When I acquired this stick it was quite unusable. The stub ends of the roots had been left attached to the knob and in time these had frayed, so gripping the knob was rather like trying to grip the wrong end of a wire brush! This was extremely uncomfortable and would have severely chafed the palm of the hand if used for any length of time.

Accordingly, I filled the surface of the knob with several applications of pigmented epoxy resin in black,grey and dark brown. This consolidated the loose fibres into a hard composite material which I was then able to smooth down and polish up to provide a comfortable and good-looking knob. Purist collectors will doubtless wince at this, and I certainly wouldn't do anything so radical to a valuable antique. However, my primary concern was to turn this item into a usable and cherished walking stick of character, rather than have it end up as a dusty old curiosity stuck away in a dark corner.

The original ferrule was missing (as usual!), so I replaced it with a new steel-tipped brass one secured with hot-melt glue.