# Which Mallet?



## JonnyW (31 Jul 2015)

Howdy. I've just ordered a set of 11 Ashley Iles bevel edged chisels from Workshop Heaven. 

I've read a lot of good things about them and good reviews on this excellent forum. So I decided to go for it. 

I was just wondering what kind of mallet you guys would use on them for any kind of chopping work?

I love the look of the Veritas brass headed mallet, but am worried I'd damage the handles. 

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Jonny


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## ColeyS1 (31 Jul 2015)

Hi jonny, I use the brass head veritas mallet and it fine- I only really use it though for little tapping/chiselling jobs. If I need to give it a bit more clout I use the slightly larger bowling ball mallet- my thinking is its a much bigger surface so I'm less like to catch the edge if I was walloping with the sharper edged veritas. 

You've got a good set of chisels there, have fun !

Coley

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


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## JonnyW (31 Jul 2015)

Thanks Coley. Appreciate the reply. 

Jonny


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## CStanford (31 Jul 2015)

A beech, rectangular head mallet is what you want for general chopping at the bench:

https://www.google.com/search?q=beech+m ... 00&bih=742


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## AndyT (31 Jul 2015)

For deep mortices, you need a big square-ish lump on a stick. For gentle mallet-assisted carving a little brass job will be fine. But that does leave a few jobs in between, so you really need a choice. These are my current choices, which all get used when they feel right for the job in hand:







From left to right:

Home made carving mallet, birch and brown hardwood, nylon mallet ready for any stone carving, boxwood surgical mallet, traditional oak and beech, small turned beechwood made at school, lovely brass and lemonwood generously given by Douglas, homemade oak and ash, homemade holly and ash, Thor brand rawhide and homemade birch and ash.


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## Sheffield Tony (31 Jul 2015)

Like Andy, I use a range:





Perhaps a bit less finesse than Andy's !

Standard Crown beech mallet.
Bit heavier pole lathe turned mallet in Ash (not a great choice for a mallet, but it does).
Elm log, stuck on the pole lathe to thin it down enough to grip, having forgot to take a mallet to the Bodger's ball. 

You don't need to buy any of them (I bought the Crown one before I knew better). Roy Underhill shows how to make those in an episode of the Woodright's shop.


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## JonnyW (31 Jul 2015)

Wow. Nice one guys. I was going to order a brass headed one by Veritas and a larger 100mm dia wooden baby. 

I see what you're saying about the job dictating the mallet size and weight. Makes complete sense. 

Thanks guys. Really appreciated. 

Jonny


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## Racers (31 Jul 2015)

Its just two bits of wood fitted together so make one, its fun!

I have a couple of bowling ball ones a couple of Apple headed ones and several ones made from Hawthorn, the Hawthorn ones are very nice, neatly undentable end grain.
The Lignum vitae has a very nice weight lovely to use.





Pete


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## Doug B (31 Jul 2015)

I recently made this mallet






It's based roughly on the Blue Spruce mallets

http://www.bluesprucetoolworks.com/#!mallets/c1ecw

The head is Lignum Vitae from an old bowling ball so quite heavy, the handle is joined to the head with a steel rod which also adds to the weight, so although not a big mallet it is surprisingly weighty


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## JonnyW (31 Jul 2015)

Absolutely fantastic work guys. Well done!

Jonny


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## Fat ferret (31 Jul 2015)

Make a big square one if you have some oak or beech, not difficult. I made mine from green oak and it's ben getting lighter ever since. Still heavy though :twisted: .


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (1 Aug 2015)

The type of mallet one prefers is a personal matter, much like one prefers a certain shape to handle for a chisel or whether one freehand sharpens or uses a honing guide.

My own preference has moved away from the round head mallets, which are best for carving. I suspect that their popularity is due to the ease with which they can be made. I have made many over the years, and even own - and enjoyed using - a Blue Spruce with the resin-infused "wood". Terrific mallet, but no longer my preference. Better suited to carvers.

I find that a flat head channels force more directly, that one gets more power this way. The wooden-faced/brass-weighted Veritas Cabinetmakers mallet (20 oz) is excellent on non-hooped handled bench chisels, as is the Thor mallet (that Paul Sellers also uses) ... 






These are too light for for morticing chisels into hard wood. So for this I built a super-heavy (36oz) mallet (by inlaying brass) ..






The reason for posting the last mallet is that a recent experience really brought home to me the value of the flat head, and indeed how important directed force is. I was testing some mortice chisels designs a few weeks back, and in particular the handles. Since they needed to be pushed to the max, I chose to sack them with a 450 gm gennou (that's just under 16 oz). Well this hammer just powered the mortice chisels beyond what I experience from the 36oz mortice mallet ... began to dent the unhooped handles somewhat, but that is by-the-by. The point is, a small hammer head with reasonable mass will outperform a heavier hammer that spreads the energy. Stay away from round mallets for bench chisels. The Japanese obviously understood this.






Above: Blue Spruce at rear, and the 450gm gennou in the centre.

Regards from Perth

Derek


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## JonnyW (1 Aug 2015)

Thank Derek. Lovely pieces of work. 

Jonny


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## Fromey (1 Aug 2015)

I think the traditional advice is to use a wooden mallet unless your chisels have a ferrule at the striking end. Having said that, for the smaller chisels which typically don't take much hitting to use, a small metal headed mallet should be fine. I use the Veritas journeyman's mallet. If I didn't already have that, I'd use the David Barron mallet (I've used one and it's very nice);

http://www.davidbarronfurniture.co.uk/d ... ?pg=1&id=4

https://youtu.be/8iSoT62ZeWU

Workshop heaven also sell a Chinese equivalent.

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/ham ... llets.html


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## DTR (1 Aug 2015)

Derek Cohen (Perth said:


> The point is, a small hammer head with reasonable mass will outperform a heavier hammer that spreads the energy.



The alternative argument is that you're less likely to miss with a large-faced mallet, so you're not afraid to give the thing a good swing :wink:


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## mouppe (1 Aug 2015)

The Veritas cabinetmakers mallet is my most-used mallet, followed by a traditional beech mallet. I'd buy the former and make the latter.


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## JonnyW (1 Aug 2015)

Thanks guys for the replies. Appreciated 

Jonny


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## lurker (1 Aug 2015)

The sound of my dad spinning in his grave would deter me from using a metal mallet on my chisels. There is absolutely no need. And to quote Japanese carpenters as some sort of ultimate craftsmen is just rubbish.


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (1 Aug 2015)

Richard has a lot to say about hammers here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... 2Lgs5Bavl8

Regards from Perth

Derek


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## lurker (1 Aug 2015)

Derek Cohen (Perth said:


> Richard has a lot to say about hammers here:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... 2Lgs5Bavl8
> 
> ...




I would not argue with a word he says. However I had it drummed into me not to use metal on chisel handles before he was born.


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## DTR (1 Aug 2015)

The mallet on the left is my everyday user. The Thor hammer on the right has one wooden face and one hide; it's handy for knocking joints together. Both are boot sale finds


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## clauskeller (1 Aug 2015)

I like these:

http://www.woodisgoodco.com/mallets.htm


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## JonnyW (1 Aug 2015)

Nice one guys thanks

Jonny


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