Hollow wooden hockey stick
View Patent ↗A hockey stick having a longitudinal shaft provided with a longitudinal cavity and a method of construction of such a hockey stick are described herein. The shaft includes a hollow wooden core and a reinforcement layer. The hollow wooden core is advantageously made of two half-cores having a channel provided therein that are assembled face-to-face to yield the hollow wooden core. The reinforcement layer may advantageously include thin reinforcement strips of high modulus fibers and a layer of fiberglass fabric.
1. A method for making a shaft of a hockey stick, comprising the steps of:
providing two longitudinal rectangular wooden half-cores having a proximate end portion, a distal end portion and a central portion;
for each half-core, machining a channel in at least the central portion thereof;
assembling the machined half-cares face-to-face to thereby yield a hollow wooden core provided with a cavity in at least a central portion thereof, the assembled machined half-cores defining a joint therebetween; and
mounting a joint reinforcement layer to the hollow wooden core so that the joint reinforcement layer reinforces the joint between the two half-cores,
said channel machining step including machining a generally semi-cylindrical channel.
2. The method for making a shaft of a hockey stick as recited in claim 1 , wherein said joint reinforcement layer mounting step includes mounting a relatively thin reinforcement strip on either opposite wider faces of the hollow wooden core.
3. The method for making a shaft of a hockey stick as recited in claim 1 , wherein said machined half-core assembling step includes applying an adhesive to the half-cores.
4. The method for making a shaft of a hockey suck as recited in claim 1 , wherein said joint reinforcement layer mounting step includes applying an adhesive to at least one of the joint reinforcement layer and the hollow wooden core.
5. The method for making a shaft of a hockey stick as recited in claim 1 , wherein said joint reinforcement layer mounting step includes mounting a cylindrical tube in the longitudinal semi-cylindrical channels of the half-cores.
6. The method for making a shall of a hockey stick as recited in claim 1 , wherein said wooden half-cores providing step includes providing wooden half-cores made of wood selected from the group consisting of aspen and poplar.