# Bowling Ball Mallet



## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

At last Sundays Car boot i picked up an old bowling ball for the pricey some of £3 . After searching the forums and you tube for inspiration i decided on a traditional design not that far from the one Rod has made. Had some rather nice ash left over from a job i did in 2010 . Got it from a country estate not far from Cowbridge , it was green then and has been drying out in the workshop . 







Put it through the band saw to create a flat surface to make holding and drilling the 1'' hole easier.






Clamped down and drilled with a spade bit which went well















Had a bit of pitch pine that was already turned , so used this to bung the holes up for mounting on the lathe




Not quite centred and a little bit lumpy to start with 




But it soon calmed down and the shavings were pilling off, there is a hand under there 




Burnished and waxed 




Ash for the handle ,this spent some time in the hay barn on the estate after being felled and you can still smell the hay its beautiful stuff .














Burnished and waxed with some renaissance Stuff that my dad gave me.




Used pu glue and and a little more of the ebony piano keys for the wedge




Cleaned up with a block plane and cabinet scraper 




There are a couple of star shakes radiating from two knots and i hope these wont get any worse in use















I am pleased how it turned out and not bad for a £3 investment 

Cheers Bern


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## Woodmonkey (20 Apr 2014)

Nice, what kind of wood is the bowling ball?


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## Mr Finch (20 Apr 2014)

That's awesome, I love it!


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## n0legs (20 Apr 2014)

That's really cool. Good work Bern =D>


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## nathandavies (20 Apr 2014)

I can't believe what you did to a perfectly good bowling ball :wink: 

were the splits in it right from the start?


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## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

Woodmonkey":vdj4e0yh said:


> Nice, what kind of wood is the bowling ball?



Lignum Vitae a beautiful very hard wood 

Cheers Bern


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## Bodrighy (20 Apr 2014)

I am amazed you got it for £3. Haven't seen them that cheap for years. Got a really good mallet for next to nothing there. 

Pete


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## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

n0legs":11y15wcw said:


> That's really cool. Good work Bern =D>



Thanks glad you like it 



nathandavies":11y15wcw said:


> I can't believe what you did to a perfectly good bowling ball :wink:
> 
> were the splits in it right from the start?



Oh no here we go again , i havent recovered from the chisel sager yet still having nightmares #-o 

discovered the shakes as soon as i sliced it open on the band saw , too late to work around them so i hope they will be kind to me and not get any worse , only time will tell .


Bodrighy":11y15wcw said:


> I am amazed you got it for £3. Haven't seen them that cheap for years. Got a really good mallet for next to nothing there.
> 
> 
> 
> Pete



Thanks Pete 
Got it from a house clearance guy at Camarthen car boot ,did try for £2 but he wouldnt let it go for that .
Cheers Bern


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## Dalboy (20 Apr 2014)

I like it and a very useful piece of kit for the workshop I also made one from a bowling ball and have used it for my carving


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## Grahamshed (20 Apr 2014)

Great use for an old unwanted ball  Looks gorgeous.


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## MickCheese (20 Apr 2014)

Bern

I have one made for me by Jimi43 about three years ago. It came with a few shakes which have not changed shape at all.

Have a look here in an old thread.

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

It is a real pleasure to use but I find myself not whacking things with it, I use it for more gentle tasks.

Yours is really nice. The shape of the handle is quite important, your one looks like a comfortable fit but you must have large hands or the perspective is fooling me?

Well done.

Mick


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## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

Dalboy":2kmskgny said:


> I like it and a very useful piece of kit for the workshop I also made one from a bowling ball and have used it for my carving


Thanks Derek
Very impressed with your work just got lost looking through the photo bucket



Grahamshed":2kmskgny said:


> Great use for an old unwanted ball  Looks gorgeous.



Thanks Graham



MickCheese":2kmskgny said:


> Bern
> 
> I have one made for me by Jimi43 about three years ago. It came with a few shakes which have not changed shape at all.
> 
> ...



