Replies

1. 
   BG | May 04, 2005 11:13pm | #1

   chuckbby,
   I thought I had some plans for you ..but it appears not. Think about gluing three pieces together where the center piece has a handle attached to it....shape the handle with spokeshave, files, or whatever.
   I made two from oak and a much lighter one from poplar...guess which is my favorite to use (sigh) the poplar..much lighter.

    

1. 
   cherryjohn | May 04, 2005 11:59pm | #2

   I made one and I used a piece of maple about 2" thickX 3 1/2  X4.  I angled the faces slightly and put the bottom in my mortising machie and made a hole big enough to accept a hammer handle.  I drove the handle in and pinned it with a dowel.  Simple, quick and effective.  For light duty work I use a carving mallet I turned out of black locust.Wicked Decent Woodworks

   (oldest woodworking shop in NH)

   Rochester NH

   " If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"

2. 
   chuckybby | May 05, 2005 01:09am | #4

   Thinking about making the two sides with an angled flat slot in each side so that when glued together they will form a space for a fitted handle.  From answers this may work.  Going to use them in a VBS school for young childred to show what Jesus would have used, and show them how to make their own mallets, hoping some might become interested in wood working.  So few young people are doing this.  I also am making flag cases for older veterans who die in my area, working thru the Boy Scouts and VFW, good community project.

   charles

1. 
   TXJon | May 05, 2005 01:14am | #5

   I have made a few, and if I understand your method correctly, that's how I did it.

   The head is three pieces face glued together.  The middle piece I cut out in a butterfly shape.  The handle fits into that.  I glue it all up at once, and usually kerf and wedge the top of the handle.

   Some are in the shop, others are in kitchens for pounding meat.  So far they are holding up well.

2. 
   lwj2 | May 05, 2005 12:45am | #3

   If you've got a lathe:

   Turn the head to the size you wish.

   Turn the handle to a comfortable fit, leaving the part to go through the head at ¾-inch.

   Saw a kerf two-thirds of the thickness of the head down from the head end of the handle, then bore the base of the kerf with a 1/8 diameter bit. [This is so that when you drive the wedge in it doesn't split the handle.] Make a tapered wedge about an eighth to three-sixteenths thick about one-half the length of the handle kerf.

   Bore the centre of the mallet head with a ¾-inch Forstner bit.

   Insert handle, drive wedge into kerf.

   Most of my mallet heads are made of either pecan or apple, handles are whatever's handy at the time. Plum works well if you can find it.

   I've found it helpful to slightly dish one side of the head, slightly concave the other side.

   Hope this made some sense, I tried to draw it in a graphics programme, but couldn't get the perspective correct.

   Regards,

   Leon Jester