Comments A Finished Cane

Overview: A Friendship Cane segment exchange.

Official Name: World Wide Woodc@rvers Exchange - Friendship Cane Division (W3E-FCD)

To Join: You must be currently subscribed to the Woodc@rver Listserve, Knotty Wood Porch, Woodcarving Fun, ASA List, Knotholes List , Fish Carver2 List, the MiWCA List, WoodCarvingFun List or the W3E-WOM List to participate. (Previous participants and members of other carving lists may seek a waiver from the W3E Director.)

Object: To produce and exchange segments for a "Friendship Cane."

A Friendship Cane consists of a 5/8" dowel, a cap, handle and foot, and a number of segments carved by different carvers. The segments are 2" x 2" x 3" long blanks with a 5/8" hole bored the length, and are assembled on the dowel between the cap and foot, with the handle about 3/4 of the way up. Typically, 16 segments are used to construct a cane, although there is no strict standard. To have 16 segments you will need to join two exchange groups.

Friendship Canes are sometimes assembled as door prizes at carving shows. This is an opportunity to have a friendship cane without buying a boat load of door prize tickets!

The definitive book on friendship canes is most likely Carving A Friendship Cane with Tom Wolfe and His Friends. In this case, the Friends are members of Caricature Carvers of America, but segments can also be done by chip carvers, pyrographers, animal carvers, etc. Participants in this activity are encouraged to beg, borrow or buy a copy of this useful guide. Click here to see the Front Cover and Back Cover of Tom's book. (Photos used by kind permission of Tom Wolfe.)

This is a potentially LONG TERM commitment. Participants will carve 8 segments and ship 7 off to other participants. Participants may carve 8 (near) identical pieces, if desired, or carve 8 completely different segments. The commitment will be to carve and ship an average of one segment per month, making this project up to 8 months long. (It could be much shorter if folks get on a roll.)

Note: The first nine groups consisted of 16 carvers each. Beginning with Group 10 in November 2000, the group size was reduced to 8.

Too busy for to carve 8 cane segments? Check out the Cane Segment Round-robin. Short term, small groups of four - just the thing if your time is limited.

Any carver who can carve or burn eight 2"x2"x3" hunks of wood. Caricature carvers, realistic carvers, bird carvers, animal carvers, chip carvers, pyrographers, relief carvers, etc. etc. Like W3E exchanges, enthusiasm for carving is more important than skill level.

Due to the time commitment, this program is clearly NOT for everyone.

To register for W3E-FCD, go to the Enrollment form page. Read the form, enter the requested information, and submit the form. Sit back and think about what you will carve. Scout out sources for 8 pieces of 2"x 2" x3" carving wood.

Within the bounds of reasonably good taste, whatever style and topic you wish to carve, as long as it's done on a 2" x 2" x 3" long block. Being forced to use this size block is a "liberating limitation." (Ya' gotta do it in that 2x2x3" size, which means you can't do complex, detailed pieces.)

For 50 or more ideas for cane segments, visit the Cane Idea List.

For hints on assembly, info on obtaining blank segments or finished turnings, click here.

Interested in starting an exchange in your local club? If so, here's help in the form of a blank Roster and Schedule, along with a filled out Sample Roster. Need more help? You may use the information on these pages, but please be sure to acknowledge the source. If you have further questions, fell free to contact Matt Kelley at the email address below.

Email the W3E Director, Matt Kelley, at womeditorATcomcastDOTnet. Please be sure to include "W3E-FCD Question" in the Subject field.

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Last updated 2/12