Jim Underwood
Contributor

Thanks for letting me know as I forgot to look.

Jim, I had Jack Morse help me make these and they work well. One 4" and one 6". When you do a lot of ornament work, it is amazing how often you use both.
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=74025
That said, I looked closely at the Robust rests at the AAS symposium and believe them to be superior. Cost if very reasonable. If you needed two, making them is probably a cost effective option if you like making tools or have a handy friend that does. But one? Go for the Robust rest. I wonder if anyone is selling them at the Woodworking show in Atlanta to save the shipping?

Mike Peace

Mike,
I'm thinking of this thread right here, where you posted a couple of pix showing your loaner mallets for you classes.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...+mallet&page=2

I'd be happy to, Jim. I make a couple of different styles so you need to tell me which one you're thinking of, but all of them are about 10.5" to 11" long. The head (from the end to the narrowest part of the handle) is about 5" long - the handle makes up the rest. But that dimension is approximate - sometime it's a bit more than 5". The biggest part of the head is about 2.5" in diameter. That changes depending on how heavy you want the mallet to be. I do the taper to the small end of the head by eye - I just cut until I think it looks right. Eyeballing a couple of my mallets, the small end is about 2" or a bit more than 2" (definitely not smaller than 2"). The handle is really "to fit". The best way to size it is to cut the basic shape and make it too big. Grab it with your hand (while it's on your lathe but not turning - but if you want, take it off to get a better feel). Go back and trim some more until you get the shape and size you want. I found that it took me several mallets to get a handle I liked. And I had to use the mallet for a while to decide if I liked it. If you start with a handle that's too big - and you leave the center point at the bottom of the handle - you can put it back on your lathe by chucking the head in a chuck and turning down the handle. If too small, you have to make another mallet.

Good luck! If you encounter any questions while you're doing it, please contact me.

Mike