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Jim Koepke
12-30-2020, 1:43 AM
A few years ago another SMC member traded 'mallet wood' with me. Mine was western woods and his was eastern.

The pieces were mostly marked but this one may have had the marking removed one time when trying a plane on it.

Not sure if it is butternut or hickory:

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This one was lain out with a bit more care than my past attempts. It also seemed like making a turned handle might be an enjoyable change.

The mortise was drilled out in the four corners on the drill press. The 'wedges' made when the angle on the handle was cut at 4º on each side were used to tilt the head on the drill press.

Forgot to take a picture of my newest tool fashioned for working on this project, a chisel with a 90º bevel. It came in handy for cleaning up the bottom of the handle. The bottom part of the handle was cut square to make it easy to chuck up and turn on the lathe. The 90º bevel chisel was made with one that cost ~$1. It looks like something from a set of Harbor Freight chisels. It was actually pretty helpful in removing material a little at a time on the handle and in the mortise. My Veritas Concave Spokeshave was also used on the handle.

The handle is a touch shorter than most of my other mallets. It is also a slightly smaller head.

The shaping isn't finished. While making a cut on the bandsaw the blade was moving in and out. This confused me until the top was opened and the blade was turned by hand. There is a crack forming in the blade. Being it was getting late, it seemed better to leave the blade change until tomorrow.

jtk

Rob Luter
12-30-2020, 7:17 AM
Looks like Hickory to me. Glad to hear you caught the crack in the blade before it caught you :eek:

Frederick Skelly
12-30-2020, 9:25 AM
Looks like Hickory to me. Glad to hear you caught the crack in the blade before it caught you :eek:

+1, on both points.

Jim Koepke
12-30-2020, 10:58 AM
Thanks Rob, Fred, it seems bandsaw blades tend to start acting strange just before breaking. After a few episodes of in the shop high excitement, my tendency now is to investigate why the blade is making a thumping noise or starting to dance around.

jtk

Jim Koepke
01-02-2021, 2:10 AM
The bandsaw blade was replaced and the faces and top of the mallet were cut. The faces were cut at 86º or 4º off vertical. The waste came in handy for holding the head in a vise will working on the handle:

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Here my chisel with a 90º bevel is being used to smooth the transition from the turned part of the handle to the flats.

It is a little smaller than my other mallets but the wood seems a bit denser:

448470

Have to find my scale to weigh it.

jtk