Thanks Mick

Just had a look at yours on that old thread , what a beauty . Mine is a little heavier at 500g and i only have little hands so it must be the perspective making it look out. Glad to here that the shakes shouldn't be a problem ,i wont be whacking it too much going to use it for large dovetails mainly.

Cheers Bern


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## gregmcateer (20 Apr 2014)

Bern,
That looks lovely and thank you for including a series of WIP pictures for the newbies amongst our number.
I've got another excuse to go to the next boot fair now :wink: 
If SWMBO complains I'll just blame you
Cheers
Greg


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## Sheptonphil (20 Apr 2014)

Our local second hand shop has several. but clearly knows the value as he charges £8 each for them.  

Phil


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## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

gregmcateer":31o6r6rr said:


> Bern,
> That looks lovely and thank you for including a series of WIP pictures for the newbies amongst our number.
> I've got another excuse to go to the next boot fair now :wink:
> If SWMBO complains I'll just blame you
> ...



Thanks Greg
I am a bit of a newbe myself when it comes to turning , this is the first mallet i have turned . Bought a cheap old Wadkin for £175 a couple of years ago and just had a go at it . Took me quite a while to get to stop things flying off with dig ins but seem to have got past that stage now.Love the car boot sales and was at one his morning but no luck today came home empty handed.

Cheers Bern


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## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

Sheptonphil":2qc9n0nd said:


> Our local second hand shop has several. but clearly knows the value as he charges £8 each for them.
> 
> Phil


At £8 still worth getting them Phill 

Cheers Bern


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## DannyEssex (20 Apr 2014)

very nice work there bern, I really like the shape =D> =D>


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## Sheptonphil (20 Apr 2014)

Berncarpenter":1p6ep68g said:


> Sheptonphil":1p6ep68g said:
> 
> 
> > Our local second hand shop has several. but clearly knows the value as he charges £8 each for them.
> ...


After seeing what you have created, you have inspired me. I think I will pop in and pick up a couple, not matched and see if I can get a deal. I was also wanting to try a gavel as well. Will post when I've had a go. 

Phil


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## Dalboy (20 Apr 2014)

Looks like I am going to have to sweet talk my sister she plays bowls.


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## kernowjoiner24 (20 Apr 2014)

Very nicely made, lignum is so hard id have thought youd need to give it a serious bashing to make those shakes any worse !


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## Berncarpenter (20 Apr 2014)

DannyEssex":1ba7ar2j said:


> very nice work there bern, I really like the shape =D> =D>



Thanks Danny
Sort of had an idea of what i wanted and when i got down to this shape i stuck with it ,for the handle i just kept stopping and feeling it until i got it comfortable . 



Sheptonphil":1ba7ar2j said:


> Berncarpenter":1ba7ar2j said:
> 
> 
> > Sheptonphil":1ba7ar2j said:
> ...



Thanks Phill 
Good luck with getting a deal and i'm glad you've been inspired to make one for yourself . I will look out for your post



Dalboy":1ba7ar2j said:


> Looks like I am going to have to sweet talk my sister she plays bowls.



Before you do too much sweet talking and getting into sister dept may a good idea to find out if the bowls are timber as i think the modern ones are made of some sort of composite .



kernowjoiner24":1ba7ar2j said:


> Very nicely made, lignum is so hard id have thought youd need to give it a serious bashing to make those shakes any worse !



I havent had a chance to try it out yet but i hope your right and it dosnt shatter the first time i use it . thanks for the kind words 

Cheers Bern


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## monkeybiter (21 Apr 2014)

Berncarpenter":26o5snvm said:


> Before you do too much sweet talking and getting into sister dept may a good idea to find out if the bowls are timber as i think the modern ones are made of some sort of composite .Cheers Bern



My son keeps buying me cheap bowls from the car boot and I must admit that I haven't attacked many so far BUT those that I have, have proven to be plastic/resin or similar, chipping and splintering etc. Maybe I'm missing something very obvious, but is there an easy way to differentiate beetween man-made and nuclear generated before I irreversibly deface the bowl?

