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  1. #1
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    Default New uses for old leather belts and used corks

    Had this one in the back of my head (the "plan", not the "mallet") for more than a decade. Originally I had the notion of using a flat sheet of leather and a flat sheet of cork on the heads but I though I would go for some recycling.

    The handle's perhaps a touch too small but it's very well balance and delivers a nice "bouncy" blow that you wouldn't necessarily get from flat sheets of material. You can feel it recoil nicely, a bit like a rubber mallet.

    The wood is red gum - it was terribly split and had to use a lot of resin filling the cracks.

    The corks are from bottles of good aussie reds.

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  3. #2
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    Jun 2005
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    Default

    Nice
    Cheers,
    Clinton

    "Use your third eye" - Watson

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/clinton_findlay/

  4. #3
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    Ripper, Bob. Well done.

    Certainly beats those clear plastic thingos.

    Add it to the list to make, we seem to have an excess of materials. Thanks God they're not all screw tops (yet).

    How would you feel if you owned a Cork Tree plantation in Portugal? Nervous?
    Bodgy
    "Is it not enough simply to be able to appreciate the beauty of the garden without it being necessary to believe that there are faeries at the bottom of it? " Douglas Adams

  5. #4
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    Default

    Thanks chasps. I was feeling pretty special after making this hammer so I'm laying bed re-reading Chapmam's "Workshop Technology" page 231 and guess what I saw?

    It's been done before! Well the leather bit anyway.

    For those that don't know, that "Workshop Technology" series (3 books) are real classics. They're really a reference metal work books but the principles apply across the board and it's so easy to read because the guys craftsmanship shines through. Highly recommended if you can find it.

  6. #5
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    Now, I don't have any "soft" hammers in my workshop - only a wooden mallet, which I rarely use. When I do use it, it's with chisels.

    So the obvious and perhaps silly question is what do you hit with the leather/cork hammer and why?
    dave
    nothing is so easy to do as when you figure out the impossible.

  7. #6
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    I like it! How easy/difficult would be to renew the leather?

  8. #7
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    Garvoc VIC AUSTRALIA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Auld Bassoon
    I like it! How easy/difficult would be to renew the leather?
    Can you run fast nuff to catch a cow .... or a goat?
    Regards, Bob Thomas

    www.wombatsawmill.com

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Auld Bassoon
    I like it! How easy/difficult would be to renew the leather?
    The leather roll and corks are fixed in place into a 10 mm recess in the face of the mallet head with a 3 mm layer of silicone. Once the silicone had been layed down on the faces the leather and cork were clamped firmly into place so the wet silicone extruded upwards about 10 mm into the gaps between the cork/leather. On the leather face you can just see the silicone has gotten to the surface in the middle of the roll.

    As usual with silicone, it was tricky not smearing it all over the place but once dry it's not moving too easily. I figure when either faces are beyond useful life I will cut out the old leather/cork and silicone new roll/corks in place.

    Knurl, soft hammers are useful for easing wood into places it may not wish to quite go without denting it. The common way of doing this is using a piece of softer wood between the hammer and the wood or one of those cheap plastic headed hammers, or a wooden mallet wrapped in cloth. Rubber hammers also do the same thing but can leave marks. The leather face will also be be useful on (particularly small) chisels so as not to beat up the handles too much.

    I can't see myself using this hammer all that often but it will be nice to use when I do. I only use wooden mallets on chisels, and find them very useful in situations like tapping things into alignment or into place.

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by echnidna
    Can you run fast nuff to catch a cow .... or a goat?
    The mind boggles Imagine one of those Benny Hill type chases: The Goat being chased by a Bassoon followed by a stroppy Ozwinner :eek:

  11. #10
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    Great idea Bob, permit me to emulate.

    In response to the question about why would you use it - well if you have RSI or any similar complaint then you really should be careful with your hands and the last thing you should be doing is hitting things with your fist or open hand when trying to ease things into place. I use one of those plastic/hard rubber ones all the time - but its still a bit hard, especially when working with cedar. The cork solution looks much better. I think mine will be corks on both sides. Need to drink more wine.

    Arron

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arron
    Great idea Bob, permit me to emulate.

    In response to the question about why would you use it - well if you have RSI or any similar complaint then you really should be careful with your hands and the last thing you should be doing is hitting things with your fist or open hand when trying to ease things into place. I use one of those plastic/hard rubber ones all the time - but its still a bit hard, especially when working with cedar. The cork solution looks much better. I think mine will be corks on both sides. Need to drink more wine.

    Arron
    Some good points Arron.

  13. #12
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    If anyone needs a few corks for a hammer, PM me. I love my wine and keep my corks.
    I have a design for a cork board and have been planning to make one for about five years now. No boards yet - but plenty of corks.

    As you know it's essential to drink regularly ...you never know how many boards you're going to need. Shame about the Stelvin revolution!
    dave
    nothing is so easy to do as when you figure out the impossible.

  14. #13
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    Thumbs up

    Nice, I really like the leather bit. I too made a mallet similar to yours. The only difference is mine is square and I glued the leather flat on the heads.

    I think yours is better.
    Visit my website at www.myFineWoodWork.com

  15. #14
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    Another notch in your belt, Bob. A real corker.

    "I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to."

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Knurl
    If anyone needs a few corks for a hammer, PM me. I love my wine and keep my corks.
    I have a design for a cork board and have been planning to make one for about five years now. No boards yet - but plenty of corks.

    As you know it's essential to drink regularly ...you never know how many boards you're going to need. Shame about the Stelvin revolution!
    "If all be true that I do think
    There are five reasons we should drink;
    Good wine - a friend - or being dry
    Or lest we should be by and by -
    Or any other reason why"
    Henry Aldrich 1647 - 1710
    The only way to get rid of a [Domino] temptation is to yield to it. Oscar Wilde

    .....so go4it people!

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