What’s you chisel mallet?

[Tony Wilkins]

Been thinking of chisel mallets lately. For western chisels*, what mallet do you prefer and why? Size? Shape? Weight? What makes it an effective tool for you and your work?

*since Japanese chisels are primarily used with a metal gennou, though if you use something different I would be interested in that too.

[Tyler Bancroft]

You may laugh, but I often use a one pound rubber mallet. It's not as effective as a wooden mallet at transferring energy to the chisel, but it damps way down on vibrations, which I really appreciate, as I'm prone to elbow problems.

[Jim Koepke]

You may laugh, but I often use a one pound rubber mallet. It's not as effective as a wooden mallet at transferring energy to the chisel, but it damps way down on vibrations, which I really appreciate, as I'm prone to elbow problems.

You might like a dead blow mallet. These are made with a hollow head partially filled with metal shot. The theory is as the mallet comes down the shot is in a 'weightless' state. When the mallet hits its target the shot finishes the punch and negates the bounce back.

Here are the ones that are most used in my shop:

440334

The one on the left came from the estate of a friend. The grip was formed to fit my hand. It looks to be a piece from an oak pallet. The one next to it is shop made from a hunk of oak from another friend who worked at a golf course when a tree came down in a storm. A neighbor slabbed it up and a few of the slabs ended up with me.

These are my 'tapping mallets' for light tapping on a chisel or to persuade a piece of wood to move into place.

The two on the right are also shop made from hunks of some type of cherry that came down on my property.

Here is a link to the making of the one on the upper right > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?280200

The one on the lower right is here > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952

There is a certain satisfaction in using a tool of one's own making with a custom fit handle.

jtk

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I use a Pfeil carver’s mallet. I prefer its rounded head and handle to the flat rectangular headed mallets. I feel it’s more forgiving of miss hits when pounding and very sensitive when lightly tapping, Others may disagree but it works for me.

[Jim Koepke]

it works for me.

This is a more important feature than what anyone else may think or say.

jtk

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I use a Pfeil carver’s mallet. I prefer its rounded head and handle to the flat rectangular headed mallets. I feel it’s more forgiving of miss hits when pounding and very sensitive when lightly tapping, Others may disagree but it works for me.

I have one of these, I like it.

I also have many other sizes and weights, all round and all wood except one of those "wood is good" mallets which might be my favorite.

[Jim Koepke]

Weight?

Forgot to mention my two shop made mallets are ~24 oz.

The smaller two haven't been weighed. My guess is they can't be more than about half the weight of the bigger whackers.

jtk

[Clifford McGuire]

I used to use a homemade maple mallet. But a few months ago I got the 20oz Wood is Good mallet. I wanted something quieter since I sometimes work late at night/early morning.

[mike stenson]

The, seemingly, ubiquitous 20oz wood is good mallet.

[ken hatch]

Been thinking of chisel mallets lately. For western chisels*, what mallet do you prefer and why? Size? Shape? Weight? What makes it an effective tool for you and your work?

*since Japanese chisels are primarily used with a metal gennou, though if you use something different I would be interested in that too.

Tony,

Like most thing in life, it depends. I like a metal mallet. Depending on what I'm doing and what the chisel handle is made of most of the time either a Crucible Tools Lumpy, or a Japanese 375 gram gennou. Some times I'll use a "Wood Is Good" carvers mallet or a Vaughan 1 1/4" white face mallet if the handle is made of something other than Hornbean but most of the time it is either a lumpy or a gennou.

ken

[Bob Jones 5443]

I picked up the 375 g gennou on a recommendation and it works great for me. I like the combination of its relatively light weight on my swinging arm, mixed with plenty of mass where it counts, directly above the chisel butt. It's all I use for chopping. But I'm only using it for dovetails with stock about 3/4" thick or less. Obviously a beefier mallet would be desirable for bulkier stock.

[Tom M King]

Wood is Good. 12oz., 18 oz., and 30 oz., depending on use. I used the 30 oz. for 15 hours in a row, over two days, and neither my arm, nor the 1-1/2 timber framing chisel suffered any overuse. I got tired of wearing out wooden ones, tried one of these, and haven't wanted to use any other chisel hitter since then.

[Thomas Crawford]

I mostly use a Blue Spruce 13oz round mallet. If I need more oomph I either use a cheap dead blow mallet or the crucible lump hammer. I'm pretty sure the lump hammer will split my Ashley Iles handle at some point.

[Thomas Crawford]

Is the weight just the weight of the head alone?

[Christopher Charles]

Gennou (220 g or 375 g) or wood is good. The latter is good for noise reduction as well.

[Curt Putnam]

Current favorites:

Blue Spruce 16 oz for tap-tap work
Ron Bontz 24 oz (?) or Lee Valley Carpenter's Mallet for serious whacking

I have (too many) others that roll into use from time to time.

[Derek Cohen]

For most chisel work I use a modified Veritas Cabinetmaker’s mallet. This weighs around 18oz. The wooden infill is faced with UHMW. This provides a great balance between hardness and cushioning. There is no lack of feedback, an insignificant reduction of energy, and no jarring. The handle has the ergonomics I like ...

https://i.postimg.cc/j2VDnG6Q/Mallet-zpsawalgxow.jpg

This mallet is good for both bench- and mortice chisels. I try not to wack chisels too hard - which is difficult in my local woods - and the trick is to take fine slices to preserve the edge.

