Gavels
I have been asked to make three gavels and blocks for a presentation.
Has anyone any helpful hints as to style and type of wood and also presentation box ideas. The commercial ones I have seen have a brass band around, can I buy these in the UK? A Happy New Year to All Regards Mike |
Gavels
Pretty much every secondary school around here has a
brass band. They play a lot of marching music. mike wrote: I have been asked to make three gavels and blocks for a presentation. Has anyone any helpful hints as to style and type of wood and also presentation box ideas. The commercial ones I have seen have a brass band around, can I buy these in the UK? |
Gavels
The gavels with brass banding around the head are primarily decorative
and the bands are meant to be engraved. I've never tried to obtain just the bands separate from the gavels but aren't they just short sections of large diameter brass tubing, or thin bar stock whose ends meet where the handle joins the head? The show/presentation gavels tend to be smaller in size than those that might see real use in a courtroom or town hall, probably because they don't occupy quite so much desk/shelf/wall space. If there's any chance that the recipient might be tempted to use it, even ceremonially, then you want to make one that's at least 10 inches long and of a size and heft that is in proportion to the user's body type. In other words you don't want to put a whopper of a mallet in the dainty hands of a petite female, or a small, delicate desk ornament in the hands of a judge of Wagnerian proportions. These tools must suit their users if they are to be truly appreciated. Any nice looking hardwood is acceptable. Walnut, maple, oak, beech and cherry are popular; mahogany, ebony and rosewood are for the truly special person and occasion; and cocobolo, bird's eye maple or some other highly figured wood (if you can find them in this size) are probably too nice to give away. If you're going to make the presentation box as well then a french fit is a class act. But you'll probably spend more time making the box than the gavel. Not all gavels are hammer style. There's a palm type that sort of looks like a handle-less hammer head. The ends tend to be of larger diameter than the hammer type because they are held on end in the palm of the hand. You can dish the sound/strike block to serve as a stand, or turn a flat face in the center of either end, to keep these ones from rolling off the desk... J. mike wrote: I have been asked to make three gavels and blocks for a presentation. Has anyone any helpful hints as to style and type of wood and also presentation box ideas. The commercial ones I have seen have a brass band around, can I buy these in the UK? A Happy New Year to All Regards Mike |
Gavels
A story...
I was working with a company which imported exotics from Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. I was asked by some sort of a lawyers' organization to make presentation gavels from lignum vitae -- one of the woods we imported. It seems that these are part of a tradition for the organization. Then, I saw their 'specs'. They required it to be made out of lignum vitae SAPWOOD! As I recall, they even specified the maximum percentage of heartwood which would be allowed. Well, under normal circumstances, lignum sapwood isn't any better than any other sapwood -- what people think of as lignum vitae is the heartwood. So, we didn't even import any of the sapwood -- no market, except for a bunch of crazy lawyers. My guess is that whoever made the gavels for them in the past, used whatever he could find and told them whatever was necessary to keep them happy, and keep them from suing anybody. Some jobs are better run away from then taken on and just the number of lawyers involved was enough to scare just about anybody. Anyway, I decided that they were trouble and that was that. Did anybody here get the job? Bill John wrote: The gavels with brass banding around the head are primarily decorative and the bands are meant to be engraved. I've never tried to obtain just the bands separate from the gavels but aren't they just short sections of large diameter brass tubing, or thin bar stock whose ends meet where the handle joins the head? The show/presentation gavels tend to be smaller in size than those that might see real use in a courtroom or town hall, probably because they don't occupy quite so much desk/shelf/wall space. If there's any chance that the recipient might be tempted to use it, even ceremonially, then you want to make one that's at least 10 inches long and of a size and heft that is in proportion to the user's body type. In other words you don't want to put a whopper of a mallet in the dainty hands of a petite female, or a small, delicate desk ornament in the hands of a judge of Wagnerian proportions. These tools must suit their users if they are to