How to Make a Sander to Sand Walking Sticks

If you enjoy hiking or talking a stroll along the avenues and need a walking stick, make sure it is smooth and gentle to the touch when you hold it. You can greatly improve the grip and shaft when you sand and contour them for your grip and hand shape. Having a method of wrapping the sandpaper around the stick to ensure solid and even sanding is crucial when you sand the stick. Use some common household items to make an easy-to-use sander to smooth your walking stick.

Things You'll Need

  • Scissors or utility knife
  • Cutting board
  • Rubber can opener or rubber mat
  • Glue
  • Sandpaper
  • Power drill with drill bits (optional)
  • PVC tube (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Set the walking stick out on a bench or table. Grip the shaft or handle to see how far your hand goes around the walking stick. The purpose of measurement is to see how big a piece of sandpaper you need to form a cylinder around the stick. The sandpaper cylinder should be approximately the same size as your grip around the stick. If your fingers go all the way around, make the sandpaper the same length. If your hand goes halfway around, make the sandpaper strip the length and width of your hand as it goes around the stick.

    • 2

      Set out a sheet of sandpaper and the sheet of rubber. Cut out a piece of sandpaper the shape of your grip around the walking stick at its widest point, typically at the handle or top.

    • 3

      Cut a piece of the rubber in the same size as the sandpaper using a cutting board as a backstop. Glue the sandpaper to one side of the rubber.

    • 4

      Wrap the rubber-sandpaper around the stick with the sandpaper side on the wood. The rubber gives a contoured grip to the palm, which is nearly slip-free. Grip it as though you were holding the stick and turn it back and forth, sanding the entire circumference of the stick.

    • 5

      Change the sandpaper as needed to different grains by peeling the old piece off the rubber grip and gluing the new sandpaper on the rubber grip.