Walking sticks with secrets...

[Dax]

I don't see the sword thing working out for you.  For a practical sword, the tang must be an extension of the blade, and run the full length of the hilt, terminating in the pommel.  Otherwise, the whole thing will snap off the first time you make any kind of speedy move. 

A couple can designs that I'm currently working out:

First:
-Compass or watch in handle
-Knife with handle being first few inches of cane
-Sword with handle being knife handle + knife length of cane

Second:
Portable hat rack with deploying tripod tip.  It is so hard to find a restaurant that has proper utilities for a gentleman's hat these days.

[von Corax]

Does anyone see anything vital I've missed?

Corkscrew/bottle-opener?

[von Corax]

I don't see the sword thing working out for you.  For a practical sword, the tang must be an extension of the blade, and run the full length of the hilt, terminating in the pommel.  Otherwise, the whole thing will snap off the first time you make any kind of speedy move. 

A couple can designs that I'm currently working out:

First:
-Compass or watch in handle
-Knife with handle being first few inches of cane
-Sword with handle being knife handle + knife length of cane

Second:
Portable hat rack with deploying tripod tip.  It is so hard to find a restaurant that has proper utilities for a gentleman's hat these days.

What if the sword tang were hollow? Forge the sword blade as though it were to be socketed, but make the socket long and flat to act as the knife sheath, then wrap the sword grip around that (possibly with wooden half-grips to give shape.)

Of course, you'd want a fairly thick ring/ridge where the sword grip transitions into the knife grip, and possibly some way to lock the two together. Otherwise, your hand slips from the sword grip to the knife grip, and the next time you swing the sword/knife sheath slips off the knife blade and flies away, and you're left holding a rather embarassing shortcoming...

[belzoradon]

Does anyone see anything vital I've missed?

Corkscrew/bottle-opener?

not forgotten at all simply not noted because that is included on my keys & therefore not needing to be duplicated on my cane. anything else? (~huge impish grin~ just one more pay check and we can begin construction... ~giggle~)

[Dax]

I don't see the sword thing working out for you.  For a practical sword, the tang must be an extension of the blade, and run the full length of the hilt, terminating in the pommel.  Otherwise, the whole thing will snap off the first time you make any kind of speedy move. 

A couple can designs that I'm currently working out:

First:
-Compass or watch in handle
-Knife with handle being first few inches of cane
-Sword with handle being knife handle + knife length of cane

Second:
Portable hat rack with deploying tripod tip.  It is so hard to find a restaurant that has proper utilities for a gentleman's hat these days.

What if the sword tang were hollow? Forge the sword blade as though it were to be socketed, but make the socket long and flat to act as the knife sheath, then wrap the sword grip around that (possibly with wooden half-grips to give shape.)

Of course, you'd want a fairly thick ring/ridge where the sword grip transitions into the knife grip, and possibly some way to lock the two together. Otherwise, your hand slips from the sword grip to the knife grip, and the next time you swing the sword/knife sheath slips off the knife blade and flies away, and you're left holding a rather embarassing shortcoming...

As a novelty or diplay piece, sure.  As a practical blade, I don't think so.  The junction of the tang and exposed blade has to be the strongest part of the whole affair.  Thinning it out to make a hollow socket would actually weaken its ability to hold up against lateral movements.
I'm a big guy, stronger than most people that I fence with, and I tend to do very strong parries and beat attacks.  I've had the tangs of two foil blades break during bouts.  One of them was a very nice electric blade - which is expensive to replace.  Aside from that, its very disconcerting to see your weapon disassemble itself while an opponent is attacking you.

[belzoradon]

As a novelty or diplay piece, sure.  As a practical blade, I don't think so.  The junction of the tang and exposed blade has to be the strongest part of the whole affair.  Thinning it out to make a hollow socket would actually weaken its ability to hold up against lateral movements.

Mr Dax, I believe this can be solved by seating the blade of the knife off set from the blade of the sword, the handle of the knife breaking away from the side of the handle of the sword or being drawn from an enlarged sword handle. Leaving one with a fairly decent dueling set for those impulsive blokes who refuse to stay the blade till dawn although I'd personally have no problems shooting a man who refused to wait.

[Capt_Zaphod]

Does anyone see anything vital I've missed?

Corkscrew/bottle-opener?

