Carver-style mallet

[Paul Chapman]

At the recent Yandles Woodworking Show, I met up with Martin King and Waka. Martin kindly invited us back to his place after the show for a cuppa and a natter. I happened to mention to Martin that I was looking for a Lignum bowling ball with the idea of making a carver-style mallet. Quick as a flash, out came a cardboard box and Martin presented me with this, free of charge

Externally, it looked a little sad and as if it had seen a hard life on sun-baked, village bowling greens but I was sure that something nice lurked inside :-k

The only problem with me and turning is that I don't have a lathe but a quick word with my turning mentor, paulm (the SuperStar previously known as chisel ) and we arranged to meet up yesterday for a turning session on his super-duper lathe.

When turning, I find it helpful to have some idea what the finished article is to look like, so I based the mallet on this one used by Alan Peters, featured on the latest issue of British Woodworking

We started off by drilling the ball with a 1" spade bit

At that point, Rod (Harbo) turned up with a bandsaw blade for Paul. Rod knew that we were turning a mallet, so he put a nice piece of Ash in the car just in case we needed something for the handle. It was so nice, we decided to use it

Next, we turned up a Pine chuck and mounted the ball on the lathe and started turning

It went very well and this is what we ended up with

Next we turned the ash handle, glued and fitted it to the head with a Pau Rosa wedge

I then brought the mallet home and when it was fully dry this morning, trimmed up the end and finished it with Danish Oil

Overall, I'm delighted with the result, particularly as this is only my third go at turning

Thanks again Martin for the ball, Rod for the Ash and Paul for the use of your lathe and your excellent tuition. I'm very grateful to you all.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Harbo]

Paul - your welcome.

Very nice mallet - excellent tutor
Happy bashing?

Rod

 

[woodbloke]

Paul - that looks really good, almost too good to use as a mallet...you may have to start another collection! :lol:
Gouge cut or scraped? When I did the lamp from my bowling ball (again donated to the cause by Martin) I decided to scrape rather than cut it with a gouge as the stuff is so hard...nice pong to it though when it's being worked - Rob

 

[wizer]

oh god I'm so jealous. I've been on the lookout for a lignum bowling ball since I made my iroko & beech mallet at xmas. They come up on eBay often but go for silly money before postage.

How does it feel in the hand? Is it nicely balanced?

 

[Paul Chapman]

Thanks Rob. I used gouges and was surprised how easily they cut after what you had said. Yes, a nice pong from the Lignum

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

How does it feel in the hand? Is it nicely balanced?

Hi Tom,

Yes, it feels nice. I experimented a bit with the shape of the handle, reducing the thickness down from what I started with, and have managed to get it just about right I think.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Chris Knight]

Paul,
That is a great mallet -just what a carver needs!

 

[head clansman]

hi all


nice work , really nice work . hc

 

[Paul Chapman]

Paul,
That is a great mallet -just what a carver needs!

Oh bugger - does that mean I now have to buy some carving tools :shock: :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[newt]

Paul nice mallet and a nice story. There are some really decent folk on this forum. You are also getting good at turning. I heard the other day that modern bowling balls are made of a synthetic composition

 

[Chris Knight]

Paul,
That is a great mallet -just what a carver needs!

Oh bugger - does that mean I now have to buy some carving tools :shock: :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Heck no! Make some..

Seriously, it's quite possible to make useful carving tools without a lot of difficulty and it’s a good outcome for really crummy old chisels etc.

 

[woodbloke]

Paul,
That is a great mallet -just what a carver needs!

Oh bugger - does that mean I now have to buy some carving tools :shock: :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

...told you you'd need to start a new collection :lol: :lol: - Rob

 

[paulm]

Hey, I thought you were leaving it behind at my place when it was finished ! :lol:

Looks great with the oil finish Paul, really brought out the lustre of the wood, and I think you got the proportions just right overall =D>

The sawdust that came off the spade bit was really funny , kind of soft and powdery but resinousy as well, weird !

It's hard to believe such a lovely piece of timber was lurking inside that old dry, cracked, dusty lump you started with.

And thanks to Rod for dropping by with a pretty good exchange deal of one new 1" blade for my bandsaw in exchange for my old worn out one :shock: Rod had mentioned that the 1" was a bit wide for his machine but fits mine and is the right length so we did a swap and Rod now has a lifetimes supply of marking knife blades :lol: (Don't worry Aled, I've still got a few pieces to pop in the post :wink: ).

A fun day yesterday, good to see you both.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Grinding One]

Paul,
That is a great mallet -just what a carver needs!

Oh bugger - does that mean I now have to buy some carving tools :shock: :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Nope just send it on to a caver in exchange for what you need...

 

[Harbo]

The problem about buying them Ebay is the postage cost - seems to be about £7/8 for a pair?

I bought some Lignum from Yandles last year - cost about £9 to make this whopper - the ash for the handle I already had

So if you factor in the postage you do not want to pay more than a tenner for a pair?
Some go for silly money!

Rod

 

[Racers]

Hi, Chaps

Keep an eye out for boling balls in the charity shops, I have picked up 4 that way.

Pete

 

[OPJ]

Very nice work, Paul. Are you planning to do some carving soon?

 

[mahking51]

Hi Paul,
What was that about carving tools?.....
I err.... might, errrrr, posssibly, errrrr, - have one or two we could errr .... discuss! :twisted:
Lovely mallet by the way, amazing what lurks inside a couple of old balls....
Tom (Wizer), next time you are going to an event/bash let me know and I'll get a lignum vitae ball to you to play with. My pleasure!
Cheers all,
Martin

 

[wizer]

That's a very kind offer Martin. I'd like to visit Yandles, so maybe the next one.

A new mallet will come in handy for my compo entry

 

[Aled Dafis]

........we did a swap and Rod now has a lifetimes supply of marking knife blades :lol: (Don't worry Aled, I've still got a few pieces to pop in the post :wink: ).

Thanks Paul