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+-- Thread: Chisel mallet (/showthread.php?tid=7377342)
Chisel mallet - davco - 11-26-2024
Looking for a good source for a Chisel mallet for dovetails
Thanks
RE: Chisel mallet - ajkoontz - 11-26-2024
Have you considered making your own?
RE: Chisel mallet - davco - 11-26-2024
Don't have a lathe
RE: Chisel mallet - jteneyck - 11-26-2024
(11-26-2024, 06:20 PM)davco Wrote: Don't have a lathe
Make a flat faced one.
John
RE: Chisel mallet - Bill Holt - 11-27-2024
I have made several; all are similar, in shape, to the "Big Horn Wood Mallet". Answering your question...Google. But I would hate to be limited to one mallet. To my surprise, I use my small mallet probably 90% of the time. I just completed eight drawers and used only the small mallet. Just a guess, mallet weighs 10 ounces.
I have used a "flat head" mallet one time and did not like it.
Good luck.
RE: Chisel mallet - stav - 11-27-2024
I made my round mallet with a block plane and spoke shave. Its not lathe quality but it whacks chisels pretty well.
RE: Chisel mallet - Tapper - 11-27-2024
(11-27-2024, 09:01 AM)Bill Holt Wrote: I have made several; all are similar, in shape, to the "Big Horn Wood Mallet". Answering your question...Google. But I would hate to be limited to one mallet. To my surprise, I use my small mallet probably 90% of the time. I just completed eight drawers and used only the small mallet. Just a guess, mallet weighs 10 ounces.
I have used a "flat head" mallet one time and did not like it.
Good luck.
I have one of these I picked up and is stamped "Highland Hardware" before the name changed. Have never had or used one of those barrel shaped mallets, but I like this one.
Doug
RE: Chisel mallet - Bob Vaughan - 11-27-2024
(11-27-2024, 09:01 AM)Bill Holt Wrote: I have made several; all are similar, in shape, to the "Big Horn Wood Mallet". Answering your question...Google. But I would hate to be limited to one mallet. To my surprise, I use my small mallet probably 90% of the time. I just completed eight drawers and used only the small mallet. Just a guess, mallet weighs 10 ounces.
I have used a "flat head" mallet one time and did not like it.
Good luck.
Bill has a very good point. Big mallets have their place like timber framing, but not when it comes to fine work.
For years I used a hardwood handrail cut-off for precise work with a chisel because it was far more predictable than my heavier mallets. Eventually I turned a much smaller and lighter mallet and now use that.
Below is the best photo I've got of that handrail cut-off. I think the widest part is less than 2" wide.
Try several weights of scrap stock and see what weight works best. I know one woodworker that had been doing dovetails for decades with the flat of a 16 oz. hammer held in his palm.
[attachment=53118]
RE: Chisel mallet - ajkoontz - 11-28-2024
If you're dead set on a round mallet, how about this one? It's a little on the small side but I like it for precision chisel work. I don't have a lathe either but have made many laminated square head mallets and am also really happy with these also.
[attachment=53120]