Mallet suggestions

[Adam Cruea]

So I was happily banging away on one of the hickory trestle feet for my bench making a mortise with my Ray Isles (that is no longer crumbling. . .YAY!) and the Brazilian Cherry mallet my father and I turned.

Well. . .the chisel worked wonders. The mallet? Not so much.

Attached are pictures of the resulting mortise (as much as I could get done) and the mallet (currently in a pair of clamps after some glue surgery).

Any suggestions on mallets, specifically good ones for mortising? This isn't going to be the last piece of furniture I sink a mortise chisel into at least 2 inches, so something that is durable, lasts, and keeps my physical effort down to a minimum would be awesome.

Thanks, all!

[Sean Richards]

Adam,

Get a traditional joiner's mallet they have been used for centuries for this sort of work.

[Andrae Covington]

Adam,

Get a traditional joiner's mallet they have been used for centuries for this sort of work.

I agree. I've never used the round style in your photo, which I've usually seen referred to as a carver's mallet, but I think the rectilinear joiner's mallet makes it easier to line up your hits on the top of the chisel... the same way that the oval handle of your mortise chisel helps you line up the blade square to the mortise you are chopping. Glancing blows tend to damage either the chisel handle or the mallet sooner or later.

Another option I have used is the Veritas Cabinetmaker's Mallet. It has a cast brass head with hardwood inserts. It has more heft than the all-wood joiner's mallet I use, although there are larger sizes of those. I generally prefer the joiner's mallet but I use the brass & wood one for some tasks.

[Jim Koepke]

I think of a carver's mallet for finessing a chisel or tool.

Here is a thread on a mallet I made out of some cherry that was slated to be fire wood:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952-One-Thing-Leads-to-Another

It is my go to mallet for mortise and other heavy chisel whacking work.

My carver's mallets are used mostly for light taps to mild hits on a chisel. For harder hits up to whacking and whaling on a chisel, the big honking mallet is the striking force of choice. My thoughts were to make a bigger mallet, but this one seems to be able to deliver enough force for my needs.

jtk

[Ryan Baker]

Here's the one that happens to be on my bench right now. It's just a chunk of honey locust turned round with a quick handle added. It's probably around 1.5-2 pounds. It's great for driving mortise chisels, knocking holdfasts, etc. I've made a bunch of these over the years from scrap chunks of good hard wood laying around ... locust, elm, maple, etc. You can knock them out really fast. After all, a mallet shouldn't be too pretty to use.

I've never been a fan of a carver's mallet. The round surface is not good for heavy hitting such as driving a mortise chisel.

241228

[Bruce Haugen]

Get one of these
241229
from a number of places, including Wood is Good (http://www.woodisgoodco.com/mallets.htm)(the makers)

Highland Hardware (http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/)

Lee Valley (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=30003&cat=1,41504,43688)

I used one of these mallets at the North House Folk school (in Grand Marais, MN) a year ago, whacking a Barr framing chisel (at least a 2") and it was absolutely splendid. Besides the really well matched weight and control, it didn't have that sharp crack associated with a wooden mallet.

[Adam Cruea]

I think of a carver's mallet for finessing a chisel or tool.

Here is a thread on a mallet I made out of some cherry that was slated to be fire wood:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952-One-Thing-Leads-to-Another

It is my go to mallet for mortise and other heavy chisel whacking work.

My carver's mallets are used mostly for light taps to mild hits on a chisel. For harder hits up to whacking and whaling on a chisel, the big honking mallet is the striking force of choice. My thoughts were to make a bigger mallet, but this one seems to be able to deliver enough force for my needs.

jtk

Good lord! How much does that monster weigh?

I've been checking out some Carpenter's/Joiner's Mallets, and I've found a few that I'm interested in getting. What do you guys consider too much? I've found a 44oz monster that I think might be worthwhile for hard work like hickory, and some lighter 30's. A few in the 20's.

I realize that now, I'm 32 years old and swinging a 3 pound mallet might not be a chore; however, since I know some of you are much older than that, I'd like to get the skinny on what heavy weights like this end up doing to your joints over time as well as, when I'm 70 years old. . .am I going to be able to toss a 44 oz monster around still?

For now I swung my 28 oz dead blow and used that to take the mortise down from 1" deep to 1 3/4" deep. Minus the fact it's rubber and chewed up my right index finger from the cross-hatched grip and I have a huge blister. :(

I'll probably swing by a Woodcraft tomorrow and pick up the 20 oz Crown they have.
Thanks!

