waitin for the glue to dry....

[Bill Carey]

I got bored. Always wanted a walnut mallet - handle is a work in progress - maybe.

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[Robert Hayward]

That is a good looking mallet. The angle on the faces looks a little steep to me. What angle did you use and what is the angle?

[Ron Citerone]

That is a nice looking mallet. Made one something like that for my nephew a few years back. He was just getting into woodworking and really appreciated it. Thanks for sharing!

[Bill Carey]

That is a good looking mallet. The angle on the faces looks a little steep to me. What angle did you use and what is the angle?

8 degrees. I made a test mallet a year ago with square faces and cut it a bit at a time till it felt right. 8 degrees felt right

[Frederick Skelly]

Very nice!!!!

[Neil Gaskin]

How did you cut the angered slot for the handle? I've tried a few different ways and I never get the angle right the first time.

[Bill Carey]

How did you cut the angered slot for the handle? I've tried a few different ways and I never get the angle right the first time.


First I cut the handle, then laid it on the mallet and drew the lines. Drilled a 1" hole on the drill press and went to work with the chisels. Hogged out a lot of the waste with mortise chisels and then used a 1" bench for the final paring work on the sides and the slopes. Speaking of the first time: I had to make a new handle when I planed the first one down below 1" and the fit was sloppy. Practice, practice, practice.

[Mel Fulks]

Bill, good job. Too bad that cushy DRAGNET sign off job is now in China !

[Jim Becker]

How did you cut the angered slot for the handle? I've tried a few different ways and I never get the angle right the first time.


First I cut the handle, then laid it on the mallet and drew the lines. Drilled a 1" hole on the drill press and went to work with the chisels. Hogged out a lot of the waste with mortise chisels and then used a 1" bench for the final paring work on the sides and the slopes. Speaking of the first time: I had to make a new handle when I planed the first one down below 1" and the fit was sloppy. Practice, practice, practice.

An alternative method that many folks use for this format mallet is to make the head as a lamination of three pieces of wood so that the middle layer can be constructed in a way that the mortise is inherent to the mallet head without having to be cut after the fact. I even use that method for passage door construction to avoid dealing with deep mortises! And for angled mortises, yea...that's how I'd do it.

[Derek Cohen]

Jim, you're missing the point! Where's the fun if it is not as complicated as you can make it!! :D

Bill, that is a nice mallet. What is its weight?

The handle design is very important. Avoid anything stick-like (parallel). Tapered is better. Best still is a twin grip, where you can choke up when needed. Here's a very heavy mallet I made for morticing into hard, hard wood. It is a single piece of Jarrah infilled with brass for extra mass. Look at the handle ...

https://i.postimg.cc/qR99VdyK/3-zps97cd6e8f.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/sXkHv9nG/9-zps61c77af5.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John TenEyck]

Other than tradition, are there any advantages with a wooden mallet? I don't chop mortises by hand much, but when I have a rubber or plastic mallet seems to work fine.

John

[Bill Carey]

Jim, you're missing the point! Where's the fun if it is not as complicated as you can make it!! :D

Bill, that is a nice mallet. What is its weight?

The handle design is very important. Avoid anything stick-like (parallel). Tapered is better. Best still is a twin grip, where you can choke up when needed. Here's a very heavy mallet I made for morticing into hard, hard wood. It is a single piece of Jarrah infilled with brass for extra mass. Look at the handle ...

Regards from Perth

Derek


My thoughts exactly Derek - the whole point - besides needing the mallet - was the fun of making the mortise thru 3" of walnut. It weighs a shade over 1.5 lbs. When I said the handle was a work in progress, it was for the very reason you point out - I like the idea of a dual grip handle, being able to choke up for the normal work, and go to the end of the handle for some serious pounding.

I'm curious to see how the walnut holds up. I chose the walnut because I had some left over from the conference table, and I'm trying to use up as much as I can of my wood stores, since we are going to be moving. Again. :(

[Eugene Dixon]

Paul Sellers has an interesting video series from 2015, FYI. A 2 hr mallet build.

[Jim Becker]

...was the fun of making the mortise thru 3" of walnut. ....

LOL For some of us, that ain't fun. But you're correct in that if you really enjoy it, that's the best way to do it!

[Bill Carey]

LOL For some of us, that ain't fun. But you're correct in that if you really enjoy it, that's the best way to do it!

It's a relaxing thing for me, Jim. Kinda primitive too - after spending the day in front of 5 monitors and 2 computers, getting to pound on something besides a keyboard is almost zen like.

[Derek Cohen]

My thoughts exactly Derek - the whole point - besides needing the mallet - was the fun of making the mortise thru 3" of walnut. It weighs a shade over 1.5 lbs. When I said the handle was a work in progress, it was for the very reason you point out - I like the idea of a dual grip handle, being able to choke up for the normal work, and go to the end of the handle for some serious pounding.

I'm curious to see how the walnut holds up. I chose the walnut because I had some left over from the conference table, and I'm trying to use up as much as I can of my wood stores, since we are going to be moving. Again. :(

Bill, I have added UHMW to the faces of all my hammers/mallets (epoxy and nails). This is fantastic as it is firm yet not damaging, and also lasts.

https://i.postimg.cc/903BXgrs/UHMW.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Rich Engelhardt]

Other than tradition, are there any advantages with a wooden mallet?
- less "bounce" than rubber.
- non-marring
- can be "custom tuned" for weight
- can be made so it can be converted into a dead blow - then the added weight removed later to switch it back.
- in the case of round style carver's mallet - any old way you grab it you have the face towards whatever you want to beat.
- won't damage what you whack with it like a metal hammer/mallet/sledge will (DAMHIKT)
- cheaper - usually the best ones are just scraps with an impromptu handle stuck on.
- can be tailor made to size. Quite often a large mallet is overkill & ill increase the amount of time or work needed. I've actually made a number of them on the spot by pocket screwing a couple scraps together. Of course - those things are for light duty.
- Size for size - wood can be lighter than rubber. Sometimes - a light whack is better than a bone jarring whack...

Anyhow - last but not least.
- outstanding project for a kid to make. What kid doesn't love to whack things? Goes for us big kids too. ;).

[Tom Bender]

I've made a few.

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The small ones get the most daily use. The bigger ones were for a timber framing project with friends helping.