Good call!

[Dax]

Thanks, but there's no need for the "Mr.", just "Dax" will do nicely.

You might also think about going with a stilletto, and fitting it into the base of the cane, using a metal cap as a pommel.  The tips of the sword - sword cane blades tend to be somewhat short - and the stilletto could overlap in the shaft without affecting the integrity of the sword blade.

[belzoradon]

Also if one is absolutely set on having both a small blade & sword then adding the knife, no matter its blade style, to the end of the cane/sheath isn't a bad option, gives you two longer reaching weapon rather then a knife and sword. Also slightly more involved construction could be used to switch the cane sword into a staffsword with spear point and versatility is always a boon.

[Hyren von Henry]

alternatively, give it a brass pommel and beat people with it.

If 3ft of heavy wood and brass don't put them out of action, a dagger wont either!

(less trouble with the law too)

[The Iron Tailor]

In the States, there is a supplier that has no less than 30 various sword canes, starting at a paltry $19.99 - Bud K Knifeworks:

http://budk.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_41+BK1339

Regretably, most of the "Red States" (California, NewYork, etc.) take umbrage to sword canes and class them as conceled weapons, so Bud K will not ship there.

At one point, they also had a compact umbrella with a built in stun gun.  Of dubious legality pretty much anywhere!

I wish they would offer some of the cane designs in just a plain cane, as the designs are quite nice on a few of them.

[Ms_Darkness]

dreadfully new to the forum....well I've been viewing for a short while for ideas (interested in the steampunk fashion, but enjoy making costume pieces over a variety of styles)

anyhow this topic just brought the most interesting idea to my mind and I thought to share with this lovely group (as I don't have the skill to make one myself and thought the idea would benefit someone with the skills to make it). In fact I registered just for this purpose today so hopefully someone can find use for the idea.

As was mentioned before an idea of a monocle for mounting cameras, but to take is a step further fashion a number of different functioning 'handles' where one could use the same stick, but different 'handles' for different needs. Say one day you should find yourself traveling to unknown areas and though you would have need for a compass...well use the compass handle. Or you found yourself needing a telescope...Or USB storage device. The possibilities for the different handles can be endless and one need only to have a number of handles to customize that fits the original stick and a way to secure it on.

The different handles can be attached to the stick by the monocle's screw on function (where the camera would be screwed on).

To prevent the handle from unscrewing during walks one could fashion a latching mechanism to prevent spinning.


- Ms. Darkness

[Gentleman-Adventurer]

Ms_Darkness? That is an intriguing and, I must say, rather excellent idea. It speaks of the "Science Hero" to a perfect tee.
If I might make a suggestion, you could construct a bandolier of sorts to keep your extra handles in, and then screw them into place when required. Regardless, you should find somebody able to help you with your project here on the forum.
Incidentally, welcome aboard .

[clockwork creation]

i dont no if this has allready been mentioned but while watching an antiques program today i saw a cane that pulled out to reveal a large mesuring stick that had a level on it and a fold out seperate mesuring device. it was to mesure horses and was a verry intetesting and attractive item. at auction it went for a mear 50 pounds  

[DrTom]

Psychologist Francis Galton had a hollowed out walking stick with a hollow rubber (I presume) knob and a dial.  It served as a cleverly disguised variable pitch whistle.  Following the philosophy of the British Empiricists, he believed that intelligence testing meant testing the senses.  He used this cane in trips to the zoo to unobtrusively test the hearing ranges of the animals as well as the human observers.  For the animals, he'd place the end of the cane close to the animal's ear through the bars of the cage and squeeze the knob.  The idea was to see if they could detect sounds outside of the range of humans.

[markf]

I listed a bunch of unusual walking stick & umbrella sources for the post below which may have some relevance to this thread.  markf
http://brassgoggles.co.uk/bg-forum/index.php?topic=12607.0

[Mister Griffiths]

Does anyone see anything vital I've missed?

Corkscrew/bottle-opener?

not forgotten at all simply not noted because that is included on my keys & therefore not needing to be duplicated on my cane. anything else? (~huge impish grin~ just one more pay check and we can begin construction... ~giggle~)

How about the key itself? I remember seeing an instructable once about building your housekeys into a multitool, why not build them into the handle of your cane? Of course, you'd have to be darn sure you weren't gonna lose the cane....

