In early 2007 Tony came to us and wanted to know if we were interested in doing a special project for him.  It was to produce a new weapon that he had designed - the Falcon self defense cane.  

Tony knew that the product had to made from the highest quality hickory available in order to survive a fight. The construction of the parts had to be precise, the final design had to be clean and attractive.  There was only one company that  had those qualifications and history to produce such a product and that was Purpleheart Armoury.

Tony explained to us that the new product was to be a practical, attractive walking cane, modified with a few special features.  We looked at various walking canes that were on the market.  Many of them have twists, points, and hooks on them that could inflict some damage, but they didn't have that special look to them.

Attractive hooks.  Sharp and no doubt will case pain, but not the style we were looking for and may not last past one battle.

The traditional derby style.  Very attractive and inconspicuous, but might not have that 'bite' we want from a weapon.

We went back to the drawing board and both of us worked on a few ideas we had.  Tony made a prototype that week out of some of the local Australian hardwood and a bokken that he picked up at a local martial arts supply store.

Tony's homemade prototype got us in the right direction.

First CAD model that I was starting to like.

Now it was my turn to get some of these made. Tony had seminars in Italy, the US and no telling where else so contact was limited.  My next step was to do some research on how to fight with a cane.  That gave me some ideas on what a person is looking for in a cane in terms of strength, handling characteristics, and good looks.  I wanted this thing strong so I researched construction methods for canes and made my wood selection, particularly the handle and Falcon's head. Impact grade Hickory was a given for the shaft, we decided on Jatoba for the handle and Falcon's head.  Now its time to make some sawdust!

Here Chris is tweaking a shaft detail on the bandsaw.	There were more details on this then I initially expected.  I went back and forth on the saw to the router quite a few times to get the shaft all cleaned up.
A nice little lineup of handles.	Here we have the handles on, next is the final shaping and adding the Falcon's head.