50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick

9780864923585

Peter Manchester (Author) $14.95 Paperback Published September 11, 2002 - In Stock Goose Lane Editions

From the days when proto-humans lashed animal jawbones to sticks and whacked wildebeest-poop slapshots in Olduvai Arena to today's super-high-tech computer-assisted extravaganzas, one by-product of the hockey game has gone unnoticed and untapped . . . until now.

In 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transforms the agony of a fractured stick into the thrill of creation. Instructions and explicit cartoons show woodworkers of all abilities how to fashion items for outdoors, items for indoors, and items without any purpose at all. No basement artiste will ever throw away a broken hockey stick again. The finished projects will delight friends and win the respect of detractors, even those in the maker's own household. Using broken hockey sticks as tomato stakes is elementary compared with crafting a Walking Stick or a Pinata Stick. But Manchester goes far beyond making a stick out of a stick; his inventions encompass the full potential of this free and almost infinite resource. Even in this age of miracle materials, ordinary recreational hockey sticks are a tough, flexible composite of resin and wood, and the broken pieces are just too good to throw away.

Truly practical designs include a modern Travois, a springy, long-range Catapult, and a Toilet Paper Holder for the well-appointed fishing camp. The book's pièce de résistance is the Mock Moose, a trophy made from a skate and at least four stick blades.

Accolades

"You'll never again throw out a splintered stick without wondering about the coat rack you need for the foyer." - Montreal Gazette

"Thoughtful, yes, but practical, too." - Toronto Star

"Some quite cunning ideas." - Canadian Press