Some Mallets

[Bibliophile 13]

I like a good joiner's mallet.  Every year, I cut a few 3"X3" billets out of a pecan log and set them up in my attic to dry out over the summer.  It's pretty kiln-like up there, so after a year or so in the attic, the billets are dry enough to be made into mallet heads.  Here are the finished mallets, which I just completed this week:



Pecan makes a fantastic mallet.  It's hard, fairly heavy, and quite resistant to splitting when dry.  Plus, the wood always has a little character once you put some oil on it. 

I took a couple process pictures along the way.  I have a full blog entry here if you want to know how I make them step-by-step.

Once I cut into this pecan billet, however, I encountered a surprise.  There was a 3/8" diameter hole running almost the full length of the wood, with the grain.  Not sure whether it was old insect damage or what, but my heart sank when I saw that.  I had two realistic options: cut the billet down in width and make mallets with smaller heads, or try to fill in the hole somehow.  

I decided to do a little of both.



It's not hard to fill holes, of course.  Normally you just enlarge them with a drill bit, cut a plug or dowel the right size, and glue it in.  My problem was that these holes are on the business-end of a mallet.  Anything I use to fill it is going to take a lot of abuse.  I didn't have any pecan dowels, nor did I have any way to accurately cut a dowel or plug.  After dithering back and forth, I decided to go ahead and enlarge the hole with a 1/2" drill bit.  Then I glued an oak dowel down into the middle of the hole, leaving about 1" on each end.  Then I squared up each hole with a chisel, cut some 1/2" plugs from some pecan scrap, and glued in the plugs.  They look a little funny, but they should hold up in use. 

Making the mallets themselves is pretty straightforward.  I drill out as much of the hole in the head as I can, normally on the drill press using a Forsner bit. 



Then I square it up carefully with a chisel.  It can be slow going, but taking small bites is the key.  And yes, it really helps to have a mallet in order to make a mallet.

The handle is very gently tapered toward the end, and once the hole is squared up into a matching tapered mortise, it is inserted from the top.  With use, the handle wedges tighter and tighter into the mortise until it's virtually un-removable.  

But before assembling, I add some additional weight to the heads.



I soak the heads in mineral oil thinned with mineral spirits.  They soak up quite a bit of oil, and that adds some good heft to the heads.  One of the big mallets ends up being a healthy 16 oz. at least.  

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Each mallet is pretty comfortable to hold.  And yes, they're all spoken for.  I'm giving the big ones away to some woodworkers I know who are building up their hand tools arsenals and need a little encouragement. 

And as for the little one, well, one of my kids claimed it as soon as she saw it.  But I really like the size, so next year I might make a few more in that size and keep one for myself.

[opticsguy]

Very nice mallets and an excellent story.

I recently got interested in mallet making and so far have made almost 20, various sizes from sledge-hammer sized down to small, light weight tapping mallets.   All made of various wood types depending on what I can find in my workshop.  I found making a large variety of sizes and weights and designs has taught me a lot about design, materials, ergonomics, materials and just a lot of fun . . . . . .