[edit]Here's a link to what I was pondering. Any feedback?
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/Carpenters-Beech-Mallets/products/228/

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have been toying with making one like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcaV5jWpR1k

I even have about 20 pounds of lead shot I can use.... Not that I would put it all on one mallet.

I have a couple of different mallets, but my goto mallet is the type shown by Bruce. I have a couple of brass mallets as well.

[Brian Ashton]

This is in the neander thread all I can say it bloody better be made by you - by hand no less! ;)

[Jim Matthews]

I use a dead blow mallet (and I have WAY too many, considerably more expensive choices).

It's durable, has a flat head surface, won't mar tools, and was really cheap.

[Pinwu Xu]

Maybe you could use brace-auger bit to drill out the waste first, given the size of the mortise; then use chisel to clean up and
dimension?

As for your "broken" mallet (the carver style, all round), it may endure heavy blow if it's made from one piece of wood, instead
glued up from 2 pieces. I glued 3 pieces of maple together (so it's thick enough at the head) and turned one as well.

Then for the cabinet style mallet, again, it can be sandwiched easily from hardwood pieces (again, made one using maple), the
head is about 4-5" wide and 3" thick, the handle is one piece going through; but I haven't used it for mortise that size (maybe
the HF $1.99 rubber mallet will work?)

[Andrew Pitonyak]

This is in the neander thread all I can say it bloody better be made by you - by hand no less! ;)

Real neanders use beavers to turn down their stock....

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I really like the joiners style mallets, and they're very easy to make. If you can get a good glue joint, you can even laminate them rather than chop a mortise - which was the route I ended up going originally because the whole point of making one was I didn't have anything proper to whack a chisel with. I meant to replace it. I haven't yet.

In that photo, is the head held onto (or rather, was it held onto) the handle with that short stubby tenon, or did a longer tenon break off? I wouldn't mind using a carving mallet if that's what was at hand, but for really whacking at something, I'd want the handle to pierce the head much further in, preferably all the way through.

If you need bigger, there's always these:

http://japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=17.170.90&dept_id=12909
http://japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=17.170.95&dept_id=12909

[Jim Koepke]

Good lord! How much does that monster weigh?

...

I realize that now, I'm 32 years old and swinging a 3 pound mallet might not be a chore; however, since I know some of you are much older than that, I'd like to get the skinny on what heavy weights like this end up doing to your joints over time as well as, when I'm 70 years old. . .am I going to be able to toss a 44 oz monster around still?


I haven't put it on a scale, I'll try to remember to do so today.

I think the downward momentum of the extra weight may actually put less stress on one's joints than trying to drive a chisel with a lighter mallet.

jtk

[Roy Lindberry]

Making one in the shop is cheap and fairly easy, if you have scrap wood laying around. I spent most of the day yesterday chopping 12mm mortises through 3" thick Doug Fir with my shop made mallet (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?150377-What-mallets-amp-hammers-do-you-use&p=1539021#post1539021).

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I haven't put it on a scale, I'll try to remember to do so today.

I think the downward momentum of the extra weight may actually put less stress on one's joints than trying to drive a chisel with a lighter mallet.

jtk

I think that's a good point - in practice, with a heavier mallet, it's less like a swing, and more like a drop. I can certainly work easier for longer with a heavier mallet for this kind of chiseling than compared to working with swinging a hammer working horizontally.

[Mel Fulks]

For anyone looking for the "traditional mallet" it seems to have been persimmon or dogwood. The English architect Benjimin Latrobe wrote in his Virginia journal that the carpenters and joiners used dogwood.That was about 1797.

[David Dalzell]

I use a traditional joiner's mallett, but just out of curiosity; is there any reason why a dead blow mallett wouldn't serve just as well as a wooden mallett?

[Adam Cruea]

Well, I made one from some quarter-sawn white oak I had lying around. I just need to slim down the handle so I can grab it.

This one weighs close to the 28 oz dead-blow mallet I have, so hopefully it'll be easier to chop stuff with. Before I covered it in BLO, I hacked a little on the mortise. . .it made a very satisfying "thud". :)

Thanks y'all, for the advise and inspiration to build my own. :)

[Jim Koepke]

My bonker weighed in at 24 oz.

Now I have a strange desire to make a bigger bonker.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

I use a traditional joiner's mallett, but just out of curiosity; is there any reason why a dead blow mallett wouldn't serve just as well as a wooden mallett?

There is no reason not to use any tool at hand if it works for you.

Most of the dead blow mallets in my experience are a bit lighter than my wooden mallets.

It is also not difficult to make a wooden mallet into a dead blow mallet.

jtk

[Stew Hagerty]

I have an assortment of carving mallets ranging from 12oz to 18oz for use with my carving and bench chisels. When I'm chopping a mortice or hammering in a holdfast I reach for my traditional 18oz beech-wood banger. But... When I really need to WHAK something I grab "Thor's Hammer". It is 38oz's of vintage Scottish pursuasion. Made by Mathieson long ago in a land far far away, it may be well used, but continues to thump when called upon.

241314

[Adam Cruea]

I have an assortment of carving mallets ranging from 12oz to 18oz for use with my carving and bench chisels. When I'm chopping a mortice or hammering in a holdfast I reach for my traditional 18oz beech-wood banger. But... When I really need to WHAK something I grab "Thor's Hammer". It is 38oz's of vintage Scottish pursuasion. Made by Mathieson long ago in a land far far away, it may be well used, but continues to thump when called upon.

241314

Haha! That's what I call the one I just made. . .Thor's Thunder Mallet.

I showed my wife and she started laughing uncontrollably. Then I handed it to her and she had troubles lifting it. :(

I can't wait until I get my Auriou rasps so that I can shape the handle to better fit my hand. Until then, I suppose I'll just use my deadblow to finish these mortises.

[Jim Matthews]

Dogwood is pretty scarce, these days.

I think any material that's hard, check-free and cheap would do.
You're pounding a "pigsticker" with it, not performing brain surgery.

I think the sharpness of the tool and the shape of the bevel matter more than the "poundage" applied.
(How many joules is that?)

I've watched several videos with Paul Sellers whisking through oak using a non-marring hammer meant for auto-body work.
Readily available, easy to use and inexpensive - rare qualities for woodworking tools, these days.

[Tony Shea]

I personally like a round mallet. I think the style you originally were using would have been fine if the handle's tenon made its' way out the top end with a wedge.

Round mallets require very little thought as to where the blow needs to end up.

Having said that, I typically use Lee Valley's cabinet maker's mallet when pounding out mortises. I just like the weight and feel of the mallet. http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=50229&cat=1,41504,43688&ap=1

[Mel Fulks]

You are certainly right .Also that cite might just apply to early English North America.Many of the European mallets were beech or whatever. I got the feeling that dogwood was new to Latrobe and he made the note for that reason.

[ray hampton]

Dogwood is pretty scarce, these days.

I think any material that's hard, check-free and cheap would do.
You're pounding a "pigsticker" with it, not performing brain surgery.

I think the sharpness of the tool and the shape of the bevel matter more than the "poundage" applied.
(How many joules is that?)

I've watched several videos with Paul Sellers whisking through oak using a non-marring hammer meant for auto-body work.
Readily available, easy to use and inexpensive - rare qualities for woodworking tools, these days.

body tools- hammer got a wide face to strike the chisel with

[Rob Mathis]

I use a 1 piece bonker I turned up on the lathe. I have a small one about a LB the other about 24 OZ.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I have been toying with making one like this:

I even have about 20 pounds of lead shot I can use.... Not that I would put it all on one mallet.



If you already have the lead shot, then that's probably what you'll want to use. If you'd like to try another variation, I recently made one along the same lines, but instead of lead shot I used two copper pipe end caps filled with solder -- partly because I happened to have a pound of solder that had been lying around for years. The end caps were a bit a bit longer than the thickness of the middle layer of the mallet head, and I extended the cavities just a bit into the two outside layers. Then I glued the end caps/solder in place with a little epoxy -- thinking (hoping?) it would help a bit in holding the three pieces of the head together. It hasn't fallen apart yet, but I've only been using it for a few weeks.

[Jim Koepke]

Then I glued the end caps/solder in place with a little epoxy -- thinking (hoping?) it would help a bit in holding the three pieces of the head together. It hasn't fallen apart yet, but I've only been using it for a few weeks.

Somehing to consider when doing this might be to think about what might happen to such a mallet if it becomes unusable in the future. Will it get thrown in with the fire wood?

Another is that a dead blow mallet works by the weight being able to move freely in the head. The weight is trailing as the mallet is headed toward its target. When the face of the mallet hits the target, the weight continues toward the target with the effect of adding more force as the mallet stops moving. This also has a tendency to deaden the bouncing of a mallet.

jtk

[Michael Ray Smith]

Somehing to consider when doing this might be to think about what might happen to such a mallet if it becomes unusable in the future. Will it get thrown in with the fire wood?

Another is that a dead blow mallet works by the weight being able to move freely in the head. The weight is trailing as the mallet is headed toward its target. When the face of the mallet hits the target, the weight continues toward the target with the effect of adding more force as the mallet stops moving. This also has a tendency to deaden the bouncing of a mallet.

jtk

Jim, I figured I'd remove the weights and reuse them if (when) the mallet is no longer usable. I'll probably have to melt the epoxy, which probably won't be much fun, but, like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about that tomorrow. Or in five or ten years. If I'm not so senile by then that I forget they're in there. On the other hand, I didn't think about the dead blow effect. . .

[Ed Barry]

I have a round mallet that I made of Locust. It was from a downed branch in the woods. As I was turning it, I had my doubts on how it was going to work, but it has served me very well through a number of projects. If you elect to go this route, I would recommend turning it rough, put it in a paper bag to dry, then finish the turning.

[Kenneth Speed]

Jim said, "Now I have a strange desire to make a bigger bonker."


I have a really nice carvers mallet with an ash handle and a brass head that I've used for years but I, too, wanted a bigger bonker!

Before this thread started, I discovered I had a piece of white oak that didn't have a home so I made a wooden mallet with a four piece head and a tapered socket for the handle somewhat similar to the mallet on the youtube video in this thread. What I did differently is that I essentially mortised the handle at the grip side so that once the handle was wedged, the head could 't leave the shaft in either direction. I wish I knew how to post pictures here because I have photos of it both unassembled and completed. In any case I glued it together with Titebond III and clad one face with a mild steel plate and contact cemented a sheet of "rubber" to the other face.

I didn't need to drill it out for sinkers or sand or anything else because as near as I can tell with my little kitchen scale it weighs almost three an a half pounds! I named it, "BUBBA" and have told some of my friends that I really don't have to hit anything with it. I just show it to the pieces I want to fit together and they whimper and crawl into alignment!

Seriously, I don't really "hit" with it; I basically use it in more of a controlled drop. BUBBA sits comfortably with one face on my workbench with the handle in a perfect position to be picked up and I'm amazed at how little effort is required to use it.


Ken

jtk[/QUOTE]

[Jim Koepke]

Kenneth,

Here is how to post images:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?167711-posting-photos-as-of-June-2011

I don't think it has changed much since then.

Looking forward to some images,

jtk

[Tony Joyce]

Adam,
Just an observation, but had the handle tenon went all the way through the head it probably would not have failed. The same should be said for any wood used. Jatoba is a very hard and durable wood, well suited for use as a mallet.

Just my opinion & worth exactly what you paid for it!!

Tony

[Kenneth Speed]

Hi Jim,

Well Shoot! I picked out a couple pics of BUBBA and a shot of a tiger maple pencil post bed I made(it has a story I'll only tell in a private e-mail!) but the files are all too big. I can always take another smaller picture of BUBBA tomorrow and I'll try to figure out how to shrink those existing photos.

BUBBA teeters on the thin edge between being a tool and being a sight gag although it doesn't look as big as it really is in photos. I took BUBBA to an open house at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking and showed it to a few guys and their responses were almost totally uniform. They'd look at and say, "Holy ****!" But then when I'd put it in their hands they'd hold it for a few seconds and growl, " I LIKE it!"

In any case, thank you for the guidance,

Ken

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jim,

Well Shoot! I picked out a couple pics of BUBBA and a shot of a tiger maple pencil post bed I made(it has a story I'll only tell in a private e-mail!) but the files are all too big. I can always take another smaller picture of BUBBA tomorrow and I'll try to figure out how to shrink those existing photos.

Ken

You need a program like Graphic Converter, used on Macs, not sure if it has a Windows version. There should be some program on your computer or available on line to resize your images or a way to save it as a .jpg.

When working with graphic files, it is wise to make a copy to work on so you don't take any chances with the original.

jtk

[Adam Cruea]

You need a program like Graphic Converter, used on Macs, not sure if it has a Windows version. There should be some program on your computer or available on line to resize your images or a way to save it as a .jpg.

When working with graphic files, it is wise to make a copy to work on so you don't take any chances with the original.

jtk

It's called MS Paint. Works wonders for a simple resize, and it comes with Winders! :D

[Gabe Shackle]

Google's Picasa works very well also.

[Tony Joyce]

Not sure of the version of windows you're using, but you should be able to select the file & right click on the mouse and select edit.

Tony