A mallot in spite of myself

[Phil Mueller]

James commented on my first mortise post and suggested that I show the mallet I made. Well, I thought I'd just share my experience (AKA mistakes) in the process. Maybe a few can save themselves some grief, and for the more experienced among you, get a bit of a chuckle.

I started with a few pieces of scrap maple. After a bit of google searching, decided my best option was the 3 piece method, glued together with a space between the middle two pieces for the handle. I also liked the idea of drilling a 1 1/2" hole through the middle boards to add weight to bring it up to 2lbs.

All went well until I realized that after the glue up, the mallet would be about 8" long:confused: I still don't know what I was thinking on this one.

So I cut it down to size, leaving wide open gaps on each end where the holes were drilled. Not to mention a mess of shot everywhere and a sacrificed hack saw blade going through the shot filled holes.

Ok, move on. I squared up the holes with a chisel and glued in a number of oak pieces from a 1/4" piece of scrap.

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Ok, that problem solved. So now how do I add some weight.

I then decided to drill a couple holes from the top, fill with lead shot (#9, if interested), to bring it up to 2 lbs and plugged the hole with some oak dowel I had. Don't ask me how much shot is rolling around on the floor when I decided to turn it sideways to insert the dowel...really!!!?
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Note the horrible glue up on the one side piece:eek:

I then discovered after shaping the handle with a rasp, files, and sandpaper, that it was 90 degrees to the wedge previously made in the head and top of handle. In other words, the was it fit into the wedge would have had me using the side of the mallet as the striking surface. Certainly wasn't going to accept that, but the handle shaft was now too narrow to fit tightly in the correct direction. So once again a few small splines at the top, and a few at the bottom filled in with epoxy. I don't think it's ever coming out.
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I know many of you are thinking this guy has no business being around power tools or sharp instruments. Can't blame you, but this was just one of those where it was senior moment, after senior moment!

In summary, not well planned out, carefully executed, or beautiful mallet. But at the end of it, a working mallet that fits me pretty well, all my fingers still in tact, and a reminder to actually think a bit when doing a project :D

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[Mark Stutz]

The end result is a very attractive, functional mallet!

We all have those stories, and often not on our first project! You may or may not ever make another one, but those lessons learned will be of benefit for future projects.

[James Pallas]

Phil it looks just fine. If it drives your mortise chisel and you like using it all is well. If anyone asks just tell them that the batteries are under the plugs and it's a "Mueller Electric" that will cause a bit of head scratching. It's all fun.
Jim

[David Eisenhauer]

Never mind the "birthing pains", it looks like a baby to me. How does 2 lbs work for you when chopping mortices?

[Brian Holcombe]

Looks good Phil, just a heads up for future mallets/projects. Always set your wedges so that they are 90 degrees to the long grain. In other words they would need to be applying a pressing force against end grain rather than a splitting force between the long grain.

[Jim Koepke]

If you hadn't mentioned the mistakes they would have likely gone unnoticed, nice bopper.

jtk

- my wife calls 'em "hubby clubs" and I know just what hubby she's talking about.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Looks nice. I call mine "the persuader." When something won't fit, it persuades it to fit. I love a heavy mallet. One warning is don't drill the holes too close to the end or it will split.

[Frederick Skelly]

I like it. Well done.

Mistakes? No sweat, you worked through every one of them and the result is a useful, attractive tool. That's huge! See, you've got to be able to work through problems or mistakes in this hobby, or you will waste time and material.

Well done!
Fred

[Mark Stutz]

I like it. Well done.

Mistakes? No sweat, you worked through every one of them and the result is a useful, attractive tool. That's huge! See, you've got to be able to work through problems or mistakes in this hobby, or you will waste time and material.

Well done!
Fred

Mistakes> What mistakes? Those are called design changes in my shop!:D

[Bill White]

There ain't no stinkin' mistakes. Just design modifications.
Well done.
Bill

[Jim Koepke]

Mistakes? No sweat, you worked through every one of them and the result is a useful, attractive tool. That's huge! See, you've got to be able to work through problems or mistakes in this hobby, or you will waste time and material.

Not sure who to attribute for this quote, "the difference between a professional and an amateur is how they handle their mistakes."

jtk

[Pat Barry]

Its not so much facing problems as dealing with them effectively. See The Far Side example of 'Rocket Scientists'. T
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They seem to have drifted a bit from their original design intent due to various problems they encountered. Your malllet on the other hand still looks pretty much like you drew it up. Nice work

[Phil Mueller]

Thank you all. Very helpful tips. I've been trying lately to think through grain orientation and the like and I can use all the help I can get.
Love the "design modifications" explanation!

[Jim Koepke]

Love the "design modifications" explanation!

