How I make Mallets.

Chuck,

Great job on the Mallets.:thumb:

Making a mallet is on my list of things to do for the shop. I have perhaps a dumb question, but what was the reason for soaking the wood in DNA? Was to to speed up the drying as it was green wood, or was it something else?
 
Chuck,

Great job on the Mallets.:thumb:

Making a mallet is on my list of things to do for the shop. I have perhaps a dumb question, but what was the reason for soaking the wood in DNA? Was to to speed up the drying as it was green wood, or was it something else?

It was to speed up the drying and help prevent cracking. If time permitted I would in the future let the wood air dry first. Or cut the blocks rough size and dry them before shaping.
 
One other note. When one is doing a round headed mallet. I would suggest that the handle either tapers out of the head. Or turn a ball for the head to sit on.
I made all of my handles to fit the square head. I ended up with 2 extra handles and never gave it a second thought and turned two round heads. The problem was that I had turned a flat shoulder on the handles. One of them I planed the head flat to sit on the shoulder. The other I carved the shoulder to fit the round of the head.
The first pic is one with a round ball for the head to rest on.
Pic two is of the flat spot planed in the head.
Pic three is of the carved shoulder.
The last pic is of one of the heads I split in half putting the handle on. I glued the head back together and than cut four slots in it. Than cut some splines to fill the slots. I than glued side covers on it. Finley I put it back on it's handle.
 

Attachments

  • tn_round head 001.JPG
    tn_round head 001.JPG
    56.5 KB · Views: 29
  • tn_round head 002.JPG
    tn_round head 002.JPG
    69.5 KB · Views: 29
  • tn_round head 003.JPG
    tn_round head 003.JPG
    38.1 KB · Views: 29
  • tn_round head 004.JPG
    tn_round head 004.JPG
    53.4 KB · Views: 31
Last edited:
Hello Toni . . . . Has anybody measured this 'bouncing back' of the mallet so one can say for sure how much lead-shot, if any, is actually needed for a given weight of mallet? Putting a weight inside a large mallet, which may well block close-up working vision, and already be heavy and unwieldy anyway depending on the choice of head-wood, seems unnecessary to me . . . . unless someone has already done the calculations. One assumes the need for a heavy mallet is to tackle 'heavy' woods with equally 'heavy' chisels or gouges. Chuck has not mentioned the weights of the mallet coffin heads he made, just their dimensions and choice of green hickory wood. Best wishes, David
 
Last edited:
Hello Chuck . . . . newcomer to wood and the site . . . . very impressed by your mallet making, a topic occupying my mind at the moment. Have you done any research on weights, head dimensions and handle lengths for coffin-head and vertical cylinder mallets? The whole question of 'balance' among woodcrafters and their axes is considered very important among those folks I understand, so I imagine this is just so for those wielding a mallet against gouges and chisels for any length of fatiguing time. Best wishes, David
 
Hi David.
IMHO if you are thinking on a mallet for carving you should not worry about any bouncing back effect, the mallets that are depicted here are mallets for driving pieces into place without marring them, ( Chuck, correct me if I'm wrong).
 
Hello Toni and Chuck . . . .I am thinking of mallets for carving and how to achieve them without the use of a wood-turning lathe and gear which I don't have; hence my purchase of cylinder beech feet for beds and a mop handle to cut handles from! I have a fancy Chuck's leather laces might get in the way of the strike from time to time and wonder if gluing leather round the cylinder was considered. I have access to an old leather coat and wonder if this would be suitable to glue to a cylinder mallet to quieten the blows? Does it always have to be fresh, rigid belting leather? Best wishes to you both and thanks again Chuck for the fantastic pix. David
 
The leather I used is a 10 to 12 oz veg tan leather. Almost a 1/4" think (around 6mm) Garment leather (probably chrome tan) I would think is to soft and thin for a facing on a mallet. Yes if you spin your mallet as you work at some point the laces will get in the way. But it is something that I believe one would get used to and spin past them.
 
Top