Wooden mallet question

[Marshall Harrison]

Would cherry make a good wooden mallet? Or should it be Oak or something else like walnut?

Why cherry? Because that is what I have on hand.

[chris carter]

My mallet is soft maple and walnut. The walnut is only on the sides of the head and rarely strike anything unless I close my eyes and swing. The center section that takes the beating and the handle are soft maple, so I think cherry should be plenty hard enough.

[Noah Magnuson]

Yep. Don't overthink it. Cherry will be fine. It may get beat up faster than some other woods, but certainly good enough. Down the road you can make a few of different hardness. I have a nice chunk of dogwood I scavenged on the side of the road waiting...

[Frederick Skelly]

Yep. Don't overthink it. Cherry will be fine. It may get beat up faster than some other woods, but certainly good enough. Down the road you can make a few of different hardness. I have a nice chunk of dogwood I scavenged on the side of the road waiting...

+1. I made my first mallet out of laminated 2x6. Still works just fine.
Fred

[John K Jordan]

Would cherry make a good wooden mallet? Or should it be Oak or something else like walnut?

Why cherry? Because that is what I have on hand.

Might depend on what you want to whack. I've made them from softer woods like cherry and also from much harder woods like dogwood and lignum vitae. A soft wood will last a long time if used gently but if used with vigor a harder wood should last longer. Heavy, hard, and strong: black locust, osage orange, various ironwoods, hard maple, white oak, ... Also, if you make a mallet such that you can strike with the end grain it might hold up better than if struck on the side grain, as with a mallet with the head and shaft turned from the same block of wood. This one is dogwood, hard and tough but still slowly disintegrating! (much more abused now)

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JKJ

[roger wiegand]

Sure. Mallets are quick and easy to make, a fun distraction when you want a quick project. If it only lasts 20 years rather than 30, big deal. Sometimes I find it quicker to make a new one than to find the old one I've left somewhere. My lignum vitae mallet is pushing 40, cracked and beaten, but still works just fine. The only disadvantage of cherry is that it is pretty light. Easily solved if you drill the end of your blank, fill with molten lead or shot to taste, and then plug it prior to turning.

[Jim Koepke]

Would cherry make a good wooden mallet? Or should it be Oak or something else like walnut?

Why cherry? Because that is what I have on hand.

My favorite mallet is made from a type of cherry:

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The one with the handle pointing at ~2:00 o'clock is the one made of cherry.

The one with its handle pointing at ~5:00 o'clock is made of oak. The oak seems to splinter a bit more than the cherry. That could be because it is hitting on face grain instead of end grain.

jtk

[Marshall Harrison]

I just checked the wood stash that a friend gave me a couple of weeks ago. There is some oak in the stash too so, maybe I'll make two mallets one from oak and one cherry. Or maybe I'll just make one handle and swap heads s needed.

[John K Jordan]

I just checked the wood stash that a friend gave me a couple of weeks ago. There is some oak in the stash too so, maybe I'll make two mallets one from oak and one cherry. Or maybe I'll just make one handle and swap heads s needed.

Maybe cherry handle and laminated cherry and oak with hard oak striking faces?

[Marshall Harrison]

Maybe cherry handle and laminated cherry and oak with hard oak striking faces?

That should work or maybe one face oak and the other cherry. I was thinking of doing something like Jay does starting at the 10:55 mark in this video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOiPSLQRbd8&t=635s

[Warren West]

Oak, Beech, Hickory, Maple, Ash, Apple or other fruit woods tend to be good mallets that last. I wouldn't put walnut or cherry on that list. They are on the list of "yes, any wood can make a mallet, but that doesn't mean its suited to that."

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Marshall,

Finally Found an old post of mine on making a mallet:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952-One-Thing-Leads-to-Another&highlight=cherry%2C+mallet

There should be some cherry out in the woodshed that is getting just about right for making another one or two.

jtk

[Robert Cherry]

I made one from cherry a few years ago. It is a bit light and will dent fairly easily but I really like it.

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[Marshall Harrison]

Hi Marshall,

Finally Found an old post of mine on making a mallet:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952-One-Thing-Leads-to-Another&highlight=cherry%2C+mallet

There should be some cherry out in the woodshed that is getting just about right for making another one or two.

jtk

Thanks Jim for digging out that old post. It proved very useful.

[Scott Adams]

As I understand it, it is all in what you hit with what you are hitting it with. If you are trying to drive home a piece of tigerwood/acacia, using a mallet made from White pine (just as an example) may not be the best option. Building with a more sensitive/softer wood project, a softer mallet may be a better pick. But if all you have is cherry, have at it and make 2!!!

[Joe A Faulkner]

Mine is white oak. You can't tell from this old picture, but the faces have since been covered in leather. Sometimes I use it to tap things together, so the leather provides a little cushion. I also use it to set and release holdfasts which has led to some irregularities in the face of the mallet. Over the years I've learned that a modest blow to the holdfast goes along way to making it work. In the early days, I tended to strike it with more force than is necessary. I think cherry will work just fine, but if you use it on holdfasts, be prepared for some dents.

[Warren West]

So this is group for traditional hand woodworking, then I say make you mallet out of traditional mallet woods. The wood workers of 100+ years ago would have made the mallet out of a suitable mallet wood as it was a matter of practicality.

If you want to make a work of beauty and art, that's fine too, but it may not be heavy enough without a lead core or may not be durable enough depending on what you will be hitting.

My only woodworking mallet is an Ash head with an Oak handle and I too have leather on one face as Joe A Faulkner did

[Frederick Skelly]

So this is group for traditional hand woodworking, then I say make you mallet out of traditional mallet woods.

Hi Warren,
Aside from Ash, what do you consider a traditional mallet wood?

Thanks,
Fred

[Mel Fulks]

Warren is probably actually doin' wood stuff. It was persimmon in the North and Dogwood in the South. Some iconoclasts probably ignored the norm and smashed with something else. Lincoln used "mallets toward none"

[Jim Koepke]

Lincoln used "mallets toward none"

That was one of my lines at the farmers market while holding a mallet.

Another would be to ask people as they were passing by if they knew anyone who was "mallet adjusted."

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

Jim, I'm sure you "gavel-nized" the crowd!

[John C Cox]

I say you just go ahead and knock one up quick and dirty with what you have and go from there..... Then evaluate how that one works and go from there...

My favorite small mallet which I use for adjusting planes is made of eastern red cedar branches I found in the yard under the tree - Juniper.... Works fantastic. And when I trimmed the tree two weeks ago - I saved the good looking branches for making a couple more because my kids fight over the first one...

I have a couple good looking pieces of firewood which are destined for mallets..

[Derek Cohen]

I just checked the wood stash that a friend gave me a couple of weeks ago. There is some oak in the stash too so, maybe I'll make two mallets one from oak and one cherry. Or maybe I'll just make one handle and swap heads s needed.

Hi Marshall

Take the time to make a handle that is comfortable, controllable and ergonomic. A shaped handle is a different world from a "stick" attached to a head. Be is a round or rectangular head, the handle needs to be shaped to avoid flying out of your hand.

This is a re-handled Veritas furnituremaker's mallet ..

https://s19.postimg.cc/op2ynquub/Mallet_zpsawalgxow.jpg

The handle on this mallet may be choked up ...

https://s19.postimg.cc/ntb2m1ajn/3_zps97cd6e8f.jpg

Look at the handles of the Blue Spruce offerings, and you will see good design for a reason, not just looks.

Regards from Perth

Derek