Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Monday, Athletics in full swing.
With athletics in mid fall swing, trivia today is to write what woods are used to make the following:
Cricket bats, polo mallet, table tennis bat, fly rods, lacrosse stick, lawn bowls balls, field hockey stick.
There are variations of course, my answers tonight.
Re: Monday, Athletics in full swing.
I don't know all of these, but I believe Cricket bats are made from Willow, Lacrosse sticks are made from ash, fly rods are bamboo ( not true wood), lawn bowling(bocce) I think are maple. Not sure of the others. How'd I do ?
Monday answers
Don was correct mostly. There are lots of answers but here are the more common woods and substances.
Cricket bats are made of willow but the handle is made of 16 pieces of cane squared, glued and turned. The willow takes the shock and the cane removes it from the hands. Cricket balls are thrown at 80 mph. A decent cricket bat costs upwards of $250.00
Field hockey sticks are ash in wood but now also Kevlar, fiberglass, aramid and aluminum.
The more famous quality fly rods are bamboo ($2500 to $15000 for old pristine ones) but also lace wood and ash. when the U.S. boycotted Chinese goods in the 50's and 60's there was no good (Tonkin) bamboo. Only then did rod makers reluctantly move to other woods and man made materials. When China was recognized once again (Nixon did at least one thing right) the Nation's orchestras got real gongs and rodmakers and fishermen good bamboo.
Table tennis rackets when wood are mostly plywood (Russian or Baltic)but the faces, one red, and one black (which must be shown to the opponent) can be rubber, vinyl, sandpaper, and may even have sponge or fiberglass underneath the covering like Kevlar, nomex or other removable surface to provide power or spin. Naked (no cover) rackets are not permitted in competition. Aluminum and titanium rackets are also available.
Polo mallets heads are of sycamore, ash, or bamboo and the handle is cane. A polo ball is struck with the side of the mallet head--not the tapered end as a hammer. The original ball was an enemy's head.
Traditional bowls balls are Lignum Vitae. The bowls balls are always made in fours and from the same log. Bowls is not bocce (even though the object is similar) as the balls have a weight (bias, often ivory) that allows them to curve. An accurately rolled bowls ball does not bounce or wobble on its course. No bowls ball set is alike and the real balls must be kept cool and polished or they will crack. Today plastic is also used, but not for the true bowler.