My 18 inch Grizzly lathe can accommodate short segments of stock. Walking sticks can be up to 54 inches long with three segments i have to make 15 of these for grandchildren and parents. These are made from cherry, walnut, sassafras, gum. Others will be made of whatever scraps I have. Segments are fastened together with double threaded fasteners about 1/4 inch by about 2 inches long. I used them to install stairway balusters once. A little glue between the segments, a vise, and a small pipe wrench to screw them together. They are pretty simple, and an inept woodworker like me can do it in about 2 hours.