This Curly Hawaiian Koa Cane is a true work of love. Koa wood is not as hard as a lot of people think and does not make a very good strong cane shaft as it tends to snap along grain lines and choosing the proper grain becomes a challenge.. Top cane makers usually use shafts from the Ebony or Rosewood families for their cane shafts. There are a lot of other good strong wood with straight grain patterns that make good shafts also.. ..such as Oak, Ipe, Maple and Mahogany just to name a few.
Super Nice Curly Burl Koa Handle go with the turned Black and Brown Straight Shaft of East Indian Ebony (Diospyros Ebanaster ) . This Ebony is grown in cultured plantations to sustain the resource. This Ebony shaft has black and brown streaks which blend nicely with the Burly Koa Handle.
This Koa and Ebony Cane is currently 36 1/2 " long but can be cut to a shorter length if desired. The Burl Koa Handle on this cane is made from a solid piece unlike my usual Koa Cane handles which are made out of laminated Koa and Rosewood for strength, The handle is 5 " long and about 1" in diameter and is one of eight Koa Burl handles I made out of a beautiful Koa Burl piece that was very hard and what I figured would be strong enough for cane handles.. My pictures suck as they never seem to catch the true beauty of my canes. If you want pictures of certain areas please let me know and I will take some for you.
The connection between the shaft and the handle is very important as extreme stress is put on the joint and is the major point of failure in cane construction. After years of experimenting with different methods of mounting the handles I have decided that the threaded rod connection makes the strongest connection possible. I use a 3/8 x 16 threaded steel rod to connect the two pieces. I first tap the handle hole and the shaft hole to the desired depth and then use epoxy to combine the handle to the shaft. I also use a 3/16" thick "washer' as a grain directional break which also accentuates the joint. This Solid Brass washer is one inch in diameter and has a 3/8" hole through the center where the threaded rod passes through.
For those who are interested you might take a look at my "About" page which shows some of the cane making procedures. See Below :
https://www.etsy.com/shop/OverTheHawaiianMoon/about?ref=shopinfo_about_leftnav
I don't use the brass tips for safety reasons as the rubber tips I get better grip the sidewalks and won't slip as easily as brass tips will. They also have a steel washer inside the rubber tip for longer wear and safety.
I am constantly making and finishing canes and I am sure I have something that you might be interested in.
See More Pictures of my finished canes for sale on Etsy below:
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http://etsy.me/1gMGpIB
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I guarantee all of my canes for my lifetime and if you are not happy with the cane I will take it back for any reason.
Feel free to ask any questions that you might have.
I will consider and have shipped to other Countries but only after we agree on prices and shipping. This must be done through the Convo system here on Etsy and is not available for all items due to the weight and shipping restrictions on some of my items.
I will however ship to friends or relatives of customers who are located in the USA and then they can make shipping arrangements to the customers location overseas.