# Mallets.



## Cheshirechappie (16 Dec 2013)

Just a chunk of wood (or something) on a stick, used for whacking things with. Nothing to 'em, really.

In the nature of woodworking, some people will be happy with a bog-standard cheapo 'carpenter's mallet' from the local Big Shed Purveyor of General Grot, some will use any handy brick-end, and some will want a super-duper ultra-balanced, special treated hardwood head with a handle carved to fit their hand (and nobody else's).

I've ended up with four. One off cheapo standard beech carpenter's mallet from Big Shed as mentioned above, which does the whack-whack jobs. I've no idea how heavy it is - about middling as they go - but it seems to work fine. Then I've got a vintage small beech round-headed carver's mallet with a nice comfy handle (slimmish at either end, and with a swell in the middle) that I inherited from my grandad. It's just the thing for tap-tap jobs like small dovetails.

The two that I don't use are both round-heads. One is a lignum vitae head with the most awful handle - fat where it meets the head, then tapering down to the outboard end and finishing with a small knob. For some reason, I just can't grip this handle. It's way too lose at the knob end. Finally, there's the hardwood head with a handle that tapers the other way - thinnish at the head end, fatter at the off end. This is much more comfortable, but since the main two do everything I need, it rarely sees use.

What are your mallet preferences, everybody?


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## MMUK (16 Dec 2013)

Having had my beech mallet purloined several years ago along with most of my other tools, I've since been using a Thor nylon mallet. The beech mallet was one of those things I kept meaning to put on my shopping list but always forgot. The nylon mallet does the trick for me though, it had soft and hard heads, is well balanced and not too heavy.


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## wizard (16 Dec 2013)

Buying a mallet! Your having a laugh, you make one.


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## Paul Chapman (16 Dec 2013)

This is my favourite - made it from a bowling ball





Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Corneel (16 Dec 2013)

I used to have two. One is just a square piece of ash with a beech dowel, sorta shaped to my hands. The other was a laminated lignum vitae beauty with carefully crafted ash handle. But when my Mum needed a new fence I used it to hit the fenceposts and it didn't survive. So I am in need for another mallet, a lumpy one for fence posts. In the mean time my trusty ash mallet performs wonderfully for normal woodworking jobs.


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## Mar_mite (16 Dec 2013)

Made myself a mallet out of scraps of walnut glued up. It's way to soft, but looks pretty. And it was an excuse to use my lathe.


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## marcros (16 Dec 2013)

I have a smaller version of Paul's. I like it's slightly lighter weight- works very well indeed. I also have an oak and ash one I made. A bit soft but I skim the surface once in a while and it works ok.


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## Jacob (16 Dec 2013)

Flat faced beech mallet for whacking wood about - knocking frames apart etc spreads the load with less marking.
Round for hitting chisels - you get a bit of feedback about whether or not you are hitting square on and you can use the whole available area instead of just the 2 faces.


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## MickCheese (16 Dec 2013)

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/mini-review-kt-tools-carvers-mallet-t53570.html?hilit= Mallet

Have a look here for mine. 

I love it. 

Made by Jim for me a while ago now. Still love using it. 

Mick


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## RossJarvis (16 Dec 2013)

I've two, a standard beech one off a market stall, but I prefer the larger one of my dad's, it still has the price six shillings fourpence on it (or was it sevenpence?). Both work fine for me but there again I'm nowhere near an expert with the chisels. The big 'un came in handy last week for fitting the beads into PVCu windows!


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## graduate_owner (16 Dec 2013)

A few years ago I picked out a piece of beech (I think) from the log pile and turned it up on the lathe. I tried holding it, modified it, tried again etc until I was happy with it, then parted it off.
It's looking a bit battered now, and has split as well, but I still use it. It has served me well and it's simple enough to make another when I'm in the mood to do so.
Cost - £0.00 but of course it's not lignum vitae and it's not posh. But then neither am I (posh, that is).

K


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## matthewwh (16 Dec 2013)

My current 'best' one is in the middle of the homepage on the website, burr elm and ash, lovely for light carving and tapping, the long face gives another option for varying the force of the blow. I also use a hefty beech carpenters mallet for when a square face is preferable or things need a proper donk. We have another load of Continental ones due in on Thursday, I will try to get them all photographed and listed straight away.


