Heavy Round Cane
54" Plain Wooden Octagon Stick And Sorting Pole
66" Plain Wooden Octagon Stick And Sorting Pole
All the canes and sticks are single piece, not glued or laminated, and appear to be well dried red oak. While all are smoothy sanded, none are finished to any degree- no stain, varnish, oil etc. All appear to be ready to finish in whatever fashion the owner desires, or modified in any way imagination leads.
The cane handles are deeply bent- that will limit their utility to some degree for 'hooking,' but the depth of the handle curve will help with the critical front snap strike from a resting position, I think.
I really like the 'elephant' cane. It's a full 1 1/8" thick but weighs only about 10 ounces. It has a good heft and is a good handful. Its octagonal shape lends stiffness and the corners ought to serve to focus impact well. I'm going to have to find a rubber tip for this one and get it stained and finished- it will be a great companion, I think.
The Extra-Heavy Round Cane isn't really extra heavy, IMHO- it's slightly less than an inch thick across the shaft, the shaft is round and the curve of the handle is a half octagon on the top and sides and half round underneath. But it's a good solid cane, and of the three versions I ordered, my wife liked it best. It's apparent I'll be cutting this one down to fit her, finishing it and putting a rubber tip on it as well.
Last is the Medium Weight Stockman Octagon Cane. This one is about 7/8" across the shaft, but is still plenty sturdy- leaning it with the tip on the floor at about a 45 degree angle, holding the crook and pushing on the middle of the shaft, it flexes only a little. This one will make an elegant, lightweight and very useful cane for someone who likes a smaller diameter stick.
The wood sorting sticks are a new tack for me- I haven't used wooden ones before, having always made do with the 1/2" fiberglas model. The dogs always get excited when the fiberglass sorting stick comes out- they know it means we're going for a walk. The Nasco wooden sticks are octagonal. The 54" one is about 7/8" at the widest and tapers to 1/2" at the tip. The 66" one is an inch thick for most of its length and tapers to 5/8" at the tip. I haven't made any hiking staffs before, but the 66" stick seems like a good base for one. The components at http://www.treelineusa.com/ might well come in handy for this project, as well as a couple of other cane projects I've been thinking about.
Overall I am very pleased with this assortment- these sticks are IMHO well worth the money, and will give me several useful projects to while away the rest of the winter. Since I only got singles of each item, I paid full price for them- there are discounts for greater quantities however.
Someone always seems to be needing a cane- it's good to have some spares on hand.
lpl
