90 minutes in the shop this morning, but quite a bit of progress.

First, I shaped the handle a bit more. When Greg tried it on Friday, we made marks where the handle felt “too big” to him, and I removed those marks with the small spokeshave. No photos.

Next, I trimmed the cane shaft to the proper length, then thinned the end a bit so the tip would fit on the shaft.

Then I grabbed a scrap to hold the handle and put it in my carving vise. I mixed up some white grain-filler, and applied it with nitrile gloves, rubbing first with the grain, then across the grain.

I didn’t get the open pores completely filled, but once this coat dries, I’ll sand back with some 0000 steel wool, then start applying oil, sanding lightly (again with 0000 steel wool) between each coat, which should finish filling the grain with wood dust and oil.