Make a handsome wooden walking stick for almost nothing

Step 6 Joining them all together

Don't forget, the buffalo horn is a nice addition but not absolutely necessary. You may use a flat piece of contrasting wood, plywood (for the striped effect) or bone if you want a spacer. feel free to modify that stage!

Make sure your handle and shank are the same width and adjust the handle if necessary. The horn spacer will even out the differences in shape.

pic 19  drill the centre of the handle with the 8mm drill. Go about the distance as half the  length of the 8mm stud.

pic 20 a slice of buffalo horn (bone will do also but if the handle and shank have the same profile you can leave the horn out of it.)

pic 21 tack the slice of horn onto the top of the shank with glue. let it dry

pic 22 drill into the centre of the shank deep enough to allow the rest of the stud to fit

pic 23 the pieces married up. Take off the horn slice now and clean the joints of any glue.

pic 24 Resin. I have a tin of fibreglass resin lying about this is great to use but is a pink colour, no good if it is visible. Alternately use a good quality epoxy such as this. This is from the £1 shop. There is enough to make 3 sticks if used carefully

pic 25 mix the resin and coat half the stud with it. I am going to do the shank first. I held the shank lightly in the vice to keep it upright. Using a wooden stick i spooned some resin down the hole in the shank and a little on the top of it, then i put the horn spacer on it and dropped the stud into the hole. Sorry no pics of this process as it takes minutes to set and I didn't fancy getting my £300 camera glued up! Before this has all set; coat the inside of the handle with resin and again coat the threads.

pic 26 carefully press the whole thing together rotating the handle to line up the sides. wipe any glue with a cloth and carefully remove any residue on the shank with a damp cloth. Hold the stick now with a downward pressure. I usually sit down and wait til the resin has set but you may be able to improvise a rig that will keep them together. It take about 5 minutes.