Replies

1. 
   brucet | Aug 09, 2004 08:23am | #1

   I've got one my dad and I made about 20 years ago, out of rock maple... he's a hardcore fulltime cabinetmaker; I just tinker a lot. But the thing looks almost like new.

   I'll trace it tomorrow and post some pix and measurements.

2. 
   jackplane | Aug 09, 2004 04:29pm | #2

   I've made a number of mallets. The dimensions evolve from your forearm and fist as a take off point, so no one elses(traditionally) will be exactly yours.

    Any good hardwood will work. The best ones involve more hand work than machine work. Once you bore the hole thru the head, you'll need to pare the sides to fit the handle. Good luck.

   
   

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   Edited 8/9/2004 9:39 am ET by JACKPLANE

3. 
   forestgirl | Aug 09, 2004 07:02pm | #3

   I seem to remember Roy Underhill's making one in his program awhile back.  It was some kind of special design that involved capturing the handle in a tricky way.  If you have a large bookstore nearby, you might want to check out his books for the design.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
   Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

4. 
   AlanTurner | Aug 09, 2004 07:41pm | #4

   I made one, with a purpleheart head, and a yellowheart handle. A pix follows. The purple heart was a board aobut 3" by 12", 3/4" thick. Cut it into three equal pieces, and then make the handle blank. The top of the handle is like a double dovetail, and the center section of the purpleheart head is sawn to fit that shape, and capture it. Glue up the head's laminates, with the handle captured. I then pinned mine with ebony, but this is more for apearances sake than anything else. I used epoxy, which is gap filling, and did fill the recess. It has held without incident. I seem to recall that I made the angle about 15 deg., but I determined this by swinging it, and seeing where in my hammer arc I wanted it to be flat.

   I shaped the handle to fit my hand, in two diff. places. Mostly I use it held close to the head. Weight is about 16 oz.

   I shaped the head after glue up with a bandsaw and edge sander, but a rasp would have worked as well.

   I have not yet lost this mallet on my bench.

   This idea came from a fellow on Saw Mill Creek.

   Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com

   
1. 
   Telemike | Aug 10, 2004 05:47am | #6

   Your mallet looks a lot like what I want to make. I'll make it with no face angle, then look at the striking angle and angle the faces.

   Yellow heart?? Wow!! It looks dayglo green on my screen - you won't loose that one easily! Never used yellow heart but it looks like a good source of green wood (and I mean green).

   I use a captured tenon to make gates. I make the stile in two pieces, each with half a tapered mortise, then laminate them. Then I wedge tenons and the gates last forever. I use epoxy too - my joinery is not perfect yet and the epoxy fills lots of errors.

1. 
   BG | Aug 10, 2004 01:50pm | #7

   Telemiketoo,

   I made a few a couple of years ago..oak, maple and poplar.  The oak and maple were cut square and sloped and turned the handle section.  The poplar has a round head sloped and done entirely on the lathe.  Obviously, the poplar is lighter and not as durable as the others...guess which one gets used most two years later...  I save the heavier mallets for 1/2" or lager mortices...not too much need for those

2. 
   AlanTurner | Aug 10, 2004 06:58pm | #9

   My photography skills, and the shop lihgts, probably contribute to the green cast, but the yellowheart is really quite yellow. I think of this as my Easter mallet.

   I used it last night to chop some dovetails in 1" mauraperinga (sp?), a very dense So. Am. tropical. Rolled the edge on my 1/2" stanley 750, so went to my TH Witherby mortiser. Never chopped dovetails with a mortising chisel before, but it worked fine. Woke up the whole neighborhood with the blows, I think. Though stuff! Good mallet for heavy work. A 3" thick benhtop didn't hurt either.

   I personally don't favor a turned handle. I like to shape mine with a drawknife and spokeshave. I did the rough shaping before gluing, but the final shape was achieved afterwards. It is a nice process to fit a handle to one's own hand. Rewarding sort of neandrethal work.

   Enjoy your new mallet.Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com

5. 
   Jimma | Aug 09, 2004 08:26pm | #5

   Do a search on the BH&G Wood website. I believe they published a mallet plan a year or two ago. I made one out of local oak usimg their plan and it seems to be OK, although it doesn't get a lot of tough usage. I also turned one out of grapefruit wood which I use a lot for carving and light chisel work. It's a conversation piece as well.

6. 
   Jimma | Aug 10, 2004 06:48pm | #8

   My apologies about the magazine reference for a mallet plan. Damned if I can recall where I saw it, but I did make one from a magazine article last year and couldn't find it today when I looked for it. A couple of quick searches on line didn't come up with it either. Maybe you could use Google to find it? Sorry.

7. 
   Jimma | Aug 11, 2004 06:49pm | #10

   OK, I found it! The article is in Woodwork, Issue #76, August 2002. Nice article with drawings and photos. Good luck!