Did you know that each of our friction mallets is 100% handcrafted? In our workshop in Bruchhausen-Vilsen, all our gong mallets and friction mallets are designed and finally assembled. Together with his son David, Olli constantly tests new materials and raw ingredients, inspired by the needs of the community. Olli and David largely implement the recipes developed here with great passion themselves. Individual production steps are also carried out by small family businesses in Germany.
Our precise handcraftsmanship ensures high quality – both in the finish and, most importantly, in the sound you can create with an ollihess friction mallet. Small variations and imperfections may occur during the manual crafting process. These are a natural result of handmade production and make each piece unique.
Crafting the Ball for an ollihess friction mallet
Each ball undergoes a multi-stage process: Through many steps, the soft and moldable raw caoutchouc mass is transformed into a finished, polished ball of the highest quality. This artisanal process creates unique friction mallets – small irregularities on the ball's surface are completely normal and have no influence on the sound you can produce with this friction mallet. To help you better understand how irregularities can occur, we give you a deeper insight into the production process of a Lava Edition friction mallet here:
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natural caoutchouc in its raw form: The soft and elastic raw material is delivered to our partner company in large blocks.
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Coloring and mixing: Black color is added to natural caoutchouc and the mass is mixed by rolling.
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Divide into smaller pieces: Small, square pieces are then cut from the rolled mass and placed on top of each other.
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Melting in the baking tin: The small blocks are placed individually in the baking tin and melted together.
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Formation of the ball: This process produces a ball with the fusion seam still visible. The balls are removed from the mold and stored in large baskets for further transport.
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Delivery to Olli's workshop: The unfinished natural caoutchouc-balls and the already printed black plastic handles arrive at Olli's workshop.
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Inspection of the friction mallet balls: Each ball is thoroughly inspected by us: If it shows cracks or imbalances, it is sorted out.
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Processing the ball: In the next step, the freshly pressed ball is carefully processed and polished by hand using various tools to ensure the desired contact with the gong later on.
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Drilling the hole for the handle: Use a drill to precisely drill a hole in the ball. This must be done very carefully so that the material does not tear out.
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Cleaning the ball: The drilled ball is then thoroughly cleaned and dried in a washing line.
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Joining the ball and stem: Once the ball is completely dry, glue is poured into the drilled hole and the stem is glued on.
This artisanal process creates unique balls, meaning no two friction mallets will look exactly 100% alike. However, even with minor imperfections, you can always rely on one thing: the sound you produce with an ollihess friction mallet is consistently first-class.
If you have any further questions about a product or would like to find out more about our production processes, you can contact us at any time via WhatsApp (bottom right of the website) or our contact page.
