Mallet needed - advice please

[EdK]

Hi I bought a 4" one of these about 4 years ago : http://www.axminster.co.uk/crown-beechw ... prod20012/

I know it wasn't the right choice (too small / short / not enough heft) but I stuck with it... until recently and now it is more or less split in two.

Not quite sure how it happened - maybe a popeye moment.

Anyway I was looking around for something a bit better. I thought I'd stick with the rough square shape as opposed to a rounded (carvers?) mallet.

Should I be looking at round (carving?) mallets ? I saw some on classic hand tools for about £25.

I am not convinced beech is the right material either.....

I did a quick trawl for a lignum vitae one but they all seem to be round.


I then thought about making one - I have access to alot of off cuts but mostly oak. Would an oak one be a better bet ?

I can cut the head and handle but am a bit sketchy on how you join them together - I have access to some pig sticker mortice chisels but not much else at the moment.

Thanks for any advice - Ed

 

[AndyT]

The Toolemera site has this highly-recommended scan of a Charles Hayward book on making your own tools:

http://www.toolemera.com/bkpdf/haywardhowtobk.pdf

It includes a trad pattern mallet in which the handle and its mortice are tapered so it tightens up in use. If your offcuts aren't thick enough, you could laminate three layers, leaving a gap in the middle layer to fit the handle. Oak would do nicely.

When you've made the mallet, you can carry on and make the bench, the planes, the saws, the shooting board, etc!

 

[barkwindjammer]

Any old sunday get dressed up as a maintenance man-drive well out of your county to a bowling club-smash the fire alarm-fill your holdall
seemples :wink:

 

[mickthetree]

I think Matthew at workshop heaven favours the large Narex Mallet. Good price to IMO

 

[tisdai]

The Toolemera site has this highly-recommended scan of a Charles Hayward book on making your own tools:

http://www.toolemera.com/bkpdf/haywardhowtobk.pdf

It includes a trad pattern mallet in which the handle and its mortice are tapered so it tightens up in use. If your offcuts aren't thick enough, you could laminate three layers, leaving a gap in the middle layer to fit the handle. Oak would do nicely.

When you've made the mallet, you can carry on and make the bench, the planes, the saws, the shooting board, etc!

That is a handy bit of info to have to hand.

CHeers

Andy

 

[Shane]

I made mine from maple to the trad rectangle shape, although I made it slightly larger than normal to give it more heft. I've had it for 18 years and love it.

 

[squib]

Cracking toolemera link Andy thanks and i had the same tapered mallet that i made years ago,it was lost/pinched on a job and i still miss it.........time to make a new one i think.

 

[The Bear]

I quite fancy making my own mallet. This might seem like a dumb Q, but should the wood for the head of the mallet by softer than the handles of the chisels. Just concerned about damaging the handles (which i realise will happen anyway if hit hard enough with anything).

Mark

 

[Paul Chapman]

Made this one from a Lignum bowling ball

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[big soft moose]

I quite fancy making my own mallet. This might seem like a dumb Q, but should the wood for the head of the mallet by softer than the handles of the chisels. Just concerned about damaging the handles (which i realise will happen anyway if hit hard enough with anything).

Mark

no the head should be harder/heavier - typical is ash for the handle and lignum vitae for the head - you want weight in the head so you dont have to hit things that hard to impart a great deal of force

 

[Jacob]

The typical square mallet is that shape so that you can whack woodwork together or apart, with a flat face doing least damage. You can also use it to hit chisels. But a round mallet is only for chisels as it would dent your woodwork.

So my question is - are round ones round because they are easier to make (if you have a lathe) or is there another advantage in roundness?

 

[Racers]

Hi,

I make mine with Hawthorn heads they are very long lasting. I make traditional style mallets but with round heads and tapered handles or round wedged handles, both seem to work well.
Apple is good wood to use I have one made from a branch off my tree in the garden.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

Anyway I was looking around for something a bit better. I thought I'd stick with the rough square shape as opposed to a rounded (carvers?) mallet.

What are you using your mallet for?

Heavy mortising?
Assembling timber framing?
Carving (big or small)?

Different tasks will dictate mallet choice.

BugBear

 

[Steve Maskery]

Mine's a round apple-tree-in-the-garden one as well. I love it. Although, as Jacob points out, it's necessary to use a piece of softening when using it for assemblies.
S

 

[xy mosian]

Round mallet heads? I have always believed that round heads are used so that when you hit the hand holding the chisel, you know *****!, the round mallet head tends to slide off, whereas the square cornered variety tend to dig and leave a bigger bruise. Now I've done no scientific tests on this. Anyone?

xy

 

[woodbloke]

I use a lignum carver's maul for general tapping, a heavier hammer on my Jap chisels and a big white soft mallet for assembly - Rob

 

[Alf]

I quite fancy making my own mallet. This might seem like a dumb Q, but should the wood for the head of the mallet by softer than the handles of the chisels. Just concerned about damaging the handles (which i realise will happen anyway if hit hard enough with anything).

no the head should be harder/heavier - typical is ash for the handle and lignum vitae for the head - you want weight in the head so you dont have to hit things that hard to impart a great deal of force

Well actually it's a matter of debate. A bit like tails vs. pins. The argument against not using a harder mallet is it's a lot easier to replace one mallet than it is a dozen chisel handles.

So my question is - are round ones round because they are easier to make (if you have a lathe) or is there another advantage in roundness?

I believe legend has it it's because you can concentrate your focus on the cutting end of the chisel, secure in the knowledge that no matter how you hold it, the round mallet head will always hit the chisel with the face.

And probably because they're pretty easy to make too...

Must admit I'm finding the idea of owning one mallet a bit difficult to grasp. They're wood - we're woodworkers. Why limit yourself to one type? Having said which I have both a gnarly piece of apple and a number of LV bowling balls, all waiting to become mallets, and it's yet to happen. So I say "make them" in a largely theoretical way* and instead use one of the many, many old ones that seem to have gravitated to me over the years.

*No, wait. I tell a lie. I use an round one with an oak head and ash handle that I made.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Can I clarify some thing; I make cylindrical mallet heads with the handle through the side of the cylinder like a traditional mallet but round.
I have a couple of carver style mallets as well.
I have a BFO* mallet as well for those times when, well you know.


Pete


* Big Flip Off or words to that effect :wink:

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Like Alf, I cannot imagine a one-size-fits-all. There are mallets/hammers for many tasks - mortice chisels, bench and dovetail chisels, carving chisels, plane bodies and plane blades, adjusting furniture ...

I prefer a round mallet for mortice chisels, and could be happy with a rectangular one as well. These large mallets are somewhat coarse tools and lack the precision for bench/dovetail chisels (in my opinion). This is a great mallet, the Blue Spruce ...

For Japanese chisels and others reinforced with steel hoops, I use a gennou. This is a very new Tenryuu which I handled in Jarrah ..

Article here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTo ... ennou.html

I find these style hammers facilitate a higher level of precision when working with chisels. Ask David Charlesworth.

For tapping on the end of a non-hooped bench chisel handle I will use a wood-faced brass hammer. This is also used for adjusting planes..

Just scratching the surface of another slope ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Jacob]

For Japanese chisels and others reinforced with steel hoops, I use a gennou. This is a very new Tenryuu which I handled in Jarrah ..

.....

Are you sure it's a tenryuu? It looks very much like a ha-ma. :lol:
I use a western style ha-ma for a lot of things, especially my kla-ha-ma.