Spalted maple for a mallet?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have tons of spalted maple and am about to move the shop so I want to start using some of it before the move. Do you think it would be too fragile for a mallet? One mallet would be an assembly mallet and another a carving mallet. In fact probably I will build a few assembly mallets of various sizes. The spalting is not too heavy.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've less experience with spalted maple than some folks, but from what I've used, the only person who can tell if it's appropriate for a given use the person with the wood in hand. I've seen stuff that without being stabilized just wanted to fall away to nothing, and stuff that was really just "regular maple" with some of that dark spalting lines in it. (I've seen guys build tops for electric solid body guitars out of some really questionable spalted stuff!) If the spalting isn't too heavy, as you've said, and the wood seems to work like normal maple, I guess I wouldn't hesitate if it's what you've got on hand.

[Zach Dillinger]

Only one way to find out for sure. Each individual piece of that wood will be different, so it is impossible to predict with 100% accuracy which will hold up and which will fail. I'd give it a go and find out!

[Stew Hagerty]

Pick out the piece you want and send it to these guys:

http://www.woodsure.com/homepage.htm

The Acrylic Resin infusion will make it both harder & heavier. Not to mention waterproof and nearly indestructible.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Thanks all for the replies. I guess I should just go ahead and do it and find out through trial and error, but wood like this has to be shipped to me overseas, and so every single piece is cherished... as should ALL wood, regardless. I just hate to waste it. Plus this was green when I got it and it has been drying for two years now. I originally was going to make hand planers (a small surfboard that straps to your hand- not to be confused with the tool of similar name) out of them, but I decided to do something different. I like to make tools out of really unique pieces of wood so that when I am working the wood I am doing it with something beautiful that is made by hand. It keeps me ever-mindful to respect the wood I am working, and also it's just good and proper!

Stew, that's a cool link. I was going to do the same process as with knife scales- put it in a jar with a vacuum pump and infuse it with sanding sealer. I was going to do one with a blue dye just to see how that looked, although I usually shy away from colors on tools. It looks cool on flamed or spalted woods.

Here's a hand planer just for reference. I'm thinking I may contact Stew's link and have them do the handboards. It would be better than epoxy.

275792

[Gary Herrmann]

Make a mallet and find out. If the spalted areas are too soft, liberally apply thin CA to them, then sand it back a bit, if you don't want it to look plasticky. The CA will eat a plane or scraper edge.