The History of the Wedge-Face™
We had this pile of old junk in the garage that looked like it needed to be burned.
When our WebMaster dropped by and saw it, he went appoplectic ... "Why aren't you sharing these with our visitors?" ... he asked.
When we actually looked at all of this detritus, we discovered our old, forgotten cache of discarded prototypes of our very early Wedge-Face mallets.
Okay, the Webbie is a little weird sometimes, but he had a good point. Soooo, we thought you'd like to see the ancient remnants of our collective warped minds ... and the real start of the Near Death eXperience.
This is the very first wedge. It was concocted from a piece
of oak banister (hand railing), and an old closet pole !!!
It worked, but it couldn't stand up to our bashing.
This is our first standard wood wedge. We made it from
a piece of 3 inch oak, and some of the same closet pole.
We even tried metal plates on the face to protect it, but
the screws kept falling out from the shock and stress.
This worked better, but the heads still shattered with time.
This mallet is the only survivor of this type.
This is Bruce's first wedge. He used African Rosewood coated
with tons of polyurethane ... and the ubiquitous closet pole.
Even this started to self-destruct under Bruce's "delicate touch".
This is Bruce's second wedge. Although we think he was trying
to reinforce it, we're not really sure what he had in mind.
Bruce's mallets are always very creative and controversial.
This mallet was the incept of our tradition of decorating the mallets.
"Chuckie" This is the first Nylon Composite wedge.
It is a Camo painted mallet, and the first to actually be
painted and named. I guess we got carried away !!!
Actually, it was a revolutionary mallet, and is still
very much revered by the "old" guys.
This is Mjolnir, one of Bruce's other Mallets. It is twice the size
of a standard wedge. He also uses it in the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.
It's decoration is definately an aquired taste ... like cat food !!!
Bruce retired this mallet because he hurt his back swinging it.
Just for comparison, here is Mjolnir with Stealth, a more modern
wedge. Mjolnir is very heavy and very ... ummm ... different.
Stealth is a Nylon mallet painted with Ironball Flat Black SR-71 paint.
Stealth ... Ironball Flat Black ... and sinister.
It's hard to find if you lay it down on asphalt !!!
We attach a string to it so it won't get lost.
This is the first Polycarbonate Wedge-Face. It is literally bullet-proof.
Polycarbonate is used in helmets, bullet-proof vests, and other high
impact objects. It is a very high tech and expensive material.
Our "mallet man" recommended it to us.
We think it is WAY cool.
Bruce's latest design. Polycarbonate and aluminum.
NASA uses these for tracking pulsars in deep space.
As for the holes:
Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a
thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus.
Well that's what we heard, anyway ...
Mallet Darwinism at its best.
We recently found this exquisite collection of old junk.
Here are two extraordinary mallets. The image was sent to us by
the Xdream Croquettes club in Maine.
They were made and decorated by:
Jessica Vamvakias - hot tamale
Eugenie Moore - flowers
Andy at "The Pit".
A good demonstration of why lesser mallets don't last long.
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