For the October 2016 workshop we were back
in familiar territory, in Leo O’Donoghue’s comfortable workshop in Little
Island.
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| Some of the attendance |
For his project Leo decided to do a gavel
and sound block. A gavel
is a small ceremonial
mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically
fashioned with a handle and often struck against a sound block, a
striking surface typically also made of hardwood, to enhance its sounding
qualities. It is a symbol of the
authority and right to act officially in the capacity of a chair or presiding
officer. The expression passing
the gavel signifies an orderly succession from one chair to another. The gavel is much associated with the
judiciary but in truth I never saw a judge in this country using one.
In Medieval England, the word "gavel" could
refer to a tribute or rent payment made with something other than cash. These agreements were set in English
land-court with the sound of a "gavel," a word that may come from the
Old English "gafol" (meaning "tribute").
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| Leo O'Donoghue at work on his gavel |
The main part or head of the gavel was made of
mahogany and the handle was beech. The sound block was a combination of the two.
Leo drilled the hole for the handle first into the
squared wood, on his drill-press, and then turned the head between
centres. For a finish he sanded up to
400 grit and used sanding sealer, followed by his own polish made of bees’ wax
(from his own apiary) mixed with turpentine, liquid paraffin and carnauba wax.
When fitting the handle he split a section of it on
the bandsaw and glued a wedge of mahogany and this gave the end of the handle a
nice contrast.
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| Leo, with his completed gavel and sound block |
Leo’s workshops are long recognised for the great
refreshments served and this time was no exception. Thanks, Leo and thanks too to your wonderful
“catering staff”.
The competition was a plate as demonstrated by Tony
Farrell at the last workshop. In
“Advanced” Peter Manning was 1st, followed by Gerard Hennessy and Charley
McCarthy, in that order. “Intermediate”
was won by Joe Kennedy, with 2nd and 3rd going to Jim Byrne and Michael Pattwell,
respectively. “Beginners” went to Pat
Dromey for 1st and 2nd.
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| Competition winners. |
The members agreed that we should vary the date for
the November workshop as the regular date clashes with the Open Day in
Ronaynes’ Shop in Thurles. The new date will be 12th November at the usual venue at Togher at 1.30.