Thread: What shape is your mallet?

From habit I still use my steel Eswing, but sideways. I only use a small homemade wooden mallet on my wooden planes.

I use a mallet I made whilst still at school. Turned head made of something ugly, red and unbelievably hard, handle sassafras I believe.

Originally Posted by outback

head made of something ugly, red and unbelievably hard, .

You poor bugger.

Al

Originally Posted by ozwinner

You poor bugger.

Al

WOW< I must be gettin' slow. I shoulda seen that comin' a mile off.

Ben

That is a very nice mallet you made. I made one similar but not nearly as nice. Well, I made two - one is patterned on the HNT Gordon mallet for use in settling plane blades. The other is large and used for forceful bludgeoning. Both are in jarrah. But the one I use for tapping chisels is the Veritas bronze carvers mallet. I have covered the round head in ox hide to protect the bronze from steel hoops, and to protect the wooden backs of the chisels from the hard bronze. This has a lovely weight and feels like an extension of my hand.

Regards from Perth

Derek

G'day everybody, and the best of the season to one & all.
I concur with you on type Ben, I have no trouble hitting round corners as it is without complicating the matter with a convex striking surface. My carpenter types do me quite nicely ta.

As most of my chisels have plastic handles or plastic handles with a steel insert I just use my Estwing hammer. I remember using those bloody awful beech carpenter's mallets at school and they annoyed me no end. They just don't feel right, no heft and a large clumsy head. I got a mallet with a load of other tools that I bought which I use with the few wood handled chisels I have. I think it may have been a soft faced hammer originally. It's got a heavy bronze head with recesses for wooden inserts. I've only recently replaced the wooden inserts, one a soft pine one, the other hardwood. It's very nice to use and I'll post a pic of it soon as I've got to take the camera to the shed for some pics of the router table I'm building.

Mick

Originally Posted by journeyman Mick

As most of my chisels have plastic handles or plastic handles with a steel insert I just use my Estwing hammer. I remember using those bloody awful beech carpenter's mallets at school and they annoyed me no end. They just don't feel right, no heft and a large clumsy head.
Mick

I bought a Marple mallet several years ago. But now I use one I turned out of an old fence post and it is much better. The balance of the Marples mallet just does not feel right. I used it to make a wall shelf which had all the joints in the frames and all the joints in the drawers dovetailed together. It took me several days to chisel out the joints and afterwards I had a sore elbow for some weeks. The one I hade has a shorter handle and a much denser head and works much better.

I use a couple of masons mallets (round fella's) of my fathers. One is a big heavy bugger that would go through almost anything the other is a lot lighter and probably about half the original size and both have had a lot of use. Have no idea what type of timber they are but they are very easy to strike, feel right in the hand and give plenty of control, a lot better than those beech mallets which I reackon feel a bit clumsy in the hand.


JohnC

I was skeptical about the round mallets and knocked them (no pun intended) whilst using my Marples mallet. Then my mate made me a round one from redgum and blackwood and I haven’t used the Marples since.

I know it seems that they would be more difficult to use and control but give one a go if you haven’t used one before, you may be pleasantly surprised like me. If not, keep using what does the job best and most comfortably for you.

One obstacle to overcome with the round ones is that they can easily roll off the bench if laid down on their side. You quickly learn to place them on the bench on their end to overcome this problem.

Agree totally with Woodborer. I never got on with those great clumsy square headed things, either. One day about 20 plus yrs ago, I made a 'carver's' style mallet for the exercise in turning. I had little intention of using it, since they looked so silly and impractical. Then by chance, I picked it up to wallop something because it happened to be closest to hand, and I've never used any other style of mallet since. I agree it seems counter-intuitive, but you really can hit a small target very accurately with one - no need to watch where you are striking, you can watch the business end of the tool instead. One article extolling their virtues pointed out that if you do miss, it just rolls over the knuckles and does no real damage. But I honestly can't remember ever having a serious mis-hit with one.
I've turned dozens of them over the years, in a range of sizes, and the many people I've given them to have mostly become true believers very promptly. I've settled on a couple of favourites for myself - an ugly big thumper for very occasional jobs like belting old axe heads to split turning billets, and a medium-sized one for everything else. I've experimented with the handle shape over the years and settled on one that fits my hand very comfortably, with a thin neck to reduce jarring. I've used them for days on end with little discomfort.
Just about any hardwood that isn't too prone to split does a good job, but I like woods like redgum that you can turn a nice clean handle on, best. I recently did a few from some chunks of Olive, and they are really nice - hard, fine-grained wood that's very dense and solid - loks like one of these is going to see me out.
I'll try to remember to take the camera home tonight and post some pics of my 'design'.
Avagooday,

Yep, I'm a round mallet convert.

I have mostly used a hammer, because the mallet I had was hopeless (or was it me?), then after making a few hardwood carving mallets they were a revelation!

I agree with all the sentiments above, except for the one about injury. For some reason, probably because they seem so safe and easy to use, I seem have taken to holding the chisel differently (?).

On one occasion, the web of my fingers (between thumb and forefinger) strayed over the end of the chisel and managed to get a bit of a pinch. Fortunately I can't hit very hard!

Don't know how it happened, but then I cut my tongue once while shaving with an electric razor!

Cheers,

P

I've been thinking :eek: and am wondering if the round carver type mallet may give slightly more acurate chiseling because it would be less likely to deflect the top of the chisel if hit on any sort of an angle????

I think in the end it's pretty much horses for courses. And the fact that I don't have a lathe.


I like my hammer type design, as it is nice and well balanced, comfortable in the hand, and produces a nice pendulum effect the further down the handle you hold it.

And, for those without a lathe, it's easy to make.

I've just inherited the old man's home made carpenters mallet and frankly I've consigned the old Marples Beech mallet to the barbeque firewood bin