Hurley Makers Process
Hurley Makers Process
The timber used to make every L’Ash Go Leor Hurl comes from carefully selected Irish and European Ash. This Ash is sourced and carefully selected from trusted sustainable sources. Once plentiful across Ireland Ash trees can still be found in every county and parish across the country, but not all Ash trees are suitable for the Hurley Makers workshop. Only the best trees with the straightest trunks, strongest roots and smoothest barks are selected by the master Hurley maker. Selecting the tree’s that will produce to highest yield in both quality and production is a skill built up over a lifetime.
Where The Hurley Maker Gets His Ash
Ash is a native Irish tree and thrives in area’s with particularly fertile land such as Munster and south Leinster. For this reason the game of Hurling has thrived in areas with good farming land such as Wexford, Kilkenny and Tipperary. Ash grows best in well drained areas of low elevation with deep fertile soil high in nitrogen and phosphorus. In many areas Ash will grow naturally from falling seeds but this is not enough to maintain the levels needed for Hurley production in Ireland. So, where do we get more trees ? We grow them or import carefully selected logs from trusted European suppliers. Up to 400,000 Hurls are produced in Ireland annually with demand out stripping availability of raw material needed at the time of writing this article. And with the popularity of the sport now growing outside of Ireland this number is set to increase in years to come.
Why Ash Is Used For Hurley Making
Ash is used for Hurley making due to is natural strength, flexibility, lightness and shock absorption qualities. Other timbers can and have been used in the past but Ash reigns supreme. When a tree is about 30 years old it is mature enough to be used for Hurley making. Modern forestry harvesting machines cannot be used in the felling process when it comes to Hurley making. Each tree must be felled by hand to accommodate the special cuts needed to obtain the coveted turn at the root so important in the Hurley making process.
How The Hurley Maker Works
After the felling process the logs are transported to the Hurley Makers saw mill where they are cut into planks. Only a master Hurley maker will have the knowledge and skill to saw each log perfectly to produce the finest hurls from each given trunk. After the planking is complete the timber is then stored for up to one years seasoning. When the planks are perfectly seasoned to a moisture content of approximately 15 % they are then ready to enter the Hurley Makers workshop. Here the profile of each model is cut from the plank using the bandsaw. Additional shaping is carried out with the bandsaw before Planes and spoke shavers are then used to shape and form the Hurl to the correct weight, balance, thickness and spring.
Next the newly shaped hurl is finished on the belt sander. A welcome addition to the Hurley makers work shop in recent times, the belt sander has speeded up the finishing process and gives the master Hurley maker the ability to fine tune his hand crafted Hurley. Banding of a Hurl is a personal preference at this stage. Banding of a Hurley is carried out for a number of reasons. Weight and Balance can be increase with the addition of bands. Metal bands and also help to strengthen a repaired Hurley. At L’Ash Go Leor we do not recommend use of a metal band on a fresh Hurl. Nails in a new Hurley that has not been broken in can increase the chance of the wood splitting. We advise our players to only add bands 6 – 8 weeks after you have had a chance to break the hurl in. See our article on Hurley Maintenance for further info on Breaking In a Hurl
Our Hurley Making Mission
Hurling and Hurley making are part of Irish history dating back further than any written history. The skill of the Hurley maker has been evolving with the game itself over this great expanse of time and will continue to do so. Though it might seem like a gradual development to the untrained eye, radical changes have been taking place in Hurley design over the years. At L’Ash Go Leor we are proud to be part of this journey. Our goal is to constantly push the boundaries of our product design to give you the player the highest quality Hurley with optimum performance.
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Breeze Mill, Forth Mountain
Wexford
Ireland
+353 53 9106163
sales@lashgoleor.ie
