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  1. #31
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Brisbane (western suburbs)
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    77
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    12,094

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    Derek, I can't speak for your She-oak, but it's cousin over this side (A. torulosa) does pretty well as a handle. I used some a few years ago on a ball-pein hammer, and like you, I was rather dubious about its potential. But so far, it seems happy enough. Of course, ball-peins are used mostly for moderate blows, but there's a lot of moderate & occasionally heavy hitting to bang up a plane body! Maybe all those rays act like carbon fibres & strengthen the shaft..

    The air-dry density of A. fraseriana is given as a bit less than A. torulosa, but not that much. Does it vary a lot? I ask because one time I was over your way, I visited a display of local woodwork & saw a desk made of what the label said was She-oak. I assumed it was fraseriana, but it may have been something else. Anyway, I thought to meself, "Phew, that's going to be a solid lump", so I hefted one corner while no-one was looking & was most surprised to find it wasn't anywhere near what I expected, not Toona light, by any means, but far less than an equivalent mass of torulosa would've weighed.

    Cheers,
    IW

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  3. #32
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    Dandenong Ranges
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    Hi Derek, how could you not mention your carvers mallet? That is just gorgeous. What timbers were used? I am only being polite regarding the handle, it's the head that has captured my heart

  4. #33
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    10,810

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    MA, I did not mention the carver’s mallet as I did not make it. It is by Blue Spruce. The handle is African Blackwood and the head is resin-infused Fiddleback Maple. It is well-used and still looks new.

    My preference for bench chisels and mortice chisels is a flat face to the hammer or mallet. Round heads feel cumbersome by comparison (it is a personal thing) and run the risk of a glancing blow.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

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