Designing a mallet

[Derek Cohen]

Earlier, in another thread, I wrote about the weight of a mallet. I think it would be interesting, and helpful for those starting out (mallets are easy to build and we all need a couple), to discuss what goes into a good design. I'd love to hear the thoughts of others.

There are essentially three types of mallets to use with chisels: the round headed carver's mallet, the rectangular headed cabinetmaker or joiner's mallet, and the steel hammer or gennou (which is used with Japanese hooped chisel handles).

In some respects, these are partly a personal choice (round vs rectangular) and partly a matching of materials (steel gennou on hooped handles vs wooden head on unhooped handles).

Round headed carver's mallets are perhaps the easiest to build if you own a lathe. I built many over the years, of all sizes and weights. I gave all away except for two, a small brass-headed carver's mallet from Lee Valley, which I have not used in many years, and a beautiful carver's mallet from Blue Spruce ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Mallets1-1.jpg

I used the BS mallet for a few years. It has excellent balance, and weighs 16 oz - which is a middle weight - good for bench chisels into medium hard wood. I stopped using it as I just preferred the more focussed energy from a joiner's mallet. What stands out about this BS mallet is not simply the infused acrylic polymer resin wood, but the handle, which has a good ergonomic.

I moved to using a Veritas Cabinetmaker's mallet, which has a brass head for extra mass in a smaller size than the more common wooden head.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/images/item/woodworking/chisels/05e1501s1.jpg

Rob Lee said to me that I am a compulsive modifier. I am guilty! I changed two items on this mallet: the handle shape and the face of the head (to UHMW). The original weighs 18oz (that is just the head, so around 20oz all up?). Mine, with the Jarrah handle, weighs 24oz.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Mallet_zpsawalgxow.jpg

Why change the handle? The new one offers a better grip and more control. It is slightly longer and thicker. It is recessed for my hand, and not fly away.

I see many mallets made by members on various fori. The handles are like sticks - straight and either completely round or rectangle. I cannot imagine how they can be comfortable or offer control. The ones I make are oval and have a position to support the hand in either a closed/choked up position (close to the head), for less downforce, or at the end of the handle, for greater downforce.

Here is a handle example on my Large joiner's mallet ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Morticing%20mallet/3_zps97cd6e8f.jpg

Handles are not straight sticks. With my gennous, I have built tapered handles that will not fly away, and the taper offers a variable positioning ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Tenryu%20Tsuchime%20Shikaku%20225g/Gennou4_zpsk6e4mhdy.jpg

These hammers have small heads (one is 225gm and the other 375gm), and the slimmer handle is gripped with the same lightness that one gives to a dovetail saw.

The same goes for my plane hammer: 8 oz, one side brass and the other UHMW, with a tapered handle ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Mallets%20and%20hammers/Plane%20hammer/Plane-hammer1_zpsf0624775.jpg

OK, enough from me. Your thoughts and examples to illustrate.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Oskar Sedell]

My examples, and my most used mallets/hammers. Sadly I don't have a scale, so i can't provide weights for them. My guess is that the mallets are on the light side.
361219

The one to the left is my plane hammer. Brass head and leather lined on one side to protect the wooden plane bodies. Handle is swiss pear.

In the middle my wooden mallet. The handle is made out of ash and the head is laminated european oak, leather lined on one side to keep the noise level down if needed. The handle is oval in shape, and slightly contoured along its length to give a sense for the grip and the position. I prefer slight tapers and subtle shapes instead of handles that are heavily sculptured. For me it's easier on the hand and more versatile.

To the right my brass hammer that I mainly use for chisel work. Ash handle. I prefer the sharper impact of the metal head to the wooden mallet for precision work. Handle is tapered and slightly curved, like a gennou handle.

[george wilson]

The 18th. C. "gentleman's tools" were often given a bit of decoration. I made this mallet quickly out of a discarded wagon wheel fellie. It already had the curve and the mortice cut into it.

