30-09-2011, 01:56 PM
I'll be on my travels soon for a couple of weeks so didn't have time to start on my Pye Fenman1 which will be my next restoration project. However, as I was visiting a forum chum who is multi-skilled and has a very well equipped workshop, with a few hours to spare I puzzled my brain as to what I could make him in wood that he hadn't already got. Many years ago, the better quality woodcarving/woodworking mallets were made of lignum vitae, one of the hardest woods there is, which is full of natual oil and so has been used for ships propeller shaft bearings. In Brockleby Park - a private estate in North Lincs close to Barton on Humber, there is a clock in tower of a stable block made entirely of wood by the renowned clockmaker John Harrison of 'longitude' fame, which he made in 1722, and which still keeps perfect time today after almost 290 years. The clock has never had a drop of oil - Harrison made the bearings from lignum vitae as it is self-lubricating. What a clever and skilled man he was.
As lignum vitae - a tropical hardwood - is nowadays a protected species, there is only one common source from which to reclaim it - of all things, old bowling green balls (bowls?). Modern ones are made from some type of plastic, and I believe that wooden ones are no longer permitted for comepetitive purposes as they had to be tested and certified periodically, and such testing facilities no longer exist.
I was lucky enough to come across a couple of balls recently and they're just the right size for a woodcarvers mallet. Hence, I turned one for myself, and one for my chum. He'd previously given me a 'burning wire' with which to scorch rings onto handles of chisels and so forth on the lathe as an embelishment, so it seemed apt to burn some rings on the shaft of the mallet, which I turned from a piece of ash.
As lignum vitae is so hard, it's the very devil to turn and to get a nice finish as it just laughs at sandpaper, so had to be finished with fine cuts using a scraper. To polish the finished mallet, I ran it at high speed in the lathe with a cloth against it, and the heat from the friction brought out the natural oils. I spent an enjoyable day with my chum yesterday, and was relieved when the mallet passed his rigourous inspection.
(Any guesses who he might be?!!!).
I've attached some pics - one of the ball and ash for the shaft prior to turning, another an end on view (which makes the head look larger than it actually is), and one from the side to show a proper perspective.
Hope it's of interest.
As lignum vitae - a tropical hardwood - is nowadays a protected species, there is only one common source from which to reclaim it - of all things, old bowling green balls (bowls?). Modern ones are made from some type of plastic, and I believe that wooden ones are no longer permitted for comepetitive purposes as they had to be tested and certified periodically, and such testing facilities no longer exist.
I was lucky enough to come across a couple of balls recently and they're just the right size for a woodcarvers mallet. Hence, I turned one for myself, and one for my chum. He'd previously given me a 'burning wire' with which to scorch rings onto handles of chisels and so forth on the lathe as an embelishment, so it seemed apt to burn some rings on the shaft of the mallet, which I turned from a piece of ash.
As lignum vitae is so hard, it's the very devil to turn and to get a nice finish as it just laughs at sandpaper, so had to be finished with fine cuts using a scraper. To polish the finished mallet, I ran it at high speed in the lathe with a cloth against it, and the heat from the friction brought out the natural oils. I spent an enjoyable day with my chum yesterday, and was relieved when the mallet passed his rigourous inspection.
(Any guesses who he might be?!!!).I've attached some pics - one of the ball and ash for the shaft prior to turning, another an end on view (which makes the head look larger than it actually is), and one from the side to show a proper perspective.
Hope it's of interest.
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
