What do you hit your chisels with?

[Greg Muller]

Now, I've seen everything.

I've seen square mallets, round mallets, cylinders, spherical mallets, mallets that have the faces covered with leather, rubber and even granite...

but I was at a neighbors place saturday, and he has a set of Stanley 40 chisels, but I noticed that the handle ends were all chewed up like they were used to tease a rotweiler. I asked him what happened and he replied, "nothin, why?". I pointed out that his vintage 40's were all beat up and asked what he hit them with. He opened a drawer, pulled out a mallet, and my jaw must have bounced off the floor at least 3 times...

It was a meat tenderizer. :eek:

You know what I mean? One of those cast mallets with 'teeth' that you use to soften up cheap meat. I asked why on earth he used it and he said he doesn't have any problems with the mallet sliding off the chisel head anymore.

You coulda knocked me over with a feather...

SO, what do you hit your chisels with???

Greg

[Mike Henderson]

I use a carver's mallet - one of the ones shown in the picture. Usually the small lignum vita one.

Mike

[David DeCristoforo]

The meat tenderizer is the way to go. The "teeth" would keep it from slipping of the chisel. Those mallets like Mike's are way too smooth.:) I have a similar mallet turned out of a chunk of an iron wood log but it's at least twice the diameter of Mike's. I also use a Japanese hammer. But I'm going to get me one of those meat tenderizers tomorrow! Thanx for the idea.....

[Bob Smalser]

Lead-weighted carving mallets for the chisels, joinery mallets for assembly.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594266/273129991.jpg

[Tom Veatch]

Dead Blow Mallet
89864

[glenn bradley]

Sawed off the handle, weighted and over-rounded the face on this mallet:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=72340&d=1190430648

[Robert Loss]

Usually one of these

[Brian Kent]

Robert, the cork and leather one is great!

[Jeremy Kriewaldt]

For most work - Carver's mallet made by my FIL.

I work on the basis that the ideal amount of force for a sharp blade is about the same as I could apply with the fleshy part of my palm (down by the ball of my thumb), so I don't use blows that are likely to fly off at weird angles when I use the mallet (in effect, I am only using the mallet so that I don't bruise my hand!).

If I find myself hitting harder than that, then I know it is time to re-hone the edge of the chisel.

It is a different story when I am trying to chop out major mortices - then I use a 4lb mash hammer which has a piece of leather glued on each face. This time I just use the dead weight of the hammer head.

PS. most of my work is in Aussie hardwood which is really gnarly, but I still find it better to sharpen than to hit harder!

[Allan Froehlich]

I love this hammer I made!
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=78997&stc=1&d=1199993084
The only problem is that it does not do well with wide chisels in harder woods.

I might make another soon with an angled face and a little more weight.

[Robert Loss]

Robert, the cork and leather one is great!

Thanks Brian. That particular mallet, especially the cork side, is just the best thing to take old furniture apart with or to ease glued items together. I used the leather side mainly with chisels. As you can see I haven't used it much - too busy making other tools! The leather and cork are siliconed in place so they can be replaced if needed. Generating the corks was a good excuse as any to taste some more Aussie reds.

I've also include a picture of another mallet, a brass and ally headed one - I don't use it on chisels. The brass face I use to ease iron/steel fittings, and the ally I use on brass fittings. As per my usual design, it all comes apart for repairs and replacements.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Another dead blow user here out of necessity, after experiencing a wicked case of tennis elbow, the dead blow seems to be the kindest to the elbow.

[Doug Shepard]

Another dead blow hammerhead. That habit was learned when I mostly had Marples Blue Chips (betcha cant beat just one:D). But since getting some nicer ones with wood handles I've been meaning to make a couple mallets. The dead blow can leave black scuff marks on the wood handles and dont look quite as classy as wood. I've got some Ipe blanks I cut but haven't gotten around to firing up my lathe to make them.

[Jake Helmboldt]

I've always wondered why carver's mallets are round? Can someone educate me on that?

[Mark Singer]

I use a large carvers mallet and a small brass one for fine work

[Mike Henderson]

I've always wondered why carver's mallets are round? Can someone educate me on that?
For me, it makes it easy to grab the mallet to tap with. I don't have to look at the mallet or feel for the shape of the handle to orient it.

Also, lathes produce round things and that's how those round mallets are made:)

Mike

[Jim Becker]

I currently have a somewhat large rounded mallet made of Osage orange. I plan on making another one soon as that one sustained some damage due to a hidden crack, although it works just fine. I'll also add two more stepping down in size for each. I like the round style mallets for this kind of work...feels comfortable to me.

[Gary Herrmann]

I have a beech mallet I use. Plan to turn myself one at some point.

Altho having had Labs for years, I keep wondering if I can train my pups to headbutt the chisel handles at just the right angle.

Think about it. Is there anything harder than a Labrador skull?

[Dewey Torres]

Usually one of these

Robert,
Yours are amazing... did you make them all. You gave me some ideas!:)
Dewey

[Brian Kent]

Up to now I have used a brass mallet for the blade and a separate flat-faced bloodwood mallet for the body-taps.

I recently put a cylinder of ash around one end of the brass mallet do I can just turn it around for the body. It is denting my purpleheart plane - side grain and end grain.