The little decorative chisel and gouge cuts can be seen in re prints of 18th. C. tool catalogs. I think they got it perfect. Simple, but adds a very nice touch. The whole mallet is oak,more than heavy enough for harpsichord case work. I made a really heavy one from an ox cart fellie I found discarded.

I just posted ths mallet on the other mallet thread, then discovered this thread, which is more appropriate since it is about mallet design.

[Derek Cohen]

George, the gouge cuts are nice.

How do you find the straight handle of your mallet, keeping in mind the comments I made earlier about my preference for a shaped hand support?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kees Heiden]

I have made two joiners mallets. A smaller one about 450 grams. and a heavier one about 950 gram.

The handle of the smaller one is more or less just a dowel, lightly flattened on the sides to a more oval shape. Works fine. The larger handle proved to be a tad more challenging. After shaping the handle ended up to be quite narrow and almost circular in the middle. In use it wanted to rotate in my hand, very annoying and tiring. So I made a larger handle, and had to enlarge the mortise in the head too. This gave me enough wood to make a nice oval(ish) shape. That's a lot better.

361272

Otherwise, it is just a mallet, a lump of wood. I don't see a reason to get too sophisticated about it.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Here is my "lump of wood" on a "stick." I thought the gennou threads a while back were very interesting, and I learned a lot, but I agree with Kees that at the end of the day it is a pretty simple tool. Mine was made in about a half an hour and cost basically nothing. I was planning to make a nice handle out of walnut or something, but started a prototype out of spruce just to experiment. I stuck it in there to see how it felt, and it felt fine. Plus I had something I needed to do, so got to work using it. Somehow have not gotten back to making the "nice" handle. I have been using it for a couple of years now, and do not have any trouble holding on to it.

I learn a lot from these threads, but hope people don't take the wrong lessons from them (i.e. They can't possibly make a decent mallet without years of study and practice, so should head to the nearest retail outlet and plonk down $30, or $50 or $80).

361276

[Derek Cohen]

The handle of the smaller one is more or less just a dowel, lightly flattened on the sides to a more oval shape. Works fine. The larger handle proved to be a tad more challenging. After shaping the handle ended up to be quite narrow and almost circular in the middle. In use it wanted to rotate in my hand, very annoying and tiring. So I made a larger handle, and had to enlarge the mortise in the head too. This gave me enough wood to make a nice oval(ish) shape. That's a lot better.

Kees, that is the point of paying attention to details. A mallet is only a "lump of wood" if you use it once in a blue moon and have no need for control or feedback.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

George, the gouge cuts are nice.

How do you find the straight handle of your mallet, keeping in mind the comments I made earlier about my preference for a shaped hand support?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek: I usually find the straight handle of my mallet after searching about a few minutes in the shavings on my bench.:) Actually,I never have had any trouble with it slipping from my grasp.

Since this is a 250 year old design,including the straight grip,iI think there was plenty of time for the grip to "evolve" if necessary. It never wants to slip from my grasp. I could wrap it with hard linen twine if it wanted to slip. But not yet necessary.

I have mallets I made that are VERY heavy compared to this one. My heaviest one was originally made for packing down the sand in flasks back when I was doing some bronze casting. It was made from a very large ox cart wheel fellow that somehow had a bog chip in one end. At least 4" thick,and wider than this one,and nearly twice as tall. It has the straight handle too.

I'm not saying you should not contour your handles if you like it better. Mine were really just "Quick and dirty" designs. BUT,they were true 18th. C. designs. Back then,though,tools were frugally made. It could have been that you were expected to shape your own handles,just as you were expected to make your own chisel handles and finish sharpening your own saws.

And yet,even with these "frugalities",beautiful designs were included in the handles of saws,etc.. I guess it will take some museum weenie with a doctor's degree in tools,and probably an English accent (At least to gain credence in Williamsburg),to sort it ball out. But,I'll bet he ends up with the same conclusions as I have after working daily with these old designs every day for many decades.

