Thread: first time turning a carving mallet

If it fits nicely in your hand, and feels right, you're there. Good work.

Nice job on the mallet that is not being tight making it yourself as you can make it to be comfortable for your own needs. I made one for myself from Lignum Vitae and Chestnut handle it just nestles in the hand a treat.

Looks good, I could swing that.
What is it for mass?
I had no choice but to buy a bigger mallet to make my bigger gouges move.
First was a 12oz/350g which was fine for 8/7, 5/14 and others in that range.
When I got to 2/30, 5/35 and 9/15, I bought a lead core 30oz/900g.
MInd you, I can't and don't need to swing that all day. What I do like is that I can
choke up on the handle, hold it by the head, for much lighter taps.

thanks all, happy with how it turned out .

Robson Valley - it's around 375g so not to heavy, the brass one is just under 700g so I'll most likely need to make a bigger mallet as I intend to do bigger work using /30 - /40 sized pfeil chisels.
thanks for the tip on that 900g mallet sounds heavy & it must be quite big, I'll have a think on how to make one maybe with an adjustable lead weight.

scrounger

Nice one! I did the same and now the poor thing is all bashed up and splintered. I'm sure you will have lots of fun with it.

You could make yourself a bigger brass one if you wanted.

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Nice one! I did the same and now the poor thing is all bashed up and splintered. I'm sure you will have lots of fun with it.

Yep, same for me. I think it's time to turn new one(s).

The lead core keeps the size down to something reasonable. Might seem intimidating but
was not long to get used to swinging. Once I learned to choke up on the head for softer hits,
I rarely use the 12oz/375g mallet.


Log Building Tools Log Home Building and Timber Frame Specialty Hand tools Magard Ventures LTD in BC Canada.

In the mallet section, mine is the green-head x 30oz, made by Wood-Is-Good.
Magard has open stock boxes full of every gouge that Pfeil has ever made.
Only time I have ever actually seen the Pfeil $700-800 wood carving tool set.

The log home on the Magard home page was built probably by Pioneer Log Homes,
might be $2 million.

I've made other really crude mallets for bashing out in the forest debris piles.
Just hardwood log pieces with scales cut off one end for a smaller diameter
handle. They are 40 & 44 oz.
Beat to Hello, I'll toss them back onto a debris pile and hack out another one.

I turned up two... one red gum and a fair bit lighter than the second one, a blue gum. I haven't needed to myself, but I know guys who have weighted the heads with lead for more weight. Simple job of drill, fill and seal. (not molten lead.... folded lead sheet stuffed/rammed into the hole and capped). I like the idea of a consistent handle and head diameter. Thus only one variable to consider when shifting mallets.

Go down to the local gun shop and get lead shot to fill it with.

There's something strange about using lead shot in a mallet.
Seems to me that a "dead-blow" hammer has a shot-filled head.
The merit is that the thing does not rebound. Not that I notice
'rebound' with either my wooden bashers or the polyurethane-faced carvers.

I wonder what effect that would have in carving.
DSEL74: do you know how this works? I don't.

People into casting wad cutters for target shooting often melt down buckets
of old wheel-balancing weights, the steel floats and can be skimmed off.
I suppose that I could make a plaster mold for casting a mallet weight.
The 30oz mallet was expensive in the beginning but over the years,
it has paid for itself with convenience.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

There's something strange about using lead shot in a mallet.
Seems to me that a "dead-blow" hammer has a shot-filled head.
The merit is that the thing does not rebound. Not that I notice
'rebound' with either my wooden bashers or the polyurethane-faced carvers.

I wonder what effect that would have in carving.
DSEL74: do you know how this works? I don't.

I believe the "dead-Blow" hammers are loose filled, there is extra space in the cavity and the shot moves with the swing, and settles after the impact countering any shock. Not sure I explained that clearly.

On the other hand you can use the shot to completely fill in the space getting into all the small corners that larger weight wouldn't get into unless specifically shaped to fit with a matching cavity.

Shot is ok if you pack it tight. The 'dead blow' effect of loose shot really puts me off in a carving context. The balance/center of gravity of the mallet is always changing. I find this very disconcerting personally. Someone else might like it but I don't recommend it myself.

As for filling the cavity... it really doesn't matter if you use shot or sheet lead. The key is how much lead you use to get the desired weight in the mallet head and then making sure that the cavity you create in the mallet head is of the appropriate size to accommodate it. I think its a bit easier to do this with lead sheet you can cut with shears and cold-mold into a space so it doesn't move but there probably isn't much difference in effort really.

Thank you. I won't buy one but I'd like to fool with one just to learn a little.

I don't know what is in the head of my 940g mallet.
Lead sheet or an ingot, I don't much care.
The head size is not much larger than the 375g, a good thing.
But, swinging against a 9/15 or a 5/35, the waste disappears.
My field mallets are just 1.2 & 1.3kg, just short log pieces, and they are whoppers
when compared with my shop mallets.