Raw hide mallet

Paul Brubacher

In Memoriam
Messages
296
Location
outside of Toronto, Ont
Had an interesting day at Black Creek Pioneer Village at the North end of Toronto. My wife had suggested going into downtown TO, but when I suggested that Black Creek would be much easier, she agreed. It’s been quite a few years since we visited and there have been some improvements. Being off season, not all of the buildings were staffed, but most were open.
The original Stong family farm buildings are still in their original positions. Plus there are also other historical buildings that have been moved on site.
There is a gristmill, but no sawmill.
One of the buildings that was staffed was the tinsmith. I noticed that the mallets that he was using did not have wooden heads, but rolled up raw hide. He claimed that they were more durable than wood and wouldn’t damaged the tinplate. He said that they were the rubber hammers of the day.

We’ve been to the Upper Canada Village more often than Black Creek even tough it is further away. Another pioneer village that we are hoping to visit is Kings Landing in New Brunswick.
 
I just KNEW I'd seen and used a rawhide mallet. It finally dawned on me...my grandma used a rawhide mallet with her leather tooling tools, and I spent many summer days at her house embellishing and stitching together wallets and belts and other Tandy kits. :thumb:
 
Vaughan
You hit that right. In high school in ag class leather work was offered and leather mallets were used. Used for other things there also, but not legally.
David
 
After some thought, which I know with me can be a dangerous thing, I was just thinking that the rawhide might absorb any shock vibration better than wood. Maybe? Don't know. I use pecan and bodark mallets in my shop for just almost anything except actually driving nails. The bodark ones might even do that well. Gonna have to try it so I can say I did.
 
Bodark, bois 'darc, Osage Orange, etc. The very first item I ever turned was a bo'darc mallet. I had picked up a large branch that had fallen off an OO tree. I knew that branch had laid there for years and figured it must be dry. Wrong!:eek: It cracked like crazy after being turned. But I still have it to this day and swear it gets harder and harder as time goes on. Ugly but unreal stout.
 
As some know, I always try to rough out the basic shape of whatever it is while the wood is green, then give it a coat of walnut oil and put it in the kiln. The kiln usually is about 125 or so. The oil vastly cuts down cracking. But, bodark can take forever to dry it seems. A large bowl of that stuff might stay in the kiln for over a month before it's ready to finish out. Pecan may take 2 weeks at the most. I hear that black locust is harder but never have had any of the stuff. Don't grow out here. I forgot to mention I weigh each piece before I put it in the kiln and write that on it. Best way I found to know what's going on. Those stupid moisture meters lie like a bad dog! :bang:
 
The tinsmith showed me how the rawhide mallet wouldn’t dent the tin during the shaping.
I found it interesting that he also used a rawhide mallet while punching the holes into the tin. He used pointed and chisel punches to make the holes while the tin was on a piece of 1.5” thick wood, possibly pine or spruce. He was making a hurricane lantern, which is a candle holder with lots of holes. He lit a completed one and asked a young girl whose head was counter height to blow it out. The candle flame never even wavered.
The head of the mallet that he used on the punches was smaller in diameter than the one for shaping. Both sides of its head had been worn at a cross angle of maybe 20 degrees, showing that he held the mallet on an angle while striking the punches.

I was disappointed that the cabinet makers shop was closed.
 
After some thought, which I know with me can be a dangerous thing, I was just thinking that the rawhide might absorb any shock vibration better than wood. Maybe? Don't know. I use pecan and bodark mallets in my shop for just almost anything except actually driving nails. The bodark ones might even do that well. Gonna have to try it so I can say I did.

There are different styles of rawhide mallets. There are those that the entire head is made of rawhide (where they fit to the handles in such a way, they stay on the heads better then a lot of wooden/multipart mallets). Then there are those (Garland is a big name in them) that have replaceable heads (rawhide, plastic, brass, etc). The metal body, with the middle section being solid, makes them act more like a dead blow, compared to the solid rawhide mallets.
I have one, and my father has almost every size, as a sometimes leatherworker, who has always picked up the Garlands, when he has found deals on them.
 
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