Best wood for Mallets??

[Jerry Olexa]

Plan to make a few mallets during the holidays (although the interruptions keep coming:))....Generally, what wood do you guys recommend for the working part (head) of the mallets as well as handles? I plan to make carver's as well as conventional..Thanks in advance.

[Steve Eure]

I made mine with what I had on hand. Red oak. It is not a work of art but it serves its purpose and works well.
If I were to make some for gifting, I would probably go with something with contrast such as walnut, maple, ash. I would think any hardwood would do.

[Barney Markunas]

You might try a search; I seem to recall a discussion about this just a few weeks ago. Among others, I think live oak and Osage orange had a fair number of fans as head material. Given your location, the Osage orange is going to be easier to find locally. Riven ash makes a pretty good handle but I am sure there are plenty of other species that would work well. That being said I am sure there are plenty of very serviceable mallets hard at work, that were sourced in a firewood pile and/or scrap bin. If they don't hold up well or you are disappointed with balance or aesthetics, it can go right back to the firewood pile without much guilt.

[Barney Markunas]

Persimmon is another possibility for head material. Those of us of a certain age who were around before "game improvement" golf clubs were invented, remember when it was the material of choice for good drivers and fairway woods.

[Jim Koepke]

Ash is a good material but getting harder to find due to the ash borer beetle.

What is wanted is a wood that is hard, heavy and not likely to splinter. Lignum vitae is good, but hard to work and expensive.

My favorite mallet is made of some bog cherry or bitter cherry that was in the firewood pile when we moved here 9 years ago.

Beech is also a good material.

Roy Underhill mentions a few woods besides ash in this episode:

http://www.pbs.org/video/big-ash-mallet-jn5sfd/

jtk

[John K Jordan]

I made mine from dogwood.

[Rob Luter]

Hi Jerry. See if you can find some Black Locust aka Ironwood. It will likely be in someone’s firewood stack. It’s heavy, dense, and hard as.....iron. It grows all over the Midwest. I made a mallet from red oak and it’s just not heavy enough. That said, it’s not real big. Some look like Thor’s hammer. Mine is smaller. I may add some steel inserts on the sides to add some heft.

[steven c newman]

Used a spalted Maple blank that was handy..
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Little mallet laying behind it was inherited, was too light for me......but it served as a pattern for one that fit my hand better. Been driving chisels with it, ever since...

[Kurtis Johnson]

What is wanted is a wood that is hard, heavy and not likely to splinter. Lignum vitae is good, but hard to work and expensive. I bought what I think is a vintage lignum vitae mallet off Etsy. It's not a chisel mallet … the seller said it came from an old printer. Not sure what it's purpose was. Maybe to set cold type, or to bang on paper rolls or something. It is a thing of beauty, and it's H-E-A-V-Y-! I cannot imaging a more dense wood. I can see why the species used to be touted often for chisel mallets. You need mass for it.

[Richard Line]

You might consider epee. Its hard and heavy. I got mine for some decking boards and had to laminate them. It's working well so far. I wouldn't recommend it for the handle, to hard to grip the head well or maybe that's my craftsman shaping the handle.

[Mike Henderson]

I've made mallets of a lot of different kinds of wood. I teach hand cut dovetails and provide mallets for my students. All wood delaminates after a certain amount of use. If you make turned mallets (such as carver's mallets), leave the center marks and when they get bad, you can put them back on the lathe and take a light cut off the face to smooth them out.

Lignum vitae is good but it delaminates eventually. The one that has lasted the longest is bloodwood, but I'm sure there are some woods I haven't used that will hold up well.

Mike

[Ron Bontz]

Resin infused hard maple, hickory, bubinga.

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

I would bet that you could find some osage firewood without too much trouble in your neck of the woods. I've been using some recently and so far so good. If you look at the Janka hardness scale it's about the hardest stuff you can find domestically, and it is the wood of choice for a lot of bowyers (that's bow as in bow and arrow) so that should tell you something. Back in the day, apparently, a good osage bow was worth as much as a horse. So far no one has offered me a horse for any of my osage, though, so maybe that's just a tall tale.