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## G S Haydon (16 Dec 2013)

20oz Estwing Claw on The Site Irwins.

Big Narex at the bench.

Small Emir for lighter work.

Would like to make one, not found the time yet.


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## Racers (17 Dec 2013)

I have made lots usually Hawthorn heads and beech handles like a carpenters mallet but with a round head.
But bowling ball mallets are now my favourite ones.





Pete


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## Sheffield Tony (17 Dec 2013)

Some rather pretty mallets you have there. Mine are a bit more basic ....







Standard beech mallet (Crown) for subtle work :wink: , one turned from ash on the pole lathe, and a bit of improvisation with an elm branch which is really quite useful - just the thing for whacking a froe.


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## jimi43 (17 Dec 2013)

So pleased your little LV mallet is still going strong Mick....it can take a bit of punishment so should last you a while...

One of my favourites for posh work is this one which has had major use (and abuse!) over the years....:






Salvaged from a bootfair for a quid or so if I remember correctly, this sad looking tool held a hidden secret.

Once I had the head off to confirm my suspicions...a bit of work on the lathe...and it was back in fine fettle again for another 100 years:






I simply love the mix of the colours....






I have a few gems from bootfairs but the most elegant is this gem, turned entirely out of lignum vitae...






I use this all the time and it's glorious.

I suppose I have a bit of an LV bias!

Cheers

Jimi


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## Flynnwood (17 Dec 2013)

An entertaining video by Frank (Wallace & Grommit style) on the making of a carver's mallet (2 mins)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV1jKCKoPAo


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## Peter Sefton (17 Dec 2013)

The full time students made these mallets this term as part of their tool making projects; they used riven English Ash for the handles prepared by last year’s students which we dried in readiness for this year. They turned the heads from Lignum Vitae. The idea was for them each to design a turn a mallet that suited them for size and weight.


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## paulm (17 Dec 2013)

Turned up this one a while ago from an old bowling ball, good fun to do 









With hindsight it's a bit too large and heavy for most work I do, so I turned up another smaller one for more delicate work but don't have any pics to hand, will try and remember to take some tomorrow.

And a couple more, the smaller one in one piece of iroko, the larger with I think an ash or maple head (I forget) and an iroko handle









And another early attempt





And no, they don't all get used that often, what can I say, I just like making them :roll: :lol: 

Cheers, Paul


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## MMUK (17 Dec 2013)

What is the advantage of having a circular or barrel shaped mallet over your bog standard square headed beech or boxwood mallet? I've never seen the point to be honest :?


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## marcros (17 Dec 2013)

i find them quicker, you dont have to turn it round when you pick it up. I also find the feedback better using the carvers style mallet on a chisel.

For assembly, i would use a nylon one or standard square headed one with a piece of something to protect the workpiece.


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## Jacob (17 Dec 2013)

If you use a square one with chisels it gets hollow in the middle and becomes less useful for wood bashing - where you want a nice flat surface. Round ones for chisels only - you can use the whole 360º of the face and distribute the stress so it'll last longer.


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## jimi43 (17 Dec 2013)

MMUK":2jxjdx7i said:


> What is the advantage of having a circular or barrel shaped mallet over your bog standard square headed beech or boxwood mallet? I've never seen the point to be honest :?



In what circumstances do you use a mallet. It might just be the application it's used on that dictates the best tool for the job.

Let us know what you use it on and we may be able to help.

Jimi


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## MMUK (17 Dec 2013)

Most of my chisel work is normally hacking out mortices, half laps or lock/keep pockets. I just use my nylon Thor mallet. I just wondered where the advantage would lie in a circular headed mallet.


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## Jacob (17 Dec 2013)

MMUK":3abf181p said:


> Most of my chisel work is normally hacking out mortices, half laps or lock/keep pockets. I just use my nylon Thor mallet. I just wondered where the advantage would lie in a circular headed mallet.


The main thing about mallets of all shapes is that they are bigger than hammers so you can concentrate on the pointy end of the chisel without worrying about hitting your hand. Plus it helps avoid marking the wood if you are knocking stuff about.
It matters less with a hammer and nail, as you have already located the point and can concentrate on hitting the head of the nail.


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## charvercarver (17 Dec 2013)

Carvers mallets are round so that a misdirected blow deflects off the end of the chisel instead of driving the edge of the chisel into somewhere you don't want it. Bear in mind that when you are carving you maybe swinging the mallet from any conceivable angle, whereas in joinery you're mostly chopping down.



