Wood mallet

[kinverkid]

I've had the same mallet for twenty years. It's had four new heads and two new handles in that time.

RIP Trigger

 

[Trainee neophyte]

This is a serendipitous thread; two days ago I took a lump of firewood and made this:

It's not perfect, but I'm rather pleased with it. It weighs 1.6kg, which might be slightly more than I need - I'll just have to make a middle sized one to go with it.

I also have a rubber mallet which was €2 in a camping store - it's for hammering tent pegs, apparently. The chinesium metal tube handle folded up a while,ago, so I jammed in a bit of scrap that I had been playing with on the lathe as about replacement handle. You can hit things with it, but that is about all you can say in its defence.

 

[Brill88]

This is a serendipitous thread; two days ago I took a lump of firewood and made this:

View attachment 107824

It's not perfect, but I'm rather pleased with it. It weighs 1.6kg, which might be slightly more than I need - I'll just have to make a middle sized one to go with it.

I also have a rubber mallet which was €2 in a camping store - it's for hammering tent pegs, apparently. The chinesium metal tube handle folded up a while,ago, so I jammed in a bit of scrap that I had been playing with on the lathe as about replacement handle. You can hit things with it, but that is about all you can say in its defence.

What woods that lovely figuring

 

[Trainee neophyte]

It's olive wood. I am completely awash with the stuff, and every single bit you cut up looks like that inside. It really isn't fair, and definitely wasted on me, but at least I have the good grace to be embarrassed by my good fortune.

 

[Brill88]

It's olive wood. I am completely awash with the stuff, and every single bit you cut up looks like that inside. It really isn't fair, and definitely wasted on me, but at least I have the good grace to be embarrassed by my good fortune.

I’m the same with a large amount of boxwood I got ha was very please lovely stuff hard as a step mothers heart tho

 

[thetyreman]

I need to make myself a mallet! that olive wood one is nice @Trainee neophyte

 

[Nelly111s]

Here's one I made, also olive head, but Rowan handle (walnut wedge).

 

[Nelly111s]

For the OP, for inspiration, have you seen any on James's IG feed at Hashtagwoodworking ?

 

[Cabinetman]

Ok, well done, you’ve set me off, my old mallet has been knocking on chisels for 46 years now and the head has shrunk a little with being dressed over time. The head thickness s which hasn’t changed is about 61 mm, I do have some nice thick beech leftover from when I built my bench, and now that I’m hitting bench holdfasts regularly I need another mallet so anybody that has this style of mallet would you be so good as to let me know the original sizes please ? On mine A is 87
B is 99
and C which hasn’t changed is 90 at the thickest part
Many thanks Ian

 

[TRITON]

I use mine I made from elm for hedglaying View attachment 107702View attachment 107702

I was actually thinking bigger. 5' shaft and a head about 14"x8"

Not that I would ever need or use something as gigantic, but it would be nice to make

 

[dickm]

Haha nah just use it to knock the stakes in View attachment 107759View attachment 107760

That is fantastic work. Takes me back to my Herefordshire youth, when we were doing that sort of stuff (but for stockproofness, so much more rough and ready). According to dialect, such a hedge should be "horse high, bull strong and pig tight". Which is why I get cross having moved up to Aberdeenshire to see the way that good money is spent planting deciduous hedging and then just flailing it, so each bush looks like a blown-inside-out umbrella, with wide gaps between the stems, through which a small horse could walk unscathed. Why, why, why, has the idea of laying a hedge never got here?

 

[Brill88]

That is fantastic work. Takes me back to my Herefordshire youth, when we were doing that sort of stuff (but for stockproofness, so much more rough and ready). According to dialect, such a hedge should be "horse high, bull strong and pig tight". Which is why I get cross having moved up to Aberdeenshire to see the way that good money is spent planting deciduous hedging and then just flailing it, so each bush looks like a blown-inside-out umbrella, with wide gaps between the stems, through which a small horse could walk unscathed. Why, why, why, has the idea of laying a hedge never got here?

Sam all over sadly just cheaper to whack a fence up each year and there’s no standard so when a grants given it’s generally going to the cheapest quote which is sub par there’s a handful of good hedglayers about now a days sadly just the way everything has gone same thing for tools you want something decent you have to pay crazy money or get somthing not fit for purpose

 

[Cabinetman]

It’s a bit of a hobby of Prince Charles is as you may know, I saw him on TV with the grottiest torn wrecked patched Barbour coat on doing it awhile ago, he was actually quite good at it but then I’m no expert so over to our resident expert!

 

[Brill88]

It’s a bit of a hobby of Prince Charles is as you may know, I saw him on TV with the grottiest torn wrecked patched Barbour coat on doing it awhile ago, he was actually quite good at it but then I’m no expert so over to our resident expert!

Only seen him with a small billhook posing if your really laying hedges they tend to be fairly overgrown these days and we all use chainsaws the romance of a man with an axe and a pipe in between his lips is long gone

 

[Bm101]

Ok, well done, you’ve set me off, my old mallet has been knocking on chisels for 46 years now and the head has shrunk a little with being dressed over time. The head thickness s which hasn’t changed is about 61 mm, I do have some nice thick beech leftover from when I built my bench, and now that I’m hitting bench holdfasts regularly I need another mallet so anybody that has this style of mallet would you be so good as to let me know the original sizes please ? On mine A is 87
B is 99
and C which hasn’t changed is 90 at the thickest part
Many thanks Ian

View attachment 107846

Funny enough Ian, someone gave me a nearly new Faithfull mallet recently. I've just nipped down the shed and taken some scientifics.
It's definitely longer in the hand (steady...) than my old school favourite. Although the overall size is not much greater the balance is definitely different.

 

[Brill88]

I made one like that with a tapered mortise many years ago but hasn’t got the weight in it for my likeing got this in the end as I could find any wood big enough for a large head

 

[thetyreman]

this video series is really good by the way, this'll be the one I'm going to make

 

[TominDales]

Those cheap cheerful beech mallets become a far nicer tool if you just take them to the belt sander and knock all the square edges off.

Agree, also you can sand off the dents - I've still got one I've had since a kid and its has some abuse but rubs up quite well.

 

[Cabinetman]

Funny enough Ian, someone gave me a nearly new Faithfull mallet recently. I've just nipped down the shed and taken some scientifics.
It's definitely longer in the hand (steady...) than my old school favourite. Although the overall size is not much greater the balance is definitely different.
View attachment 107883View attachment 107884

Very interesting thank you, so I reckon I have probably taken a quarter of an inch off each and face over the years but I suspect there are a lot of variations between makes and ages?

I made one like that with a tapered mortise many years ago but hasn’t got the weight in it for my likeing got this in the end as I could find any wood big enough for a large head

That’s a beast! I suppose we all have our own preferences and I suppose it depends what job we want our mallet to do. Ian

 

[BentonTool]

I turned a mallet from a piece of dense red oak over 30 years ago, then wrapped it in leather. It has held-up exceptionally well. It is my go-to mallet in the shop. The wood came straight out of the firewood pile. Round mallets are easier to make (if you have a lathe) and work better than rectangular ones (IMO). They apply force regardless of the orientation of the head. The "nails" are brass escutcheon pins. No damage to my chisels thus far...
Similar to the one on the right in the pattern, but a longer body for more heft: