Mallet Lamination Question

[Stew Hagerty]

I need a new mallet and I thought I'd try making one out of a piece of the hardest wood I have in my shop - Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry).

I don't have any thick stock, but I do have a decent sized piece of 3/4" left over from a project.

My question is: Which is better, lamination vertically or horizontally (as seen from one of the faces)?

If I laminate vertically, it would be 3 pieces wide with the handle basically dividing the center layer in half. And if I laminate it horizontally, it would be 6 layers tall and the handle will go right through the center of each layer.

What I am wondering is which way would be more durable? Which way would be less likely to split? Mallets take quite a bit of abuse, well I don't know about yours, but mine do at least.

I have some turned mallets of different sizes & weights that I use with my chisels and lighter stuff. I use my Big Bench Mallet primarily for pounding on stubborn mortises and beating on holdfasts. Although I also quite often use it, albeit with a lighter touch, for assembly as well.

What do you think? Horizontal or vertical?

[Mike Henderson]

One question is "What kind of mallet are you making?" There are carver's mallets which are turned on a lathe and there are the hammer style of mallets. If you're making a hammer style of mallet, make the face of the mallet end grain.

If you use face grain for the face, the wood will start to delaminate along the grain structure after a lot of usage.

If you're making a carver's style mallet, leave the lathe centers on the mallet so you can put it back in the lathe to smooth it down after it delaminates with long use. If making a carver's mallet, run the grain from top to bottom.

Mike

[Jim Belair]

I really don't think it makes much difference so personally would go with vertical, just for ease of construction. I find mallet "failure" usually amounts to flaking off the edges of the head as opposed to outright splitting.

[Stew Hagerty]

One question is "What kind of mallet are you making?" There are carver's mallets which are turned on a lathe and there are the hammer style of mallets. If you're making a hammer style of mallet, make the face of the mallet end grain.

If you use face grain for the face, the wood will start to delaminate along the grain structure after a lot of usage.

If you're making a carver's style mallet, leave the lathe centers on the mallet so you can put it back in the lathe to smooth it down after it delaminates with long use. If making a carver's mallet, run the grain from top to bottom.

Mike

I'm sorry, I should have been clearer. When I said "seen from one of the faces" I meant the end grain of a hammer style mallet. So both vertical & horizontal laminations would still end up with end grain on the working face of the mallet. I would never use face grain in a mallet; it wouldn't last a week around my shop. :o

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I did mine out of three pieces of maple, laminated vertically, with the handle piercing the center half, as you allude to in your first option. The big advantage here is that I didn't have to chop a huge mortise (which was tough, because I didn't have a mallet at the time!) as sizing the center piece appropriately allowed me to make a well fit, tapered through-mortise for the handle with nothing but saws and planes. It's held up for years, although it's getting to the point where I would like to resurface it. I'm not too overly worried about the lamination holding, as the majority of the blows it receives are centered on the mallet - from the marks on its receiving end, it appears that 95% of the impacts have all been on the center lamination, which is backed by the through handle, so the lamination shouldn't be receiving any shear forces.

I don't think there's realistically a problem with either approach assuming good glue joins, but I've never seen one joined in the "horizontal" method you describe, but there's probably an uncountable number of shop made mallets made via the three-piece method; seems to be a reasonably well proven design.

I haven't seen an incredible amount of major failure in mallets, (although I'm sure it happens) but I've seen more than a few that were replaced/resurfaced just from general wear. Oddly enough, the couple of majorly failed mallets I've seen were of one-piece construction for the heads. I don't by any stretch of the imagination think I've seen enough of a sample size to draw any firm conclusions, of course.

In practice, even though one should expect a good service life from a mallet, given the fact that ultimately, a wooden mallet is apt to be a tool that will someday replaced, my initial instinct is to build it in whatever fashion is the easiest for you.

I will say, from the voice of experience, that if you use metal brads to align the pieces for your lamination, to make doubly certain that they're quite distant from wherever you think you might do shaping to the head of the mallet. I think that was the experience that finally kicked me into getting a dry grinder.

[Jim Koepke]

Just for the practical ease of construction my preference would be to have the laminations vertical. Having to make an angled mortise, for the tapered handle, through 6 pieces of lamination would be more work than is needed.

There are many examples of vertically laminated mallets. My memory doesn't recall any with horizontal laminations.

Here is a video on how Steve Ramsey makes a laminated mallet:

http://www.woodworkingformeremortals.com/2012/06/make-wood-mallet.html

Even if you do it different, there are a few good pointers that may lend themselves to your project.

jtk

[Adam Cruea]

I make my mallets with vertical lamination, but instead of chopping a mortise, I just saw out half the mortise on one side, then saw out the other half of the mortise on the other side, laminate the two sides, and voila.

Then just use drawbored pins to keep the handle firmly attached to the head.

[Stew Hagerty]

Alright, I went with vertical laminations. I got it all glued up but, because Jatoba is so hard, dense, and heavy, I didn't feel it necessary to put in shot like on WWMM. I beveled the ends @5° and the handle mortise @2°. I also rounded over all of the edges.

So... Now I need a handle. I have 3 different 1" thick boards (the mortise is 7/8") picked out as potential candidates.

Chontaquiro - a beautiful dark brown South American wood

African Mahogany
And
Birdseye Maple

Any recommendations, advice, or comments?

[Jim Koepke]

My choice would be for what felt best in the hand. Also would want a wood that isn't likely to splinter or split.

The Birdseye Maple would likely be saved for something where it would be seen more.

jtk

[Adam Cruea]

I would go with the one that has the most bend to it (shock absorption).

[Pedro Reyes]

I made mine out of cocobolo, laminated vertical. The middle piece had the mortise cut with splayed walls, the handle was fox-wedged in, never flying out. Doing this with horizontal would be a PITA.

/p

[John Crawford]

Not exactly addressing the question, but as long as we are talking mallets....

Recent Woodwrights Shop episode is on making "the big ash mallet":

http://video.pbs.org/program/woodwrights-shop/

[Gordon Eyre]

Here is the way I made mine:

274328

[Stew Hagerty]

Not exactly addressing the question, but as long as we are talking mallets....

Recent Woodwrights Shop episode is on making "the big ash mallet":

http://video.pbs.org/program/woodwrights-shop/

Thank you John. I honestly don't recall ever seeing that episode.
You just can't beat Uncle Roy.

[Stew Hagerty]

Here is the way I made mine:

<img src="http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=274328"/>

Very nice Gordon. What woods did you use?

[Prashun Patel]

Stew-

Like turning tools, I prefer mallet handles that are not open-pored (like ash or oak). They work just fine, but holding a dense wood that's been finished softly just feels best in my hand.

Also, curious why you didn't glue the handle in with the laminations? That would have avoided having to mortise out a handle hole, no?

[Jim Belair]

Well I don't need another mallet but hearing about these beauties makes me want to use up some nice offcuts.

[Stew Hagerty]

Stew-

Like turning tools, I prefer mallet handles that are not open-pored (like ash or oak). They work just fine, but holding a dense wood that's been finished softly just feels best in my hand.

Also, curious why you didn't glue the handle in with the laminations? That would have avoided having to mortise out a handle hole, no?

Hey Prashun, thanks for chiming in. Well that is why I thought of the Mahogany. It has a really nice feel to it. The Chontaquiro is open pored, but it's density gives it a good feel as well. After reading your post I went out and held each of the three woods and have now decided against the Birdseye Maple. I don't like the way I can feel each of the eyes. I think if I'm using it for a while they might get annoying.

Actually, as long as I went with a laminated head, why not laminate up a handle as well? I can glue it up so that the laminations run perpendicular to the head laminations. It might work like a bent lamination (except straight of course) to give me some strength, but with a little spring in it. What do you all think?

Oh... and by using the vertical laminations with a 2-piece center lamination, I didn't have to chop a mortise at all. Besides, I made the opening wider at the top so I can tap in wedges to spread the handle.

[Stew Hagerty]

Here are some photos of the new Jatoba mallet head compared to my existing mallet (Beech I think) and Thor's Hammer. I've spoke of my giant 150 year old Mathieson mallet before in other threads.

For reference, my beech mallet weighs 17 1/4oz - the Jatoba mallet head alone comes in at 26oz - and Thor's Hammer weighs a very hefty 42oz.

274336274337

[Adam Cruea]

That mallet head looks nice! I've thought about making a mallet out of some Jatoba I have lying around. . .now I might do it, seeing how nice that looks. Slap a hickory handle on it for contrast. . .mmmmmmm. . .

[ryan carlino]

I happened upon the Woodwright episode, too, and got inspired. Instead of mortising thick stock, I glued up 2 pieces of maple with the mortise pre-cut. The handle is walnut. It's a fun half day project for sure.

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[Jim Koepke]

After reading your post I went out and held each of the three woods and have now decided against the Birdseye Maple. I don't like the way I can feel each of the eyes. I think if I'm using it for a while they might get annoying.

They would not only be annoying, they might cause blisters. I just knocked out a dozen mortises and am very glad my mallet doesn't have anything on the handle to annoy my hand.


Actually, as long as I went with a laminated head, why not laminate up a handle as well? I can glue it up so that the laminations run perpendicular to the head laminations. It might work like a bent lamination (except straight of course) to give me some strength, but with a little spring in it. What do you all think?

The "spring in it" might be at the cost of it being more likely to fail. Like the grain of wood being important in a baseball bat, shovel, axe or just about any wooden tool handle the direction of force should have the strongest features of the wood going with it for strength.


Oh... and by using the vertical laminations with a 2-piece center lamination, I didn't have to chop a mortise at all. Besides, I made the opening wider at the top so I can tap in wedges to spread the handle.

Wedges look good. You may also want to consider a handle that is tapered through the head of the mallet.