be truly appreciated. Any nice looking hardwood is acceptable. Walnut, maple, oak, beech and cherry are popular; mahogany, ebony and rosewood are for the truly special person and occasion; and cocobolo, bird's eye maple or some other highly figured wood (if you can find them in this size) are probably too nice to give away. If you're going to make the presentation box as well then a french fit is a class act. But you'll probably spend more time making the box than the gavel. Not all gavels are hammer style. There's a palm type that sort of looks like a handle-less hammer head. The ends tend to be of larger diameter than the hammer type because they are held on end in the palm of the hand. You can dish the sound/strike block to serve as a stand, or turn a flat face in the center of either end, to keep these ones from rolling off the desk... J. mike wrote: I have been asked to make three gavels and blocks for a presentation. Has anyone any helpful hints as to style and type of wood and also presentation box ideas. The commercial ones I have seen have a brass band around, can I buy these in the UK? A Happy New Year to All Regards Mike |
Gavels
John,
Thanks for the information. My thoughts are certainly concentrated now. I will try for some brass tube and get it engraved, and I have some nicely figured oak left over from a previous project which may work well. I take your point about the boxes and will probably just buy suitable ones. Although these are strictly for show and will never be used in anger, I want them to look and feel correct. Thanks again Mike |
Gavels
Bill,
I think you made the right decision. Mike |
Gavels
"mike" wrote in message ps.com... John, Thanks for the information. My thoughts are certainly concentrated now. I will try for some brass tube and get it engraved, and I have some nicely figured oak left over from a previous project which may work well. I take your point about the boxes and will probably just buy suitable ones. Although these are strictly for show and will never be used in anger, I want them to look and feel correct. The knocker, for lack of a better word, is usually mounted on a block which is hollowed from the rear for sound projection. I have a trophy place make a plaque to mount there rather than form it around the head of the gavel. Keeps everything quick and easy. Box-jointed glued top boxes are six in a day projects if you've a good router table. |
Gavels
One of the Dennis White videos has a good segment on making gavels. I
don't recall which one, I don't seem to have it in my collection. The brass band is not common, usually they are just wood. -mike |
Gavels
LOL.. There's a great photo on the NY Times web site home page right now
showing the new Speaker of the House holding a long, slender gavel over her head (and those of the children collected for this photo op). To my mind the gavel is a perfect example of being "proportionate to body type." Clearly a showpiece, it's somewhat longer than 10 inches but it looks good in her hand just the same. How apropos. J. mike wrote: John, Thanks for the information. My thoughts are certainly concentrated now. I will try for some brass tube and get it engraved, and I have some nicely figured oak left over from a previous project which may work well. I take your point about the boxes and will probably just buy suitable ones. Although these are strictly for show and will never be used in anger, I want them to look and feel correct. Thanks again Mike |
Gavels
I should add that it sure looks better than the "bug smiter" used by her
predecessor in office which seemed to be at least 10 inches in *diameter* and clearly intended to convey the message: "we'll crush you". J. John wrote: LOL.. There's a great photo on the NY Times web site home page right now showing the new Speaker of the House holding a long, slender gavel over her head (and those of the children collected for this photo op). To my mind the gavel is a perfect example of being "proportionate to body type." Clearly a showpiece, it's somewhat longer than 10 inches but it looks good in her hand just the same. How apropos. J. |
Gavels
Hi Mike
A little late, but here's a link to not just Gavels but a lot of other projects to make, as for the brass bands, if the gavels are to be used I would not put them on, they almost certainly will come flying off some day, unless you would use nails or screws to keep them on. http://www.woodturningonline.com/Tur..._projects.html Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum28.html mike wrote: I have been asked to make three gavels and blocks for a presentation. Has anyone any helpful hints as to style and type of wood and also presentation box ideas. The commercial ones I have seen have a brass band around, can I buy these in the UK? A Happy New Year to All Regards Mike |
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