The face of the ash mallet is smaller, but I would assume that end grain ash is softer than the bloodwood.

Any ideas on this?

[Bob Smalser]

Turn your carving mallet out of one of the softer hardwoods like Bigleaf Maple, add some lead to the head, and you won't need to spend any money on a dead-blow mallet.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5536778/217643089.jpg

[Tom Henderson2]

I've always wondered why carver's mallets are round? Can someone educate me on that?

I believe it is so that you can just pick it up and hit the chisel -- no worries about getting the hammerhead aligned, etc.

-TH

[Robert Loss]

Robert,
Yours are amazing... did you make them all. You gave me some ideas!:)
Dewey

Yep I made them all, and all with wood from my firewood pile. I'm glad you got some ideas - after all I got most of them from someone else.

The red gum comes from trees we planted in out small suburban garden some 30 years ago. During the last decade we have had to have them all taken down I had one milled - still have most of the slabs under my house, and I have milled one myself. Since then I have taken up home milling in a big way and now have a whole sea container worth of timber that's undergoing drying.

[Ernie Hobbs]

Now, I've seen everything.


SO, what do you hit your chisels with???

Greg

I use a hammer. Although I have a few mallets and a couple of dead blow hammers, but I find that a regular hammer (hitting with the side of the head) does just fine. No issues with tearing up my chisels and just the right amount of force. For finer work, I'll pick up a smaller hammer.

[Jim Koepke]

When we get a lathe, after making a bunch of chisel handles, one of the things I want to make is some carver's mallets. I used to use mostly the flat faced mallet. Now that my sharpening skills have become acceptable, the finesse of light taps with a round headed tool are more to my liking.

The bottom beater is made from a remnant of an old pallet.

jtk

[Ethan Sincox]

Hi, my name is Ethan, and I'm addicted to lignum vitae carver mallets.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t125/esincox/Mallet01_03.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t125/esincox/Mallet05_01.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t125/esincox/Mallet04_01.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t125/esincox/Mallet03_01.jpg
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t125/esincox/Mallet02.jpg

I do have another carving mallet I turned myself out of Osage Orange...

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t125/esincox/OsageOrangeMallet.jpg

If I can get my hands on a good piece of LV for not too much, I'd like to turn a mallet out of that at some point.

(In all disclosure, I believe I've acquired two more LV mallets that I've not taken pictures of and uploaded to my photobucket account...

[John Thompson]

What do you hit your chisels with? .....

A deliberate blow from a wood mallet and a lot of pride.... :)

Sarge..

[Narayan Nayar]

Different things. I've got a completely ordinary flat-face rectangular wooden mallet. I've also got a really old, beat up wooden mallet with a round head.

But at the L-N event in Oakland I ordered some stuff from Glen-Drake: a Tite-Hammer (http://play-glen-drake.com/v-web/ecommerce/os/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=29&osCsid=72786879dadcbdf1b618940ad139f56d) and a couple of right-handed Chisel Hammers (http://play-glen-drake.com/v-web/ecommerce/os/catalog/index.php?cPath=25), and I like them a lot. They recoil very well, which makes using them a bit easier, as he demonstrates in his DVD.

[Ryan Cathey]

Awesome mallets Ethan! This thread is giving me a mighty hankering to turn myself one.

What's the diamter of the mallet in your second picture? Any other measurements you could give would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Ethan Sincox]

Ryan,

I'll measure tonight and throw you some numbers.

Ethan

[Ryan Cathey]

Thanks Ethan!!

[Ted Jay]

I have a beech mallet I use. Plan to turn myself one at some point.

Altho having had Labs for years, I keep wondering if I can train my pups to headbutt the chisel handles at just the right angle.

Think about it. Is there anything harder than a Labrador skull?

Yea, the head of the guy using the meat tenderizer....:confused:

[Ethan Sincox]

The mallet is 9 1/4" long. The diameter at the widest part of the head is almost exactly 3" and the head itself is 4" long.

Hope that helps!

[Ryan Cathey]

That does! Thanks!!

Now to find some wood for it. I'm thinking cocobolo! I love that stuff.

[Spencer Hochstetler]

For light work, my hand. For chopping, a three dollar Harbor Freight dead blow mallet.

[Ryan Cathey]

Hey everyone. I drew up a plan using the dimensions that Ethan gave me. I think it's pretty similar to his mallet. Thanks again Ethan.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w289/Ryan-Cathey/06-13-2008104835PM.jpg

[Ethan Sincox]

Dang... that looks really good, Ryan!

[Ryan Cathey]

I just copied what I saw so I can't really take credit:D;)

[Zahid Naqvi]

All hand made, no lathe involved, so it's a little off, but that doesn't impact usage.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=34422&d=1142905639

[Dave Anderson NH]

Uh Zahid, the whole point of a mallet IS that "it impacts usage." Sorry, I just couldn't resist.:D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

he said he doesn't have any problems with the mallet sliding off the chisel head anymore.


HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

That is absolutely hilarious~!!!

And the hell of it is - - it prolly worked too.

[Shawn Buonarosa]

I like to use a gavel, this way when my wife comes downstairs and tries prying me away from my beloved shop I can start whacking my bench while saying in a loud and firm tone " Order in the shop!". Now I just need to find a bailiff to remove offenders when they are in contempt.