I did a foot for a cane once. A biker friend had an accident and his friend, another biker wood carver had me forge the cane end(foot). It was an eagle claw holding a rock/Earth. the top of the claw became the socket and there were two straps that spiraled up twards the handle. He then carved the cane to fit my iron and did a bronze cast harley for the handle. The spirals had rivit holes in that were matched side to side. He then rivited thru these straps to secure it to the cane. Sorry no pics, but a cool project.

I hadn't thought of it in years, but the cane talk reminded me. Thanks!

  That sounds like a neat project.  Rivits probably work better than duct tape....  I have a lot of things I wish I had taken photo's of but for one reason or another never did.  They are fun go post and look at but don't believe in the "never happened" hocus pocus. 

"Here's a photo of blurry kodak picture I took 45 years ago"....

Lol, I have a bunch of those too!

My cane tip is rubber? and held on with a stainless steel pipe clamp currently.  I did cast a tip from a deer's hoof in brass once; thought it would look appropriate to have a series of cloven hoofprints paralleling my footprints....

  I'd start wondering if I didn't carry a hoofcane and saw those print's....  

The cool thing was the fit of the spirals to the wood cane. The cross sections of my two spirals were slightly smaller than the cane, which, which was tapered. The wood guy literally screwed the cane down into the socket and removed material as needed so there were no gaps between cane and iron and it was slightly inset into the wood. We decided on rivets over screws because of potential wood shrinkage. Rivets could be tightened up whilst screws might strip out.

Lol, a good memory from a far away moment in time!

  I used to have a friend that worked in wood and he would really have appreciated that.  He never used power tools, if you can believe that.  His work was amazing.  I had Stevens double barrel shotgun that he engraved the stock on but it got stolen.  On top of that it was my dads.  I often wonder where it's at today.

An old acquaintance asked me to forge him a cane after a motor cycle wreck banged his leg up pretty badly. 1/2" square was too small but he settled for 5/8" sq. Wanted the grip from his wrecked bike's handle bar and the foot forged like the kick stand foot. The shaft needed twists, swoops and curves. 

I never heard but I don't think he used more than an hour. I wasn't going to ask one of the gang members, I'm not THAT curious.

Frosty The Lucky.

Lol, I think the cane was to be a "multi-use" tool after he healed as well.    

Oh, no mystery there, the local club was prospecting for the angels and carrying a weapon was a expected, especially a scary one. I just don't think Dave thought about having to swing something that heavy in a brawl.

I thought heavy was better till I took my first fencing lesson which entailed trying different swords: lengths, weights, single/double edge, etc. Give me a handful of foils over most anything, even a kukri.

In a brawl, I'll take a willow hiking stick that tops out about middle of my bicep, light fast and DANGEROUSLY poky. In a bar I'm not going to whack you over the head with a pool cue, I'm going to poke you like I'm breaking the rack with a vengance.

I don't think the head on my Francesca weighs more than 10-12 oz. on a handle made from a hockey stick. It's wicked sharp, fast Fast FAST and throws pretty well.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned from the martial arts is how to avoid trouble. I never did take to all the running though I never got fast.

Ahhh, I'm really getting sidetracked here, it's been too long since I could post much.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

IIRC, there is a European (Swiss? Bavarian? Austrian?) hiking/walking stick that has a small axe head as a handle.  Properly used it dould be formidible in an altercation.

GNM

Look up Fokos, a Shepherds ax (staff) from the Balkans. My mothers family was from Slovenia and grandpa showed me one he carried. I made one from a RR spike.

On 3/18/2023 at 7:01 PM, Frosty said:

I don't think he used more than an hour

  I was thinking maybe it wound up in the evidence locker....  

  Nice Shepards Staff!

Nah, I think he tried using it like a cane once. Of course a cop would confiscate it just for GP.

I need to make a shepherds staff. Yours reminds me more of a war hammer than ax; good enough for this old boy.

Frosty The Lucky.

  Mayby you should have put a wheel on it if it was so heavey. 

A wheel on the end of a cane, my what a great idea!

At one time I could've thought of a few people I'd gift with a face plant walking stick but NOT a Hells Angel and a friend! I should've just handed him a piece of 3/4" square bar in the 30"-34" range.

For me I think Randy's shepherd's ax or maybe a nice piece of diamond willow with a T handle and carbide pointed bronze end cap would serve nicely in a brawl. Especially if it had a couple few ounces of lead in each end. 

A good friend bought me a "Hawk" for Christmas but it's way long handled and heavy for a weapon. The little "Francesca Wasilla" I made a number of years ago only weighs a few ounces but is viper quick to bring on target and throws nicely. It'd even do well against Bo.

Happily I stay away from places I might have to fight my way out of.

Frosty The Lucky.

  It's a good thing I edited it before you saw my reply because I recommended a swivel caster.  I better start using smiley emojis more often.  I was joking.  Probably in bad taste.  No offence to your friend.

  I had a cousin in the Bandito's at one time but we don't talk about much about it.  It didn't last long.  And yes, I would rather stay clear of bad spots, too.

  Pretty good place to end Philisophical "Razors" thread, I'm thinking.

  Mayby I should have used some capital letters and bold type to make my points, similarly.    Kind of like shouting.

I broke my leg Scott, NOT my funny bone! I got it and was playing along then my funny bug fell asleep. 

Maybe a motorized wheel cane? 

If you want people seeing your point more quickly use an AVATAR without a hat. 

Back to philosophical razors and one that goes along with a member's current signoff. "It's a poor captain that changes the set of the sails when he first comes on deck."

Frosty The Lucky.

  Well, I thought I offended you.  I should know better.  My own funny bone is not running on all cylinders tonight.  Every time I see that sign off now, I think of the song Southern Cross.  One of my favorites because I've seen it and slept under it.

  Too bad about my humor being out of joint or I would have played a great April Fools Joke on you all.  A great one.... -sigh-

 

  

DANG, it IS April 1st! I should've pretended to be offended for the gag. I can't BELIEVE dropped a perfect straight line I could've really gotten you going with! <sigh>

I had to listen to Southern Cross, I hadn't thought about it in a long time but I still love it as much as ever. I've never have nor likely ever will see the Southern Cross. Oh well, I can still pretend on Halloween.

Frosty The Lucky.

  Yeah, you missed a good opportunity there.    You never know when somebody is pulling your leg on April 1st, huh?  A few attempts were made at me yesterday.  It reminds me of a MASH episode where they had a day long practical joke contest and everybody got all weird and paranoid of everybody else pulling one off on them. 

  Oh well, there's always next year...  

I remember that Mash episode, fuzzily.  Hanging out at home with Deb sort of kills the jokes and asking the dogs if they want dinner an hour early doesn't come off, they just don't get the joke and sulk the rest of the night.

Next year it is Scott, watch your back trail.

Frosty The Lucky.

    No worries, I have eyes in the back of my head.....   I might just get you....  Let's call it a challenge.  I bet you forget!

What do you mean you bet I'll forget?! Are you joking, ME FORGET? 

You just keep watching with those eyes in the back of your head. Bwa ha ha ha!

Frosty The Lucky.