Mallet Rehab

[BaileyNo5]

I've had a beech mallet, I think it was a Crown, since about 1993. It was one of the first decent woodworking mallets I owned. After I carelessly left it within reach one day, our dear departed Australian Shepard made short work of the handle as a chew toy. Dang dogs, anyway. So it has been sitting around in the scrap bin for years. I repurposed what was left of the beech handle into a handle for a smaller tool. I came across the poor abandoned mallet head while cleaning recently. Seemed a good time to make a new handle.

I didn't have any beech, so I used Hawthorne, which I have a lot of at the moment. Supposed to be a hard, strong wood; we'll see how it holds up as a mallet handle.

[Window Guy]

Nice save, I don't know much about that wood but the it looks great.


Steve

[Steve Friedman]

Nice holdfast!

Great job on the handle, but it's missing a hole for a string so you can hang it out of the reach of your new puppy.

Steve

[BaileyNo5]

Steve Friedman said:

---

Nice holdfast!
Great job on the handle, but it's missing a hole for a string so you can hang it out of the reach of your new puppy.
Steve

---

Thanks, it was made by Jake the Russian and Phil Koontz, Galena Village Blacksmith in Galena, AK. Jake put his initial right on the top, along with a nice leaf pattern. Sadly I don't see their website any longer. I'm going back and forth on the lanyard, but I left the handle a little long so I can add one. Think I will.

[Steve Friedman]

I know nothing about him, but John Switzer in Colorado makes holdfasts that he refers to as Phil Koontz style. From his website:

Phil Koontz was one of the most prolific hold fast makers for many years. Sadly Phil has moved on to other endeavors. After communicating with Phil he has shared his designs and production methods and given his permission for us to reproduce his holdfast design.

Here's his website:
web page xxx

Lanyard. That's what they're called. I have one on every mallet I own and don't hang any of them by the cord. I was just teasing because the dog used yours as a chew toy. You should keep the old mallet handle to remember him/her. We have a coffee table with dog teeth marks and my kids (age 31 and 33) would flip out if we ever repaired it.

Steve

[Bibliophile 13]

Mallet handles are fun, aren't they? A lot more fun than making the head, for sure.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Nice project. It looks great, adds a little personalization to the mallet, gets the departed pup out of the "doghouse", and gets the tool back to work. Win-win-win-win

As for the hole, I don't like dangly things on my tools. My preference for mallets is to drill a pilot for a screw eye so I can hang the mallet from a pegboard hanger. The screw eyes never get in my way.