Kayden

Well this is completely different! I was approached by  a friend who asked if I could make a hiking stick. Of course I said yes, even though I had never done it before. This is the result. Kayden is made from several different woods. The bottom is ash, a good solid wood that should hold up really well for years. The top is made from hard maple and alder. Connecting the two pieces was a puzzle for me. How to attach two pieces of wood together end to end? I had to make it in two sections because my lathe isn't long enough to turn 5 feet of wood. So I decided that a wooden sleeve should work. I hollowed a piece of walnut and turned it down to the proper size and used epoxy to attach everything.

Shelbee

Shelbee is the newest cane. She was completed this afternoon. Made from mahogany and walnut. I tried a new cane handle and I like it a lot! My father suggested a different type of handle,  so I wanted to try it out. This one is a pear shaped brass knob. I am toying with the idea of a glass knob. We'll see what happens. 

Shelbee

Artisan Center Reception

My canes are being shown at the Artisan Center in Corydon, Indiana tonight, November 15th. They are on display and for sale. The canes will be on display through the end of the year and would make very nice Christmas presents. (Hint, hint!) So come on down and check them out. The reception is at 7:00 tonight and many of the local artists, including me, will be there to talk and answer questions about our art.

Sereena

Sereena

Sereena is a beauty. She is made of several different varieties of wood. There is American Walnut, Maple, White Oak, and African Padauk included in this creation.

Sereena

I decided on a spiral design for Sereena and I think it fits her very well. She sports a polished brass handle in the shape of an eagle head. She was completed on November 7th, 2014. She will be joining Tessa, Whiskey and Rye at the craft fair at the Harrison County Hospital tomorrow morning.

Whiskey and Rye

Whiskey and Rye

My newest canes are brothers, related but not identical. Whiskey and Rye and very handsome with checkerboards of American Walnut and African Padauk respectively. These two will more than likely be offered up for sale at the upcoming craft fair at the Harrison County Hospital in November.

Whiskey

Whiskey is made from Maple and American Walnut. It is highly polished and quite striking in appearance. The checkerboard pattern is made of 3/4" pieces, the largest I have tried so far and I think it turned out pretty nicely.

Rye

Rye is a little different, with Maple at the top and American Walnut at the bottom, there is a detail of African Padauk and Maple. I really like the red of the African Padauk, it adds color and impact to the piece.

Tessa

Tessa is the newest addition to the family. She is made of American Walnut and Maple. She has a sort of Art Deco feel to her and has some detailed turnings of this nature. She sports an eagle handle. Tessa is very pretty and highly polished to show off the details of her grain. Never mind the mess in the shop please!

Tessa

UPDATE: Tessa has been donated to the Corydon Presbyterian Church to be sold at the craft fair coming up on November 22nd. I hope she goes to a good home.

Wooden canes

Welcome to Parrott Wood Turnings.

My name is Jeff Parrott. I have been a woodworker for many years, building various things like furniture and clocks and just about anything that strikes my fancy. Recently I became interested in creating artistic canes.

Many years ago I met another woodworker named Grover Lilpop. He was in his 80's when I met him. He carried a cane that was beautiful and I asked how he made it. He explained the process and I thought it would be too hard to replicate. But 35 years later I decided to try. My canes are each one of a kind, using various types of wood and various patterns that I think up as I make the cane.

All of my canes feature a brass tip with a removable rubber tip. When the tip is unscrewed it reveals a stainless steel spike which is for use in icy conditions when the rubber tip may slip. All of the canes I have produced so far have brass heads, but I am thinking of making some wooded heads too, so that may change.

I will be posting new photos of each cane I produce and I will also edit them to let everyone know which ones have been sold.

Each of my canes has a name. They are all unique and quite different and deserve a name. So let's start with the first one I made, Elaine.

Elaine is made of American Walnut and Maple woods. She is not perfect since she was my first. She has flaws in her pattern and color differences, but she is still awfully beautiful in my opinion.

Elaine

Next was Leigh. Leigh is made of Red Oak and American Walnut. Her pattern is a bit better and the color differences are controlled better. She is definitely a lady, with a small waist and very nice curves.

Leigh

Each of my canes is different yet they all are a part of me, so I don't really recall which one I made next, but I think it was Wyckoff. Wyckoff is made of American Walnut and African Padauk. Padauk is a red colored wood and I felt the red would offset the brown of the walnut. Wyckoff is named after my grandfather Wyckoff Piatt Bottorff. He is sturdy and strong and unique.

Wyckoff

Caramie. Caramie reminds a friend of a caramel apple and that's where the name comes from. I really like her, she is unique and sports American Walnut, Maple and African Padauk woods. She is mostly walnut with just highlights of the other colors.

Caramie

Now we get to the sisters. I produced both of these next two canes at the same time and I really love both of them. Aleigha and Maleigha are quite alike, yet as different as sisters can be. Both are Hard Maple and American Walnut, but Aleigha has a couple of bands of Afican Padauk mixed in. Maleigha has a small checkerboard design made up of walnut and maple. Each has some details turned into them to add character and beauty.

Aleigha

Maleigha

Melody is next. Melody was an experiment that turned out pretty well. She is made of Maple, Red Oak, African Padauk and American Walnut. She is slender and has very nice curves. She has her flaws, a mark in the maple hear the bottom adds character to her beauty, I tend to think of it as a beauty mark.

Melody

Stanna. Beautiful Stanna. Isn't she beautiful? She is made of Maple, African Padauk and Walnut. She has some detail turned into the shaft on my lathe and some dark lines that I felt offset the details quite nicely. She has a checkerboard pattern of walnut and padauk as well as some bands of walnut. One of the most beautiful canes I have made to date.

Stanna

Sienna is the first cane I have produced which is a solid color from top to bottom. She is 100% solid American Walnut with some subtle turnings and black lines to add detail and character.

Sienna

Hunter is my latest cane. Hunter is quite different. I actually went to my scrap box and picked out woods that I could use for a "random pattern" for the details. Hunter is made of many different woods. There is American Walnut of course, and some maple, red oak, African Padauk for a little color, Kentucky Coffee Tree was thrown in there too. I think that's all, but there may be more! He is a very handsome cane, with a goose head for a handle.

Hunter

There is one other cane that I made which is no longer with me, but I wanted to mention her. Her name was Everly. Everly was made up of Kentucky Coffee Tree, African Padauk, American Walnut, and Red Oak. She sported an eagle head and was very pretty. Unfortunately she was also weak and had a few broken glue joints. She was unusable as a support device and was only suitable for an art piece. I'll miss her, but I know she is in a better place.

Everly

All of my canes are for sale, but because of the detail and workmanship they are not inexpensive. They do vary in price but they all range between $250 and $400, with the most expensive being the more highly detailed canes like Stanna and Hunter and something like Everly.