Jacob":ay2jwfon said:


> If you use a square one with chisels it gets hollow in the middle and becomes less useful for wood bashing - where you want a nice flat surface. Round ones for chisels only - you can use the whole 360º of the face and distribute the stress so it'll last longer.



Traditionally you only use the end grain, it's called the 'beat'. Of course it depends how it was turned if that is possible.


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## JohnPW (19 Dec 2013)

The first thing I made was a mallet from pine. OK pine's a bit soft and the bashing end does get dented but at leasted it won't damage wooden chisel handles or wooden planes at all. 



> Carvers mallets are round so that a misdirected blow deflects off the end of the chisel instead of driving the edge of the chisel into somewhere you don't want it. Bear in mind that when you are carving you maybe swinging the mallet from any conceivable angle, whereas in joinery you're mostly chopping down.



I would have thought the purpose of a round head is that it works in any direction. The disadvantage is of course you have to hit the chisel straight on, if you don't it will glance off. But the misdirected blow is a consequence of the round design not its purpose, I would think. If you used a flat faced mallet for carving, where you're switching directions all the time, then you wouldn't get misdirected blows at all but you'd need to change your grip or twist your wrist with each new swing direction.


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## bugbear (19 Dec 2013)

Proper job!







BugBear


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## MMUK (19 Dec 2013)

I need one of these :mrgreen:


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## charvercarver (19 Dec 2013)

JohnPW":zye73tbu said:


> The first thing I made was a mallet from pine. OK pine's a bit soft and the bashing end does get dented but at leasted it won't damage wooden chisel handles or wooden planes at all.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Traditionally carvers mallets don't work in any direction, you always try to hit the gouge with the 'beat' or end grain. This is why some carvers cut in thumb grooves to index the grip. I'm not sure I follow you about misdirected blows, as you say if you don't hit dead on the mallet will glance off, that is the point it will glance off the chisel rather than driving it in an unwanted direction and gouging the workpiece.


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## JohnPW (19 Dec 2013)

I meant the mallet glancing off the chisel is a consequence of the round design, not its purpose.


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## charvercarver (19 Dec 2013)

It may not have been, but that's the main advantage for carvers.


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (21 Dec 2013)

There are some beautiful mallets here. There is something about a carver's mallet that calls for the artist in us. I think it is the curves. It is also the wood, and the round head allows the grain to be shown off it its best.

However I also see mallets being let down by (in my opinion) poor ergonomics - the face of the mallets may be the wrong angle and, especially, the handle is either too short or too long, or simply not shaped to be gripped ... or all above.

*So here is the question for all: what do you look for in the ergonomics mentioned above? Do you even factor these in - or just add a lump of wood to a stick and call it a mallet?* :shock: 

Here are a few of the mallets I am using, one's for which I have built handles ...

I posted this heavy (38 oz) morticing mallet before. It is weighted with brass infills on each side ...






The faces are angled at 5 degrees (from memory) and lined with 1/8" hard horse butt leather. 






The handle allows for a lower grip for maximum heft in our local hard woods, as well as a closed up, choked grip for lighter use. The end of the handle is left square for orientation.

The following mallet is the Veritas Cabinetmaker's, which weighs 18 oz. This is used with un-hooped bench chisels or mortices in softer wood. The original handle was too straight and about 3/4" too short for me. I added a slightly thicker version that was shaped for a secure grip. One face also has horse butt leather.






The last mallet is a Japanese gennou. This has a Tenryuu gennou head weighing 375 gm It is doe hooped Japanese bench and dovetail chisels. The handle is a traditional design, with one curved side - this is simply to aid to differentiate the domed from the flat hammer face. The handle is oval for grip and directionality.

The interesting feature of this nomi is that the tenon is attached without a wedge. The tenon is made slightly oversize, then compressed by hammering on all four sides, before forcing the tenon into and through the mortice.






Regards from Perth

Derek


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## Corneel (21 Dec 2013)

Derek Cohen (Perth said:


> Do you even factor these in - or just add a lump of wood to a stick and call it a mallet?[/b] :shock:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's about it. I can't be bothered over everything. But my lump on a stick (slightly shaped to a more oval section) has grown on me and I don't want another one. I guess you can get used to everything.


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