[Stanley Covington]

I agree with Richard. Ipe is a great wood for mallet heads.

I have been using the mallet in these pictures for a few months, and have been pleased with its performance. The head is Ipe, and the handle curly maple. I don't think the handle material matters much if one can make it fairly thick, which should be the case for a mallet.

Ipe is harder and denser than the Japanese White Oak mallets I am accustomed to using. It should hold up better to striking steel plane blades long-term.

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[Mark Gibney]

I laminated some ipe cutoffs I got from a construction site and turned a nice mallet.

But very quickly the head of the mallet showed the wear and dings from use. Not heavy use either, just on regular chisels.

Is there a rubber / plastic I can wrap the head in so it doesn't disintegrate?

[Jerry Olexa]

Thanks to all....Much good ideas here...I will plunge forward into the unknown with patience and low expectations...Thanks!!!

[John K Jordan]

...I will plunge forward into the unknown with patience and low expectations...

That's a good line. I might steal it.

[Dave Anderson NH]

To put a point on it Jerry, FREE is best. I've made mallets out of both Hard (Sugar) Maple and out of Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry). Both work equally well and hold up nicely. To start I'd glue up whatever you have, make a mallet, use it, and then modify design and wood choice based on your results. Invariably the second round will be better than the first.

[Prashun Patel]

I make two kinds, and I realize this may not be standard practice.

For the head:

1) For mortising. I like a heavy head that does not mushroom. White oak has served well on my most recent mallet.
2) For paring. I like a lighter, softer mallet. Walnut and cherry look and feel great here.

For the handles:
As for turning tools, while I love the sturdiness of ash and oak, I find closed grain woods like beech, maple, or cherry more comfortable to hold

[Mike Holbrook]

I took down a dead Dogwood and made several malets, so far. Hickory, ash, white oak, maple, fruit woods... make good handles. Drew Langsner has a huge malet that is reported to be very old, made from a Dogwood root.

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You can't drive a glut with a tack hammer. My gluts are made from Dogwood too, and I have been amazed at how tough they are.

[Jerry Olexa]

To put a point on it Jerry, FREE is best. I've made mallets out of both Hard (Sugar) Maple and out of Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry). Both work equally well and hold up nicely. To start I'd glue up whatever you have, make a mallet, use it, and then modify design and wood choice based on your results. Invariably the second round will be better than the first.

Good reasoning, Dave...Makes sense to me....Learn by doing....Thanks, good approach.

[Jeff Heath]

Jerry

If you're up for a road trip all the way across town again (:)) I've got a chunk of ash you could make a mallet or two out of.

I have made mallets out of whatever is in the hardwood firewood pile for a long time. Hickory, Osage, locust are some of the harder, denser woods that you can actually find in abundance. Persimmon is great, but sorry.........that get sliced into boxing for my planes.

White oak, hard maple, etc......work great, too.

[John K Jordan]

Persimmon is great, but sorry.........that get sliced into boxing for my planes.


It sounds like Persimmon is useful to some people. Is it generally hard to come by? I ask since I have a good stock of Persimmon drying now for over 10 years. I use it for woodturning and there are often pieces I trim off the slabs that go into the burn pile.

If useful, in general, what size pieces of wood go into "boxing" for planes? (I know next to nothing about planes except where I put my two in the shop!)

I have a lot of Persimmon trees here on the farm and do save the wood when one comes down so I have some drying. I also have a friend with the biggest Persimmon tree I've ever seen, I'm guessing 60-75' of straight trunk well over 24" DBH. He said it's too close to his house and we could cut it at any time. Another friend has a smaller but still large Persimmon tree he wants cut down. Do you think there are enough people who would like some chunks to make it worth the effort? I have a sawmill and can cut slabs to dry and I'm not afraid to share. (BTW, Persimmon slabs cup like CRAZY unless quartersawn.)

Just for fun, here are a couple of turned boxes I made from persimmon, a fantastic wood to turn. Turns like ebony. (Ha!)

