Finally Finished! I thought it would never happen

[Brian Brown]

It took 2 months but I finally finished the turning for this project. A while back, I posted about some croquet sets I was asked to make. Please, somebody teach me how to say NO! I really didn't have the time to do it well, but here are the results of the first set. All 3 sets have ben turned, but two still need to be painted, finished, and have the storage cart made by the final owner. This one is for the wife and me to use. I didn't get too ornate in the turning because they were intended for use. The mallet heads are made from ash, cut from baseball bat blanks, and the handles are made from hickory...crete. Man that stuff is hard. I used hickory because that was all I could find in the right size and color. Won't do that again. The storage cart is made from pine. Someday after I learn to turn a sphere, I will make wood balls, but for now these are just poly balls I got from an old set. A great project if I hadn't felt under the gun the whole time. I really needed to get on some other projects. I had just finished turning the last mallet when my lathe went on vacation. Fortunately, it is back now. Comments are welcome.

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[Jim Morgan]

Very nice! What did you use to color and finish the mallets?

[Kevin Jenness]

I have a friend who is part of an avid group of croquet players. Apparently some of his better-heeled friends have commissioned custom mallets from down under, so there is a market of sorts.

[Brian Brown]

I used Minwax walnut stain for the base color, and the wife just used craft store acrylic paint for the stripes. Then finished with a water based poly.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I hear your pain about starting a project and then regretting it. But they look nice and a year down the road you will look at them with pride and have forgotten the pain.