Tom's indestructible mallet from an Azobe (Ekki) tropical hardwood railway sleeper
I bought some Ekki (Azobe) railway sleepers from you in November 2020 and thought you'd like to see some photos of the Mallet and Panel guage I've completed with them. The Mallet is virtually indestructible, I've even knocked nails out of wood and it has little effect on it. The central rod of the panel gauge is made from Ekki with a brass bar recessed into the side.
For cutting the railway sleepers I used a circular saw and cut them from both sides, and for finishing up some of the cuts where you couldn't get the circular saw in I used a fairly fine toothed panel saw and a lot of elbow grease. I found a chainsaw didn't work very well as the blade blunted very quickly. Basically if it wasn't a tungsten carbide tipped tool then don't bother.
I've got a few more projects to use the railway sleepers for but I thought you'd like to see what's been done with them so far, especially some of the more unexpected projects.
Tom Kemp
Swadlincote, Derbyshire.
RAILWAY SLEEPERS USED:
Used Azobe railway sleepers
2.6m x 240mm x 140mm
RailwaySleepers.com Says..
I love the idea of a virtually unbreakable mallet. It sounds like something that a superhero would use in a Marvel comic. Thor and his everlasting hammer! It certainly reflects the nature of Azobe timber, (also known as Ekki, Ironwood & Bongossi) that is said to be the hardest industrially used wood in the world. Railway sleepers used from this tropical hardwood tend to last for decades without any treatment, and even when they have outlasted their railway life, they have wonderful other usages, ranging from landscaping to furniture, and panel guages to bullet proof mallets!
