My first wood mallet

This is my first mallet that I have done. The handle is made from a piece of pine I had laying around that I shaped with a plane, router and sander.
The head is made from some wood I kept from old posts when I had the boundary fence renewed about two or three years ago. I removed all the nails and then ran it through my small planer/thicknesser and I was happy with the outcome and how good the wood was.

The dark wood on the outside of the mallet head is red gum from an old fence post. I'm not sure what the lighter wood is. All I know is it was an old fence post as well.

I was playing with the router profiles a bit when I did the handle and used a large round-over bit. I cut some shallow plugs of red gum with a hole punch and drill three recesses in each side of the handle. I glued in the plugs and sanded them flush with the handle sides.

The screw in the center is two 6mm screws with a steel tube mounted in the handle and threaded. Almost like a Chicago screw.
The handle is fitted into the head with wood glue, silver screws fitted and wedges installed.

All was finish sanded, oiled and waxed.

I did split the handle near the head when I drove the wedge in and had to drill and fill the crack.

I'm happy with the result and have wanted to make a mallet for a while. It will probably become a "shelf queen" for the moment. It is quite light in the hand, surprisingly.

Thanks to those on the net that gave me the inspiration to build this.

Looks to pretty too just bash things with but dont worry you can make another when it gets chewed up. Great way to use up some offcuts. I have always wondered why any woodworker would buy a wood mallet rather than make one.
Regards
John

Thanks John. I agree with you on making your own mallet. It is not very hard, it's good practice at using the tools and ....yes, good practice at fixing some mistakes!