I'm looking for a lightweight High impact wood

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Brooks803

Brooks803

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Aiken, South Carolina
I'm gonna try my hand at making a Polo mallet. The head of the mallet is typically made of ash or maple. I'm looking for something a bit unique that can take that type of punishment (think baseball bat punishment). From what I've researched it would need to have a tight grain. Weight is gonna be the tricky part. Each mallet head weights between 160 - 200 grams, if you include the shaft and handle its around 530g. The dimmensions are around 47mm diameter by 230mm length. Anyhow, I'm just asking for various types of woods that I could further research. I'm not much of a wood person so I don't have much to go on. Thanks in advance for any help/ideas.
 

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Jonathon:
I live smack dab in the middle of one of the largest polo areas around. Many professional American and Argentine, world class players live, practice and play here.

Most of these guys prefer Alder (an ash), with no lamination and a handle that is screwed as well as epoxied to the mallet.

After spending as much as a million dollars on polo ponies (most are actually Argentine thorobreds) and maybe fifty to one hundred thousand dollars to have the match horses trained not to flinch, buck, etc when swinging a stick in front if them or getting hit by hard moving objects. You need professional polo advice...you DON'T want to get this one wrong!

Make sure the mallet falls within exact polo specs also. Then have it "certified" by a polo official.Being accused of winning with "outlaw" equipment is a social faux pas in these circles.
Having a $250,000 horse or a multi-millionaire injured by faulty or sub-standard equipment is also a real concern.

Find a professional player. There are some in your area. They will give the exact rules and specs and their preferences.

Good luck, this is a tough group!
 
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PTownSubbie said:
sbell111 said:
I mix both colors and add MEKP to each. As soon as they start to thicken, I pour them both in the mold, kinda pouring them around one another, if that makes sense. I then gently mix them just a bit with a stir stick.
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Yep. Give it a go. Just don't get too quick on the mixing. Over time you will get a better feel for the "sweet spot" time to pour.

Don't give up....it takes time and conditions change all the time making casting challenging all the time!!! Best you can do is have good techniques and a good log book.
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PenMan1 said:
Jonathon:
I live smack dab in the middle of one of the largest polo areas around. Many professional American and Argentine, world class players live, practice and play here.

Most of these guys prefer Alder (an ash), with no lamination and a handle that is screwed as well as epoxied to the mallet.

After spending as much as a million dollars on polo ponies (most are actually Argentine thorobreds) and maybe fifty to one hundred thousand dollars to have the match horses trained not to flinch, buck, etc when swinging a stick in front if them or getting hit by hard moving objects. You need professional polo advice...you DON'T want to get this one wrong.

Make sure the mallet falls within exact polo specs also. Being accused of winning with "outlaw" equipment is a social faux pas in these circles.

Find a professional player. There are some in your area. They will give the exact rules and specs and their preferences.

Good luck, this is a tough group!
Click to expand...

I live on a polo farm and we have a pro from argentina living here now. I've been talking with him about this for a while now. This mallet will be for me to use since I recently started playing. I don't think this wil be anything more than a "hell I wonder if I can make one" ideas. I plan on starting with a hand mallet to test durability before going full size. Besides, our pro wont use anything other than argentine mallets n I think most players are like that. Thanks for the info though. I never thought id like polo n now I love it.
 
Great sport...tons of fun... Hard on horses...and rookies, and old, fat guys just embarrass ourselves after awhile.

So, the Argentine will keep you straight! I thought that you were thinking making them for sale! My first thought was "he is a great guy, a talented pen maker and about to enter the "twilight zone".

Living on a polo farm, you obviously realize exactly what I was hinting at!

Does your farm also have an arena? Totally different game, but to me, just as fun.
 
Not sure at all about polo specs, but in terms of wood:

Purpleheart is a very dense and hard wood. Mesquite is very stable....both are very pretty! :smile:

Here's a list of woods by 'harness'...remember that all wood is different, so species from different trees will vary according to the type of grain they possess, but it give you a ballpark..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

Ash is 1320 on the Janka scale, so I'd guess that any hardwood above ash on the chart should do you fine
 
PenMan1 said:
Great sport...tons of fun... Hard on horses...and rookies, and old, fat guys just embarrass ourselves after awhile.

So, the Argentine will keep you straight! I thought that you were thinking making them for sale! My first thought was "he is a great guy, a talented pen maker and about to enter the "twilight zone".

Living on a polo farm, you obviously realize exactly what I was hinting at!

Does your farm also have an arena? Totally different game, but to me, just as fun.
Click to expand...


It is alot of fun...I'm still learning to ride so I'm not exactly good at any of it yet (I can hit the crap outta the ball though). We have an outdoor field here where I live. It's not full size, maybe 3/4 the size of an outdoor field. I haven't seen arena polo before, but I have been told about it and how different it really is. Alex (our pro) has been helping me out getting my pens into the polo world. I'll even be making some as trophies for the winning players of some local tournaments. He's a cool guy and becoming a really good friend. When I'm not working he hires me to be his photographer at the tournaments he plays in. I'll search through my comp and see if I can find a pic or two of our place/polo field.
 
Cottonwod is light, and very hard. Also Apple wood is hard, and Persimmon comes to mind, it is what a lot of wooden golf clubs were made out of. Just my thoughts.
 
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