My mallet build wasn't laminated. This is the one that was used to whack a mortise chisel through a dozen mortises recently:

274449

The picture is labeled as finished. Most of what was done after the picture was smoothing the handle.

Here is the build post:

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

It is a great mallet, but it makes me want to make another. Just have to find a nice hunk of wood to use. My neighbor gave me some hunks of beach that look promising.

jtk

[Gordon Eyre]

Very nice Gordon. What woods did you use?

Walnut and Maple, simply because they were the scraps I had on hand.

[Stew Hagerty]

The "spring in it" might be at the cost of it being more likely to fail. Like the grain of wood being important in a baseball bat, shovel, axe or just about any wooden tool handle the direction of force should have the strongest features of the wood going with it for strength.

I think I may not have explained myself very well. When I said laminate the handle, I meant laminate 3-5 layers of long grain, then insert one end through the head. And when I said perpendicular, I meant that you can see the laminations of the head from the faces, and you would be able to see the handle laminations from the side. Or does that still present some possible problems?


Wedges look good. You may also want to consider a handle that is tapered through the head of the mallet.

That is what the wedges are for; to expand the handle into a tapered shape. I figured I would drill a couple of small holes to reduce the possibility of splitting and then cut slots down to them for the wedges. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? If not I can taper the handle.

[Leon Jester]

I turned both the heads and the handles on mine -- generally out of apple or pecan. However, I noticed that there wasn't a relief to the cuts for the wedges. In shop class beaucoup years ago, Mr. Lucas taught us to drill a hole at the base of a cut that was to be wedged to prevent splitting and make the wedges just short of the hole; it makes the wedged slit into a sort of door. It's worked well for me over the years, thought I'd pass it along.

[Jim Koepke]

And when I said perpendicular, I meant that you can see the laminations of the head from the faces, and you would be able to see the handle laminations from the side. Or does that still present some possible problems?

It may work fine. If this was my way of doing it, the laminations of the handle would be inline with the laminations of the head.

Time will be the teacher, experience will be the result.


That is what the wedges are for; to expand the handle into a tapered shape. I figured I would drill a couple of small holes to reduce the possibility of splitting and then cut slots down to them for the wedges. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? If not I can taper the handle.

This will probably work fine. I like to leave a bit of the handle above the mallet head to allow for any expansion or contraction. One of my mallets made of softer wood had the handle cut flush with the top. Over time, the handle has been "pulled" into the head. Maybe only 1/16", but it is still noticeable.

jtk

[Stew Hagerty]

Well I finally found a little shop time for myself and finished up my mallet.

Like I said before the head is made from some hard & heavy Jatoba I had left over. I laminated it vertically, with two solid outer pieced and center pieces that each have a 2 1/2 degree angle on the inside edge that gives me a 5 degree taper. I used a nice piece of Hickory for the handle.

Instead of just a taper, I went with a bolstered handle & wedges. I shaped the handle by sawing to depth, followed by chiseling and scraping until I was satisfied, I made the tenon, drilled stop holes, and made two slices for the Jatoba wedges. Then I just glued up the handle and tapped in the wedges.

When it was dry, it had developed a couple small cracks from one of the wedges (even with the stop holes), so I mixed up some 5 minute epoxy and packed them full.

After a quick scraping & sanding, I rubbed on 3 coats of Tung Oil.

The handle design I came up with feels pretty good in my hand, even though the mallet weighs in at 34 3/4oz. And here is the result:

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[Stew Hagerty]

That mallet head looks nice! I've thought about making a mallet out of some Jatoba I have lying around. . .now I might do it, seeing how nice that looks. Slap a hickory handle on it for contrast. . .mmmmmmm. . .

You were right Adam. Hickory looked pretty good against the Jatoba.

[Adam Cruea]

They contrast each other very well. You can thank my wife, she's the one that suggested that (hickory and jatoba) for my bench. :D

34 3/4oz? That's one hefty mallet, man!

[Derek Cohen]

I am curious about the size of your mallet head. I posted one very recently that I built for morticing that weighs 38 oz. Its one-piece head is approx. 5" long x 3" at the high point and 2 3/8" wide. The handle is 10" and 11/2" x 1" oval...


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/MalletforMorticeChisels_html_m6fd1beb2.jpg

As you can see, we all like the same contrasting woods! :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Stew Hagerty]

I am curious about the size of your mallet head. I posted one very recently that I built for morticing that weighs 38 oz. Its one-piece head is approx. 5" long x 3" at the high point and 2 3/8" wide. The handle is 10" and 11/2" x 1" oval...

Derek

Mine is 5 1/4" long X 3 3/4" High (@ high point) X 2 5/8" Wide. The handle projects 11" from the bottom of the head. And, as I said in an earlier post, the head alone weighs 26oz (before oil).

It's the Brass that makes the difference in yours. That's OK though, I need a bigger mallet. I'm more likely to hit the chisel than my hand!! :eek:

[Adam Cruea]

I should weigh my hickory mallet I made. Now that you guys have given me measurements, maybe that's not *that* heavy after all.