If a mallet is needed for more delicate wood, I use my 7oz plane hammer. One end is Delrin (another name for UHMW?) ...

https://i.postimg.cc/4NrtkwYc/mallet1.jpg

At the other end if the scale, occasionally used is this 36oz persuader I built ...

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

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Phil Mueller]

Very similar to Derek; the Veritas cabinetmakers mallet for most work, and a large “persuader” for mortises. I do find I’m pulling out the round wooden carvers mallet more, particular where a light touch is needed.

[Michael J Evans]

You may laugh, but I often use a one pound rubber mallet. It's not as effective as a wooden mallet at transferring energy to the chisel, but it damps way down on vibrations, which I really appreciate, as I'm prone to elbow problems.

My most used hammer even though I made a mallet was a old chewed up rubber hammer I "borrowed" from my dad about 10 years ago and it broke yesterday.

[Tom M King]

You may laugh, but I often use a one pound rubber mallet. It's not as effective as a wooden mallet at transferring energy to the chisel, but it damps way down on vibrations, which I really appreciate, as I'm prone to elbow problems.

I expect the Wood is Good mallet would work good for you too. It gives a chisel more of a "push", rather than a jump, like hitting it will something harder. They are also easy on the arm using it, since they are so good at absorbing shock. Quiet too.

[Rob Luter]

This homebrew I made from a shower door handle and a scrap of maple. 24 ounces of nice compact heft.

440382

I have others as well. Use the tool that's right for the job.

440383

[Warren Mickley]

I have used a 30 ounce dogwood mallet with an 8 inch handle since 1979. Roubo shows a mallet with a somewhat bigger head, but also with an 8 inch handle. Roubo mentions mallet materials that are less dense than dogwood, but his head is large enough that the mallet might be up in the 32-34 ounce range. We don't swing a heavy mallet like a hammer, so a longer handle is not productive.

I also use a persimmon mallet, carver style that is 14 ounces.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

For most chisel work I use a modified Veritas Cabinetmaker’s mallet. This weighs around 18oz. The wooden infill is faced with UHMW. This provides a great balance between hardness and cushioning. There is no lack of feedback, an insignificant reduction of energy, and no jarring. The handle has the ergonomics I like ...

https://i.postimg.cc/j2VDnG6Q/Mallet-zpsawalgxow.jpg

This mallet is good for both bench- and mortice chisels. I try not to wack chisels too hard - which is difficult in my local woods - and the trick is to take fine slices to preserve the edge.

If a mallet is needed for more delicate wood, I use my 7oz plane hammer. One end is Delrin (another name for UHMW?) ...


This homebrew I made from a shower door handle and a scrap of maple. 24 ounces of nice compact heft.

440382


And not a round mallet in site. Rob, your mallet looks like you can tell orientation by feel. Derek, same for at least one of your mallets. Do you have trouble maintaining orientation or is "feel" sufficient, at least for the handles that are not round. Obviously you do not have trouble or these would not be your favorites, but I almost always use a round mallet at least for use with chisels. Of course now that I am thinking about it, I probably am seeing the entire picture, I just never thought about it; or I would probably have trouble even hitting the handle where I want to.

[Rob Luter]

And not a round mallet in site. Rob, your mallet looks like you can tell orientation by feel. Derek, same for at least one of your mallets. Do you have trouble maintaining orientation or is "feel" sufficient, at least for the handles that are not round. Obviously you do not have trouble or these would not be your favorites, but I almost always use a round mallet at least for use with chisels. Of course now that I am thinking about it, I probably am seeing the entire picture, I just never thought about it; or I would probably have trouble even hitting the handle where I want to.

The crowned faces and the short squared handle makes striking accuracy easy, almost zen like. The heft helps too. I can choke up and still deliver a fair bit of force with just a firm tap.

[Thomas Wilson]

I have a lignum vitae mallet bought from Garrett Wade at least 40 years ago. The head is round and 3 inches or so in diameter and shaped like an apple. The handle is oak or ash and four or five inches long. I don’t know the weight but it is pretty heavy.

I also have a well used rubber mallet.

[Derek Cohen]

And not a round mallet in site. Rob, your mallet looks like you can tell orientation by feel. Derek, same for at least one of your mallets. Do you have trouble maintaining orientation or is "feel" sufficient, at least for the handles that are not round. Obviously you do not have trouble or these would not be your favorites, but I almost always use a round mallet at least for use with chisels. Of course now that I am thinking about it, I probably am seeing the entire picture, I just never thought about it; or I would probably have trouble even hitting the handle where I want to.

Andrew, I used to turn round mallets many years ago ... like everyone does, I suspect because they are easy to do. I even have the Blue Spruce carver’s mallet. However, it has been a long time since these were used for joinery. They lack the secure striking and directed energy of a flat face. Round faces always run the risk of a glancing blow. All my mallets and hammers have as much, perhaps more, attention given to the handle ... partly for ergonomics and partly for orientation.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Phil Mueller]

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again...love that mallet Rob. Great job from a door knob!