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Article: Hickories: synonymous with strength. (wood)(Wood of the Month)
- Article from:
- Wood & Wood Products
- Article date:
- February 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Vance Publishing Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the book "The Natural," by Bernard Malamud, the main character fashions a baseball bat from a hickory tree split in two by lightning - and goes on to make baseball history.
Fiction yes, but hickory does provide the right combination of properties - strength, hardness, very high shock resistance and relatively light weight - that make it a perfect choice for sporting goods like baseball bats, golf club shafts, skis, longbow backs, heavy sea fishing rods and lacrosse sticks. As Albert Constantine Jr. explains in his book "Know Your Woods," there are stronger woods than hickory and tougher woods than hickory, but it is the combination of properties that makes hickory ...