[Fiachna]

Here are some more off beat ideas:

Battery operated Van de Graff generator - Shock your friends, fill your top hat!
Gyroscope
various meteorological tools, eg barometer, thermometer etc.
Grappling hook
GPS/mobile phone

Unfortunately thats all I can think of at the moment, at least within the confines of sensibility and legality.

[Capt_Zaphod]

Here are some more off beat ideas:

Battery operated Van de Graff generator - Shock your friends, fill your top hat!
Gyroscope
various meteorological tools, eg barometer, thermometer etc.
Grappling hook
GPS/mobile phone

Unfortunately thats all I can think of at the moment, at least within the confines of sensibility and legality.

Ooo!  Ooo!
I want a grappling hook cane!

[akumabito]

Gyroscope

...to make the cane stand up by itself? Great party trick

[Fiachna]

If I can find some 30mm diameter carbon fibre rod/tubing and a suitable 50-80mm gyroscope (either to hide within a handle or to leave out for display if I can find a brass one) I'll be set to build the gyroscope cane. Alternatively I think I could build my own gyroscope, but again, would need a good chunk of metal and some proper machinery...

[clockwork creation]

i want to make a cane out of brass tubing .. pitty i have NO cash at the mo

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

I have just completed a set of six steampunk gadget sticks. They are:-

Travel cane- turned beech shaft with brass screw joint to allow for easy storage, alpine ferrule (a steel spike with rubber ferrule, to allow for use in town and country)and brass collar and head, a brass knob which unscrews to reveal a compass. The head can be discounted and replaced with a brass derby handle. Heads are from kits by Craft supplies Ltd of Bradwell Derbyshire, ferrule and shaft from the Stickman, Pickering, North Yorkshire.

Cannon cane- turned beech shaft, brass collor and ferrule, (all from the Stickman)with a breech loading brass mechanism, which "fires" a cut down party popper, the head and mechanism are constructed wholly from a brass garden hose nozzle and connector kit obtained from Wikinson's. It is atteached to the shaft by an brass electoplated  screw eye/ vine eye obtained from Odds and Ends. This was actually difficult to locate, they are mostly nickel plated. The "cannon" can fire a streamer or piece of wadding ,it is less powerful than a pea shooter, but makes an effective noise and smell of gunpowder.

Tool cane- turned ash shaft, brass ferrule from the Stickman, the head is a 7 inch brass hammer, in which nests four screwdrivers (purchased from Nauticalia) it is held in by brass hose fittings commonly available but modified by grinding and re-boring. The shaft is partially hollowed to accomodate the hammer handle.

Laser cane. Beech shaft, beaded brass collar, brass ferrule from the Stickman. Laser pointer from Maplins. Head accomodate the laser, and is made from brass hose fittings, two brass cupboard handles,and brass tubing covering the laser pointer, chamfering a brass fitting allows it to activate the button by pulling the fitting over the button, turning a button into a trigger. Milliput painted with red enamel paint completes this headgiving it a "Buck Rodgers raygun" appearance, with thevhead held to the shaft with a brass plated screw eye/ vine eye from Odds an Ends.

The fishing cane - ash shaft, brass beaded collar and ferrule and additional brass collars holding in the reel from The Stickman. The rod and reel (the latter is brass/ copper is from a pocket fishing rod from Nauticalia .The shaft is hollow to accomodate the rod which extend to five feet, the rod unscrews using my favourite hose fittings and a screw collar from Craft Supplies. The cane head is a brass fish tiller pin from a canal boat chandlers, they are excellent the knobs being the right size with a steel pin in exactly the right place to go into a cane shaft.

The gamers cane- beech shaft and brass ferrule from The Stickman, head is a compass set from Craft Supplies with compass removed and interior ground down, which contains a half size set of RPG dice. The head unscrews to create a dice cup, and expose a hollow section underneath with contins a pencil in a brass tube.These canes are accomodated in a rack with brass castors, finials and handles.

I heartily recommend Craft Supplies, check for "brass" on their website over a hundred items for cane, clock, instruments, pen making etc, wooden veneers are also available from them.

[Simon Hogwood]

Mr. Harrow, those all sound incredibly cool, especially the Tool Cane. Might we see pictures at some point?

[clockwork creation]

the cannon cane sounds exelent !