My projects undergo "design modifications" up until the point the work is finished. Then it is the way it was meant to be.

jtk

[george wilson]

I am afraid that a glued up head would come apart sooner or later with much use. Glue lines don't like the shocking effect from whacking the head on things. I have taken glue lines apart on purpose doing just that.Therefore,I always make them from the solid. The best head is made from a burl,of course.

[glenn bradley]

Thank you all. Very helpful tips. I've been trying lately to think through grain orientation and the like and I can use all the help I can get.
Love the "design modifications" explanation!

Referred to as "unsolicited design modifications" in my shop ;-)

[Frederick Skelly]

I am afraid that a glued up head would come apart sooner or later with much use. Glue lines don't like the shocking effect from whacking the head on things. I have taken glue lines apart on purpose doing just that.Therefore,I always make them from the solid. The best head is made from a burl,of course.

George, could you please explain why using burl is the best way? Until you said so, I wouldnt have considered using such special/rare piece of material that way.

Thank you!
Fred

[george wilson]

Old timers used a burl to make a mallet because the interlocked grain would not split in any direction. The worst thing that might happen to a hard worked mallet was a few chunks falling off. But,the mass of the head would stay intact.

At the museum,I used to make a quick mallet from wheel fellys that were defective,and left laying around. They had to be from a large wheel,but already had the mortise cut,and a nice curve in them. Make a quick handle,and voila. I still have a few of those made that way.

A "Gentleman's mallet" made from an ash wheel felly. They were a bit smaller than regular mallets,and had the little decorative cuts. Head about 3 1/2" wide and 5" long(I guess).I varnished this one(should not have),but the old ones were never varnished(Got carried away! Now it's a bit "precious").

Total time: about 1/2 hour. Ash is not the greatest wood for a mallet,but it was pre cut,and free,and just used for driving chisels.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks George. I like it varnished, even if it's not "correct". I like the decorative flourishes near the handle and the way you tapered the handle to meet the head/mortise. Your eye for design even kicks in for simple things like a mallet.

The little bit of Ash I've used was good to work (with electric tools, anyway) and I waxed it. Came out a lovely shade of white.

Fred

[Stew Denton]

Phil,

Very nice mallet.

+1 to everyone on this post, good comments all. I enjoyed the good comments, and I learned a bit by the good points made.

George, enjoyed your mallet as well, and the comments that went with it.

Stew

[Brian Holcombe]

Old timers used a burl to make a mallet because the interlocked grain would not split in any direction. The worst thing that might happen to a hard worked mallet was a few chunks falling off. But,the mass of the head would stay intact.

At the museum,I used to make a quick mallet from wheel fellys that were defective,and left laying around. They had to be from a large wheel,but already had the mortise cut,and a nice curve in them. Make a quick handle,and voila. I still have a few of those made that way.

A "Gentleman's mallet" made from an ash wheel felly. They were a bit smaller than regular mallets,and had the little decorative cuts. Head about 3 1/2" wide and 5" long(I guess).I varnished this one(should not have),but the old ones were never varnished(Got carried away! Now it's a bit "precious").

Total time: about 1/2 hour. Ash is not the greatest wood for a mallet,but it was pre cut,and free,and just used for driving chisels.

George, Thanks for this. I never thought to use Burl, but I think I will when I build a replacement for my current wooden mallet. I use my mallet for three tasks, assembly, setting holdfasts and releasing holdfasts....seems easy enough but I've caught an edge on errant blows and chipped off chunks of the mallet.

Phil,

Think of it this way, when you use a splitting wedge to split fire wood you put the wedge into the end grain and it splits along the grain. When you are wedging lengthwise you are creating this same effect. When you are applying the wedge 90 degrees to the long grain the wedge's force is pressing against the end grain.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12299/12299-h/images/fig21.jpg

vs

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12299/12299-h/images/fig10.jpg

or this;

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00410/127157264_Axe2_410043c.jpg

The axe, if used in this chopping manner will wedge itself into the wood, this is the effect we're looking for, it utilizes the shear strength of the material to keep everything in tact.

http://www.craftsmanspace.com/sites/default/files/free-knowledge-articles/wedged_mortise_tenon_joint_strain_relief_hole.jpg

Both effects are in use, the first (much like the splitting wedge above) is used to force the handle to expand and the second shear force is used to keep the assembly together. If both the mortise and the tenon are wedged in a way which splits the wood, eventually it will complete the job.

[Mark Stutz]

thanks for that diagram, Brian. It has answered a couple of questions I've had about this technique. I can easily see where a=B, but I'm confused about the formula. 3deg - 8deg?????

[Brian Holcombe]

Anytime! Better stated as angle A must equal B which can be 3 to 8 degrees.

[Mark Stutz]

Gotcha! Thanks. Seems obvious now!