About twenty years ago I made my first, and only walking stick, which my father still owns and uses. I really enjoyed the process, so was quite keen on looking through Charles Self's new book, aptly subtitled "How to Craft Canes and Sticks from Rustic to Fancy".

After a brief introduction the author shows a profile of some very nice sticks from the collection of Albert LeCroff. This certainly whetted my appetite for what was to come.

The next part of the book, "Getting Started", running some 48 pages, takes you through the process of making a walking stick. While there is some good material here, it's really bogged down. For example, there are 8 pages of wood profiles, which could very easily have been condensed into 1 page. Just about every woodworking book I own repeats the same litany of wood species. Maybe it's good filler for the author, but I feel its just 'more of the same'. Then there are 3 pages on glue - though adhesives are hardly referenced elsewhere in the book. Likewise, the author gives us 3 pages on clamps followed by 15 pages on various tools, and 7 pages on finishing.

The photos in the first part of the book are often not especially informative, merely illustrating the obvious. Also, many of the photos are not sharp and appear not to be colour corrected.

The second part of the book provides 15 projects. There are four 'flat' walking sticks, followed by three 'bark on' sticks, two willow sticks, five turned sticks, and one laminated cane. There is also a few pages of patterns for handles and shafts.

In general these projects are not overly inspiring, and there is too much repetition. The four flat sticks look are largely indistinguishable, as are the bark on sticks. Unfortunately the author does not provide patterns for any of the canes in the Albert LeCroff collections. Neither does he provide much variation in the way of handles.

Overall, this is a disappointing book.

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