Weird Chinese Mop Handle with Two Types of Wood

[Pat Barry]

"Glue" is not really a good answer. We all know the work it takes to glue wood together this precisely, and why do it when you can go to the nearest Chinese or Siberian forest, free of all types of environmental regulations, and cut trees that don't need to be glued together?

Gluing scrap wood together is more expensive than cutting up trees.

1) You are correct. I should have said glue and clamps.
2) If it were more expensive they wouldn't do it.

[tom lucas]

love the mallet. Why not glue up scraps, especially if the surfaces are already prepped? I need to do this with some of my scraps.

[Roger Davis]

Where did you buy the mop?

[Rich Engelhardt]

How can more labor not cost more money?

That assumes the people doing the labor are being paid. A lot of them would just be sitting in their cells doing nothing.....
Also - China has a few thousand year old tradition for not wasting anything.

[roger wiegand]

People have been making and using mop handles made of solid wood for a lot of years and I haven't heard any problems about them breaking or being too heavy.

You have been fortunate indeed then. (Or I am way too heavy-handed) Pretty much every inexpensive mop-type device that comes into our house ends up in the trash with a broken handle. Many are made from the infamous "Chinese white wood" that has virtually no strength. They often don't last out the first use.

The last couple of brooms from the borg just gave up the ghost, they had 'look of real wood' metal handles that set into a plastic ferrule at the top of the OK corn broom head. First the metal bent then the ferrule broke. Just got really wonderful new brooms made in Lancaster County PA that look like they will last for many years. Those handles appear to be ash. They cost 3x what the HD ones did, but will easily last 10x longer.

I, for on, would be pleased to find a handle like the OP's; it appears that someone actually thought about the problem and implemented a solution that makes good use of materials to produce a more durable product.

[John Goodin]

Just speculation but the material may be waste from another product and obtained for next to nothing.

As far as labor is concerned there are lots of products, fingered jointed trim for example, where the increased labor/manufacturing cost is significantly less than the costs of better material.

[Rod Sheridan]

How can more labor not cost more money? Even in China, labor, machinery, and power cost money. There has to be a reason why they did this. Somehow, it has to cost LESS money than solid wood.

I wondered if it was bamboo.

Steve, for the same reason that finger jointed wood is less expensive than solid, with automated high speed machinery the ability to use scrap is cost effective.........Rod.

[Tom Bender]

Good way to make a straight handle that stays straight.