On the other hand, could a man-made bowl be easily turned to produce a trinket box perhaps?


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## inaspin (21 Apr 2014)

That is a lovely mallet you have made there, can I ask please how you cut it on the band saw. Did you have to make a jig I have three old B Bs but have not yet had the courage to try and cut them.

Berns


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## Phil Pascoe (21 Apr 2014)

Dalboy":2vv2eqqh said:


> Looks like I am going to have to sweet talk my sister she plays bowls.


I doubt she'll do very well trying to roll mallets.


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## Berncarpenter (21 Apr 2014)

monkeybiter":36xfhkqs said:


> Berncarpenter":36xfhkqs said:
> 
> 
> > Before you do too much sweet talking and getting into sister dept may a good idea to find out if the bowls are timber as i think the modern ones are made of some sort of composite .Cheers Bern
> ...



Hi Mike
The bowl i had was quite old and you could see some light surface checks but i sanded a small area first just to make sure it was timber before attacking it. 

Never tried turning a modern man-made bowl myself , why dont you have a go and let us know how you fair.



inaspin":36xfhkqs said:


> That is a lovely mallet you have made there, can I ask please how you cut it on the band saw. Did you have to make a jig I have three old B Bs but have not yet had the courage to try and cut them.
> 
> Berns



No jig just rested against a shallow fence , a bit dangerous and i wouldnt recommend this method . You could mount it on the lathe and turn some flats ,I think that would work out better .Hope this helps 

Cheers Bern


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## Dalboy (21 Apr 2014)

Berncarpenter I am aware of the new type being a resin based material and like your self if no obvious signs of being wood give it a quick sand paper


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## finneyb (21 Apr 2014)

Nice job - I do like reusing wood seems to add something to the finished turning when the wood has history.

Not wishing to hi-jack your thread - this is associated. I know some members of Brevard Woodturners, Florida and one turner - Harvey Driver - has turned a mallet from a 10 pin bowling pin ( don't think they know of crown green bowling in Florida) so if you see any pins at a car boot sales this is an idea.


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## NickWelford (21 Apr 2014)

What kind of wood are ten pins made from?


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## Grahamshed (21 Apr 2014)

ten pins used to be made out of wood but are now composite like everything else. You would need to use care when turning as they have two hollow sections inside which make it spin when knocked over.


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## monkeybiter (21 Apr 2014)

I used to have a few TPBs but they were all peppered with .38" 'lead weights'.


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## procell (22 Apr 2014)

I want to see someone turn a bowl for a mallet now


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## Racers (23 Apr 2014)

I have made a couple almost the same way, apart from turning the handle and jamming on the drilled ball before turning it.

Mine have shakes in and haven't got any worse, if you leave them in the sun they darken very quickly. 
Pete


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## Berncarpenter (23 Apr 2014)

Racers":cy759im7 said:


> I have made a couple almost the same way, apart from turning the handle and jamming on the drilled ball before turning it.
> 
> Mine have shakes in and haven't got any worse, if you leave them in the sun they darken very quickly.
> Pete



That sounds like a better way Pete , no need to make bungs for mounting back in the lathe .

Thanks for the darkening tip although its quite dark now . I think the ball was really old as it has lost that lovely smell you get with LV and there is ivory discs both ends , which i have managed to save. Glad to hear that the shakes will not be a problem i was a bit worried about them.

Cheers Bern


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## Willum (29 May 2014)

Lignum Vitae lovely wood to turn , I had a lump I made a small mallet out of , see my thread on Record mallet. Have a word with your local bell ringers, they should use straight grain ash for the stays and they do get snapped off in use, just the thing for tool handles.


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## whiskywill (9 Jun 2014)

finneyb":11t4zqhh said:


> ( don't think they know of crown green bowling in Florida)



Or around here. It's all flat green bowling because we don't have any spare hills. :?


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