News

Turned timber balusters are a great addition to many styles of staircases; and here at Hammersmith they have formed part of our range of stair products since the 1970's.

Over the years I have lost count of the number of times people have asked me where the name of our business came from. So if you would like to know the answer please read on ....

Manufacturing wooden ballet barres from American Oak is an easy job, as it is a great timber to work with. It is easy to glue, easy to machine, and for the end user, is easy to finish with either a clear lacquer or a stain.

It is surprising what you learn when you listen to your customers ! This in itself might seem like a surprising statement, but if you take the time to listen what customers ask for, then you might just come up with a product that sells. This was the case with the 90x90 and 68x68 turned wooden columns that we started making a few year back.

When we first started selling stainless steel wire cable we sold it in either a 305 metre reel or per metre. We are pleased to announce that we are now selling it in 100 metre reels also.

This is the case for the 3.2mm wire cable in both a 1x19 and 7x7 configuration; but at this stage is not the case for the 4.0mm thickness.

At Hammersmith's we have 2 timber moulders that we use to make our handrail on, as well as timber mouldings and dressing timber for our own production needs. These 2 machines are not always in use, so we are happy to dress other peoples timber, for a fee of course!

When handrail is required for use in aged care facilities and hospitals; the Australian Standard 1428.1 states that when terminating the handrail (eg: when reaching a doorway), the handrail must return towards the wall, which is where a 90 degree bend comes into play.

We manufacture 90 degree bends to suit our 43mm and 50mm full round timber handrails and also one to suit our 50mm round handrail with the flat base.

American Oak has become a very popular timber over the last couple of years, so it came as no surprise when an existing customer of ours asked if we could produce a round stool seat that we had already been making for them in this timber.

Although American Oak is slightly more expensive than Australian Oak; it is actually a nicer timber to work with, as it is easier to machine, more colour consistent and requires less sanding to get the desired end finish.

We recently had a request from an event hire company interstate to produce for them a extra long turned table leg. They wanted to make 75 tables at a taller than normal height.

We showed them some of our standard designs that we have existing tooling for and after selecting one we then set about modifying the tooling so that we could increase the height of the leg by about 300mm.