MALLETS...PUT THE HAMMER DOWN....

 I thought I'd post a word or two on some mallets I've made and the good, the bad, and the ugly that goes with it. Shown above are my best tools to date.  The mallet is more recently made and already is becoming one of my favorites.  Unlike the two shown at left and below, it is made from an ash head of one solid block and considerably larger and heavier than the previous two.  Not shown is one I made from oak by lamination method (to ease the mortise hole for the handle).  It lasted several years and then on one swift blow the handle smashed clean off from the head and the head fractured.  I think I was using it to loosen the nut on a mower blade when it happened.   Anyhow, my point is that laminating (gluing up) a block is at best about a 50/50 bet that it will fail with any use and consistent impact.  The picture to the left shows a head failing which is of rock maple and actually has had minimal use.  I liked the hickory handle it has from the beginning but also disliked the lightness of the small head and found it lacked the punch for chiseling and was only OK for carving. The one at right has had more use and yet has stayed in tact.  I used a particularly heavy, dense piece of red oak out of a packing pallet.  The handle is oak as well.  I always have used the dimension of 14 inches for a handle, I guess because the traditional nail hammer had handles of the same size.  The mallet at top has such a big head (nearly 6in long and nearly 4in high and 3in thick) , the handle seems considerably smaller but isn't, being about 13.5 inches roughly.  You hold them up high under the head anyway when properly used as a chisel hammer and carving mallet. I doubt I would grab it as the persuader for cabinet boxes and assembly, though I do nudge dovetails in as a group with a mallet sometimes.  I like the nylon hammer alot for its combination of semi-hard faces and non marring blows to all but soft pine.  I may start putting leather on one face of my mallets as another non marring option in woodworking.  The solid block posed some challenge in regards to chiselling in a nice tapered handle mortise, but it really turned out surprisingly tight and clean since I used unusual restraint and patience when chopping it ( and I did drill a hole first which I don't normally do when mortising).  When you plan out the handle, be sure to orient the grain in the strongest direction aligned with striking.

The ash dulled my chisel and halfway through I stopped for a light sharpening and heavy stropping. I have enough ash, oak and maple left for about 4-5 mallets and maybe I'll shoot for one more in an all maple head with an ash or maple handle.   I won't be gluing the handle in from now on, as I saw how tightly it wedges on the latest model.  During just the fitting process, it took considerable force to knock it back out each time.  Once in, I doubt it would ever come loose , rather,  tightening further as it is swung.