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Mike McClure

Honeycomb Lightweight 009

If you play with "Dawson" balls you will have noticed that they are a lot livelier than the older balls.  A lighter mallet can provide some benefits.

These have a honeycombed brass head which allows a weight reduction of up to 7 ounces! while still maintaining physical integrity.

Standard weight for a 254mm (10") Yellowboy LW is 0.91kg (2.0lbs)

The only visual difference is the Blue Sightlines..

All the changes are internal.

New for 2009.... Direct from the maker in Egypt..

These are the same lightweight golf croquet heads that are used by the Egyptian World Champions.  I have drilled the heads so they can take any of the Terminator handles. Duncan Dixon really likes the carbon flex Terminator handles (for golf croquet)

• Good thick Tufnol faces.
• Industry standard handle socket.
•  Plastic laminated bottom to keep the water out.
• Embedded sight line
• Length 230mm (9")  65mm square.   weight 0.830kg (1lb 13oz)

Yellowboy Heads

These ends are a 2-piece construction. 10mm of brass, backed up with a block of aluminium.

Brass is very heavy and it is well suited for making the striking faces. Its main problem is that it is almost impossible to glue!. All the normal epoxies and super glues just fall off (when given a good whack with tensile test).

Metals were banned for the striking faces (until recently). The laws now are more relaxed and allow anything that doesn't damage the balls (sharp edges.) This change makes good sense because it identifies the risk (sharp edges) and frees up the material specification. Interestingly, some of the new composite plastics are way harder than brass.

The body of the mallet is an aluminium (50mm square ) tube. After all the machining is done they are anodised and filled with a light-weight (closed cell) foam and assembled in an eight ton press.

Both Terminator's have black tops and a central sighting line.

New Hammergrip handles.

                                                          Super comfortable

These have an oval cross section and taper wider towards the top of the handle. This wide-angle photo exaggerates the view.

Every time I'm on holiday or away playing,  I can't help looking at the latest trends and keeping an open mind about things that have stood the test of time.

Virtually every handle in a sports shop is tapered or is thicker at the (wrist) end. It makes sense.. Something that thickens at the end isn't likely to slip out of (my) hand.. even when it is slippery.

Hardly any handles are circular in cross section (ok.. billiard cue..) Most have an oval, octagonal, or some variation in between.

The shape of a builders hammer has evolved over centuries and it provides good clues to ergonomic design.

So.. I've made a compound machine that can machine a complex tapered oval handle for croquet mallets.

The foam used is a medium firm closed cell that feels good in your hand and doesn't attract or hold water (sweat or rain).

The shaft is aluminium tube and runs the full length of the handle. There is a stiffening component inside the handle that runs up to a bit above hoop height. This stiffener gives you 2 main advantages.

•      1.. the shaft is strong and rigid at the business end

•      2.. the modest flex in the upper end means you never get jarring in your wrists.

New Key and Keyway

Terminators are all made with interchangeable heads ~ handles which makes them really good for transport and "mix and match".

If a round handle turns a little bit in the head.... no great problem.. BUT if a hand-fitting handle starts turning then much sadness.! Suddenly ,you are looking down the lawn but your mallet head is pointing somewhere else....

To overcome the twisting forces (where the handle joins  the head) I've added a NEW small raised key on the bottom end of the handle. This fits into a NEW keyway that is machined into the (head) socket.

The head and handle are firmly located.  Even with just modest pressure on the bottom retaining screw, the handle and head won't twist.

The spigot and socket are industry standard 25mm dia. There is slight clearance near the top to ease assembly.