I might note that the European mallets you can buy today,such as the Marples, have straight handles,except their rounding -off-the-corner cuts stop very near the ends of the handle. Nobody holds on to the last part of the handle. At least they should NOT!!!! Plus,these mallets are usually stained with a light,orangish stain. That makes me think that they were not intended for modification. The stain would be rasped right off. Some brands are not stained,but I think they mostly at least have a clear coat of lacquer on them.

[lowell holmes]

The 18th. C. "gentleman's tools" were often given a bit of decoration. I made this mallet quickly out of a discarded wagon wheel fellie. It already had the curve and the mortice cut into it.

The little decorative chisel and gouge cuts can be seen in re prints of 18th. C. tool catalogs. I think they got it perfect. Simple, but adds a very nice touch. The whole mallet is oak,more than heavy enough for harpsichord case work. I made a really heavy one from an ox cart fellie I found discarded.

I just posted ths mallet on the other mallet thread, then discovered this thread, which is more appropriate since it is about mallet design.

I have a similar mallet. I like it. It came from Homestead Heritage many years ago. It was made of maple by Paul Sellers son.

[Hasin Haroon]

Derek, all of your mallets are well thought out and lovely to look at. I really enjoy making mallets - they are quick, easy projects that are useful in the shop...in fact I'm on a no-more-mallet-making ultimatum from my wife. Yes, it's that bad. Here are a few of mine:

361291
These are my joiner's mallets. The largest one is huge, and has an Ipe head and Ziricote handle. The middle one was made as an experiment, using a mahogany head and pine handle, and the smallest one is an Ipe head (looks very different from the other Ipe head) and curly maple handle, and is the one I use the most out of these three.
361292
This one is my first 'carvers' style of mallet, as you can tell, inspired by the beautiful Blue Spruce mallets. It has an Apple head, with cracks stabilised using Epoxy and an African Blackwood handle. It is light, but very very ergonomic and well balanced, and if I may say so myself, rather beautiful.

361293361294
This one here is my plane hammer. It has a brass head and rosewood handle, and a rosewood striking face mortised into one side of the brass head. The handle shape is very comfortable to hold, and the smaller end of the head can help reach when I'm using a plane with a blade that isn't so easily accessible.
361295361296
This was my first foray into plane hammer making. I wanted to have fun with the design and design it like a ball peen hammer. It....doesn't work well. I wouldn't recommend it. The head is purpleheart, and the handle is western australian rosewood sapwood.

361297
And this is my most recent mallet/hammer. The brass head is about 2 inches long, and the handle is quite short, meant to be used with a choked up grip. It feels surprisingly balanced, and the addition of a leather face really makes it useful all round. I've been using this one almost exclusively in the shop for a few weeks and don't find myself missing the others. Lacewood handle.

See, I wasn't joking about making too many of these....

[Jim Koepke]

in fact I'm on a no-more-mallet-making ultimatum from my wife.

She might change her tune if you were to sell a few for some good money.

BTW Hasin, those are some very nice looking mallets.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

I might note that the European mallets you can buy today,such as the Marples, have straight handles,except their rounding -off-the-corner cuts stop very near the ends of the handle. Nobody holds on to the last part of the handle. At least they should NOT!!!! Plus,these mallets are usually stained with a light,orangish stain. That makes me think that they were not intended for modification. The stain would be rasped right off. Some brands are not stained,but I think they mostly at least have a clear coat of lacquer on them.

George, I think that it is not difficult to argue that many of the mass-produced cheap tools, especially in recent years, pay less attention to ergonomics. Perhaps this was not a consideration 250 years ago as well! :)

I recall a few years ago when Dave Jeske at Blue Spruce and I posted our (then) new mallets at the same time (I think it was on WoodNet), and we discussed the handle designs. It was interesting for me that we had built very similar designs and for the same reason. Dave's mallet ...

http://www.bluesprucetools.com/PDGImages/MLTJNR1_big.jpg

Dave writes on his website: "The handle is designed for two gripping positions for both hard and softer hitting situations."


