Question on glue up

william watts

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Central valley, calif.
I have a 8/4 x8 in. x27 in. piece of hard maple and would like to make a mallet. It is flat sawn with the pith in the center of the piece. I am thinking I can rip the center and then face glue the halves together to get thick enough stock for a < 3 inch thick mallet head. Should I glue the halves together bark side to bark side or heart side to heart side? Should one piece be turned so that the pith is not aligned over the other pith? Does this make any sense? Years ago I had all the answers, my dad said so :) The mallet will be flat work, but could be turned, I have a lathe but no skill.

Bill
 
Bill,

I'm not sure it really matters all that much which grain orientation you use, but to me heart to heart seems to be the best approach. For the size of the block, movement it not really going to matter. It will also "look" better. Hey, it's gotta LOOK good too, doesn't it?
 
Yeah for something the size of a mallet I can't see the bark or center side making a difference. I'd probably go center to center for aesthetics but that's a personal choice.

If you can figure out how to get rid of the pith altogether that would, IMHO, be better as it avoids having a soft spot there
 
Yeah for something the size of a mallet I can't see the bark or center side making a difference. I'd probably go center to center for aesthetics but that's a personal choice.

If you can figure out how to get rid of the pith altogether that would, IMHO, be better as it avoids having a soft spot there

Ryan I was able to do the layout and avoid the pith, sometimes I get stuck on one way and can't see alternatives. Thanks for the replys.

Bill
 
Heh, glad you got it ironed out. About half the time just explaining it to someone works for me. "So I have this problem here and it's causing this issue and Uhhh never mind...".
 
I've been considering building one like this one that I found on another woodworking website. It's made from 5 pieces of hard maple. With the strength of modern glues I think it would be easy to build and should hold together well.

Charley
 

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Here's the finished version. The mallet head is glued up bark side to bark side, no particular reason. The head started out as a glued up 3 inch thick hard maple construction that I intended to chisel an angled mortise thru, but no luck. It's difficult to chisel a decent mortise thru 3 inches of hard maple end grain and get a straight sides for a good purchase on the handle. No mortise chisel in my arsenal. So, I ripped it along the glue line and cut the mortise with a router guided against a straight edge, that worked well, there's no glue in the mortise. It's a nice mortise that the handle fits fine.

IMG_0054.jpg


This mallet seems to have good balance and enough weight to drive a chisel just by dropping the head with very little muscle power.
Charles; this is a 3 piece mallet using Tightbond 3, we'll see how that works out.

Bill
 
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I like it, nice angles on the head and handle.

The only thing you may end up wanting to change would be adding some facets to the gripping part of the handle, but that would be quick to do and maybe it feels good enough in the hand without them...
 
I like it, nice angles on the head and handle.

The only thing you may end up wanting to change would be adding some facets to the gripping part of the handle, but that would be quick to do and maybe it feels good enough in the hand without them...

Good suggestion, The corners of the handle were slightly chamferd with a spoke shave, but it feels like not enough. It will be an easy fix.

Bill
 
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