Carolyn's dad, N.B. Willey will be 90 years old tomorrow, November 16, 2009. That is a pretty momentous milestone in one's life and we are glad to have had him around to enjoy our children and grandchildren. We hope he will be with us for many more years to come.
I was struggling with a "unique" idea for a birthday present several weeks ago and as it happened Carolyn mentioned on her return from a recent visit that her dad had lost his walking cane and had taken one of her mother's old canes and erroneously cut it too short for himself ... and that lead me to thinking that I ought to be able to find the "elements" of a handmade cane on the internet ... I have PLENTY of available cedar limbs that have been cut or broken off and dried for some time and should be very light and easy for an elderly person to carry.
Knowing absolutely NOTHING about how a cane might be fashioned I started wandering around the internet in my typical "research mode" and determined that there were not really that many things one had to know ... a cane has to be dry, comfortable to hold, have a handle that is comfortable to grip, a tip that will assist with stability and be of "an appropriate length for the user" ... that last part is a little nebulous but other than that it seemed within my limited skills if I could find the necessary parts.
A little more research and I found what I considered to be adequate pieces parts and went out in the back "yard" and mused around some piles of dead cedar until I heard a "stick" calling to me ... clearly this was "the one" ... so I drug it over to the back of the shop, cut it down to a manageable length and started pealing the bark off ... this exercise proved to be the most "difficult" part of the whole escapade but honestly was not that big a deal ... pealing, grinding, rasping and a little blood and I had a "naked" cedar stick. I cut enough off of the "big end" to serve in my judgment for a handle and proceeded to whittle, carve, cut and saw until I had a "stick" that I figured looked pretty "cane like". I fitted the top brass piece by whittling a round 1 inch "tenon" on the end and then went to work on the "handle" ... more carving, sanding and whittling I had had what I felt like would serve as a comfortable handle ... a bit more sanding and some finish application and I came up with this result ... I'm pretty pleased with it ... I will present it to Mr. Willey tomorrow night (11/16/2009) on his birthday at a small party arranged by one of his friends in Hondo, Texas ... I will try and get him to decide how much too long it is for him and then bring it back with me to get the final length set and the end cap/rubber tip installed ... I think he will be pleased!
