"Pass me one of
those wooden mallets..."

Of course they aren’t really wood, but a composite material known as linen phenolic. Tightly wrapped linen cloth is saturated with resin to form a solid material which has the look, the feel and the mass of wood, yet is autoclaveable. When used for instrument handles, linen phenolic allows us to produce a secure grip without the weight of solid metal handles.

Our 77-1042 bears an uncanny resemblance to a judge’s gavel. Four hundred grams of justice is delivered through either end of the lead filled head. Two stainless steel retaining rings add support to the impact surfaces. Michelangelo is thought to have used a mallet similar to the 77-1070. It offers improved balance and is very forgiving of the occasional off-dead-center blow.

Talking Back, Vol. 1, No. 3