Introduction: Make a Cane With a Built in 'weenie' Stick

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I’m an old man and have to use a cane when I walk. I also like to roast weenies at the park. I walk my little dog at the park, too, and there are sometimes some young tough guys there with their pit bulls who make my little dog and me, well, scared. But I digress, because this is about making a cane with a built in weenie roaster. First, the list of materials and tools:

Step 1 – Materials and Tools
Length of ½ inch copper pipe depending on your height
Wooden stick for a handle
¼ inch steel rod
A couple of suitable brass pipe fittings
Epoxy
JB Weld
Neomydium magnets
2 small brads with flat heads
6d finish nail

Propane torch
Dremel
Electric drill
Half inch spade drill bit
Small drill bit (same size as brads)
1/16” drill bit

Step 1: Install Cane Handle

Cut the copper pipe to length. A tubing or pipe cutter helps here, but you can use a hacksaw. Cut the handle to length. I used a stick cut from the brush pile in my back yard and it is cedar, I think. Hardwood and something prettier might be more your style so go for it. Just make sure it fits your hand nicely. Next drill a ½” hole in the bottom with a spade drill bit. Drill the hole as deep as you can and still maintain the integrity of the handle ( I drilled mine until the point of the spade bit just surfaced on the top side, leaving about a half inch of solid wood.) The pipe is a bit bigger than the hole so I had to use my trusty Dremel and small sanding drum to enlarge the hole ever so slightly. You want a good tight fit. Then apply a good epoxy and insert the pipe into the handle. When the epoxy is set, drill a 1/16” hole completely through the pipe and handle (you can see the nail in the first picture) apply a little epoxy to the finish nail and slide it through. When the epoxy is set, cut off the ends of the nail and grind it down.

Step 2: Make the weenie Stick

Cut the steel rod as long as you want your ‘weenie’ stick to be. I used two brass fittings – a ½” bayonet to ½” pipe threads and a ½” end plug. There are several ways to do this and many possible fittings that would work so use your imagination. Use a cutoff wheel in your Dremel to make several perpendicular cuts in the part of the rod that will be inside the fittings. This will help the JB Weld to hold better. Screw the fittings together very tightly. Mix up the JB Weld and coax it into the end of the bayonet fitting. This is a little tricky because it wants to air-lock. Once you have enough in to fill the void, insert the rod and stand the whole thing up so it will set straight. Let it cure for about twice as long as normal to make sure its solid. I then used my Dremel to round the fittings to remove the ‘plumbing fitting’ look of the thing.

Step 3: Install the Magnetic Holder


I was lucky enough to find some suitable neomydium magnets at Allelectronics.com (a super internet vendor, by the way.) They are .475” x .380” with a .25 inch hole in the center, perfect for the ¼” rod skewer. I used three of these. They were a bit too small in diameter for the ½’ pipe so I added a few wraps of black electrical tape so they would just slide down the tube easily but not move around. They seemed to hold best when right at the sharpened end of the skewer so I stuck them on and laid the skewer next to the tube and marked each end of the magnets. (Sorry about these pics – I am a better inventer than photographer and didn’t catch this until I had passed this step) Now, drill a small hole the same diameter as the brad nails at each mark. You will notice scratch marks all over the tube in the picture, so do as I say and not as I do and hunt up a center punch to avoid the drill bit from crawling all over the tube. Cut the brads so they are just long enough to hold the magnets without interfering with the center hole. Solder the upper brad in place, slide the magnets in against it and then solder the lower brad in place. One important note: I found the magnets not quite strong enough to hold the skewer really snug but overcame this by adding a couple wraps of electrical tape to the bayonet fitting which added just enough friction to hold it well. Another thing to try would be to glue a rubber O ring or two on the bayonet fitting.

Step 4: Clean It Up and Paint

Sand the handle, stain and apply any other coating of your choice. Grind the extra solder and nail heads off on the shaft so they are smooth and paint and you’re done. Boy, will those weenies or their hot dogs be surprised when you skewer them!!!  Remember, never pick on an old man.  He may be too feeble and weak to fight back and he'll just kill you.