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And this is a wormy Persimmon handle for a horse rider's crop:

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JKJ

[Mel Fulks]

I saw some reference ,years ago, about early USA that said persimmon was mallet material in the North and dogwood was used in the South. Might have been a Wintertur book.

[Pat Barry]

Back when I started playing, the best persimmon went into making golf clubs. It was hard, dense, durable and the best wood drivers

[John K Jordan]

Back when I started playing, the best persimmon went into making golf clubs. It was hard, dense, durable and the best wood drivers

Old farmers around here said buyers used to visit their property and offer big money for persimmon trees for golf clubs.

[lowell holmes]

I had a mallet that I liked, it was hard maple. Apparently, I lost it when Harvey came through. I bought it on line, but I don't remember where.

[Mel Fulks]

Lowell, if your mallet was blown away ....and hit someone. That requires a serious reexamination of A. Lincoln's promise of
"mallets toward none".

[Gary Herrmann]

Jerry, find some Osage. Even if you have to drive over the river. You won't regret it.

[Jerry Olexa]

I've got a chunk of ash you could make a mallet or two out of.


Jeff, thank you for your kind offer (again)....Fortunately, I have many hardwood scraps to incorporate into a mallett..The holidays seem to be interfering with my progress..Nice of you to offer..
Have a good holiday...Early 2018, we can schedule a meeting..even though you are some distance.:) sincere thanks,
Jerry

[Jim Koepke]

Do you think there are enough people who would like some chunks to make it worth the effort?

Mark me as one who is interested.

Mallet making can be fun.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I just remembered where I got my big maple mallet. Old age does that to you.:)

I was at a class at Homestead Heritage in Texas being conducted by Paul Sellers. One of his sons was making these really nice mallets. The son was a preteen at the time and I bought one.

[Jeff Heath]

I've got a chunk of ash you could make a mallet or two out of.


Jeff, thank you for your kind offer (again)....Fortunately, I have many hardwood scraps to incorporate into a mallett..The holidays seem to be interfering with my progress..Nice of you to offer..
Have a good holiday...Early 2018, we can schedule a meeting..even though you are some distance.:) sincere thanks,
Jerry

Anytime, Jerry. And yes, the 5 mile trek over can be wrought with danger, so drive carefully.:D

In regards to persimmon, for my uses, it is resawn thin, 1/4" to 3/8" (depends on plane) and cut on the bias at the same bed angle of the plane being built, so end grain matches bed angle.

Here's a few pictures of how I cut it, and my small stash, if you don't mind the hijack, Jerry....

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[Phil Mueller]

Speaking of persimmon...and completely off topic...one of my Mother’s Christmas cookie traditions is a persimmon cookie. Must say, it is my wife’s favorite and a delicious childhoon and adult memory. Given that, I’d prefer the fruit to the wood :D I do hope the fruit on your trees goes to good use.

Now back to mallets.....

[Dave Cullen]

I have a Lignum Vitae carvers mallet that I've had for 35 years. It's the heaviest mallet in my collection (that stuff is dense), and sees service at my lathe. I've also turned mallets from red oak and cherry that are very nice. The one below was made for a "mallet swap" in another forum and is fancier than what I normally make. The head is bubinga and maple with some black veneer. The handle is Brazilian rosewood trimmed with maple and ebony. Its recipient was very pleased.

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[michael langman]

I would think so Dave. That is one beautiful mallet.

[scott lipscomb]

Just made a pile of these to give to some friends (almost done, just need a final sanding and some finish)...Quercus chrysolepis, a west coast oak that we call "Canyon Oak", but it is also known as "Maul Oak", so I figured it would make a good mallet.
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[Jim Koepke]

Just made a pile of these to give to some friends (almost done, just need a final sanding and some finish)...Quercus chrysolepis, a west coast oak that we call "Canyon Oak", but it is also known as "Maul Oak", so I figured it would make a good mallet.
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Looks like a nice pile of whackers.

jtk

[Chris Fournier]

I have found lignum vitae to make a great mallet. That said, hard maple and yes ipe are fine as well. I'd go for ipe if performance and value were important.