Finishing a cane,

[Farrix]

I'm making a handmade wooden cane and was gonna use enviro-tex lite but was wondering if anyone has had any luck with it on something more 3 dimensional like a cane, my initial thought was to hang the cane from the roof over a drip pan and pour it from a measuring cup down it, i tried to brush it onto a scrap piece and it came out really rough, clear as glass but quite iritating to the skin, i did notice that when i tried to break the scrap in 2 after it hardened ~3 days~ the stick busted inside the finish, but the finish wouldnt let go

[Woodwould]

Back home in Ireland, I knew an old bloke who made traditional Blackthorn walking sticks. After blackening the sticks, he would suspend them in rows from the roof timbers by wire. He had a length of steel pipe with one end hammered flat which he partially filled with yaght varnish.

Over a period of a couple of days, he would walk along the rows of sticks dipping each one into the tube of varnish and left them to drip off the surplus. After a few days of drying/hardening, the bottoms of the sticks along with the solidified globs of varnish were trimmed off and brass ferrules fitted.

Those 'Blackthorns' as they're called, were de riguer for any Irishman stepping out. My father had at least one or two and they withstood slashing briars and general abuse when he went walking cross-country with the dogs.

This is my mother hiding one of my father's Blackthorns in the Old Hollow Tree. Oh the old days were fun!

[Farrix]

A pipe is a good idea i hadn't thought of that, ive been rubbin my chin for days what i could dip it in, off to the hardware store tommorrow for some PVC pipe and another box of pour on finish, gonna take quite a bit though to fill the pipe,

[Woodwould]

Be careful not to overfill the pipe or the finish will overflow when you insert the stick! I'd experiment with water first.

[filray]

I have just finished a walking stick for myself (in a hurry). Made from a burnt sapling of Gimlet, I rubbed it down after removing the bark that was just hanging around. The outside was covered in a grey fluff. (The fire was about 18 months back)

There were quite a few lengthwise cracks so I mixed up some Araldite (5 minute) and filled them up. After the glue had gone off I rubbed that all off (did not do a very flash job as I left quite a few deep gouges in ) and finished it up to 320 grit.

I then applied 4 coats of golden shellac. There is a nice contrast between the filled cracks and small birdseye like knots against the golden yellow of the wood.

I had a Carbatec kit that I had been going to use with a turned stick,
so I used the brass handle from the kit.

Looks good to me and it works. Since I finished it 3 weeks back, I have had a hip replacement so I get to use it now.

[Farrix]

The instructions on the enviro tec stuff say dont apply over polyurethane, anyone have an idea why? i've got 5 coats of aresol polyurethane on it to keep the moisture in while i fiddle farted around with testing different things, I think they just say that because it wont want to stick very well im not certain though