I really enjoy making mallets - they are quick, easy projects that are useful in the shop...in fact I'm on a no-more-mallet-making ultimatum from my wife. Yes, it's that bad.

Hasin, those are really nice mallets. I can see that you are giving thought to how they are used. Which do you prefer for chisels, the round or the rectangle?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Hasin Haroon]

She might change her tune if you were to sell a few for some good money.

BTW Hasin, those are some very nice looking mallets.

jtk

Thanks for the kind words Jim. I think selling a couple items for any money at all would grant me some much needed social license for my hobby from my wife. Only issue is find customers...

[Hasin Haroon]

Hasin, those are really nice mallets. I can see that you are giving thought to how they are used. Which do you prefer for chisels, the round or the rectangle?



Thanks Derek. I find myself gravitating towards round mallets for chisel work nowadays. I think the ability to strike a chisel dead on from multiple approach angles lends improved ergonomics, compared to the flat face of the rectangular heads, if that makes sense. By round, I assume you are talking about carver's style mallets?

If you mean round in cross section like the last hammer I posted, I do also prefer those to square heads in situations where I need to choke up on the handle, as it provides a softer grip without corners for when my fingers meet the head.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Hasin

I find it interesting the reasons why some prefer a round head and others a straight head. I don't that it has much to do with ergonomics, however. I suspect that round handles are really preferred because one can just pick up a mallet and not be concerned about the direction at which they are held (plus, they are easier to build and therefore more likely to be used by those making mallets for themselves). In my experience, a round mallet does not impart the same amount of force as a straight head. Perhaps this is why one is referred to as a carver's mallet and the other as a joiner's mallet? Nevertheless, personal preference rules in the end.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Hasin Haroon]

You mention some good points there Derek, I definitely enjoy being able to pick up a round mallet and not having to align it before striking (though a good handle design makes aligning it straight very natural and easy). I do turn to my joiner's mallet for heavy use, though that is probably because it is larger and heavier. Thinking about it, I realise that a round mallet the same size and weight as my largest joiner's mallet would be rather unwieldy.

[Jim Koepke]

I think selling a couple items for any money at all would grant me some much needed social license for my hobby from my wife. Only issue is find customers...

Finding customers is an endeavor. Another approach is to make nice things for the wife. If she does any crafts, perhaps a nice carrying case for her tools and supplies.

jtk

[Hasin Haroon]

Indeed...I can tell you're no newbie to gaining social license for woodworking! I'll need to look into some sort of knitting supplies box, or a simple loom design...one that isn't all that contrived like one of those swedish contraptions.

[Pat Barry]

Question for all on the subject of wooden mallet design: How important is it that the handle / head be easily replaceable? For example, heads / handles that re designed to be easily separated. This is an elegant solution but how important? Seems that most of these tools are very robust and if say, the head needs to be replaced that can be done fairly readily either by just replacing the head, adding an insert, or even replacing the entire thing, regardless of how the handle and head are joined, handle and all. How often are handles actually replaced due to damage / breakage?

[Jim Koepke]

Question for all on the subject of wooden mallet design: How important is it that the handle / head be easily replaceable? For example, heads / handles that re designed to be easily separated. This is an elegant solution but how important? Seems that most of these tools are very robust and if say, the head needs to be replaced that can be done fairly readily either by just replacing the head, adding an insert, or even replacing the entire thing, regardless of how the handle and head are joined, handle and all. How often are handles actually replaced due to damage / breakage?

The first mallet of my making is still going strong:

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

It has seen regular use for 6 years. If you look at the third image in the post you can see a crack in the handle. Hasn't caused any problem and the handle has become highly polished from being used.

As you say above, it is rather easy to just make another if one has a bad day and breaks a mallet.

For me the hardest part of making a mallet is finding a worthy piece of wood. Though lately with a lot of firewood being cut and split a few good candidates have shown themselves.

jtk