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+-- Thread: Help me decide which mallet to make, please. (/showthread.php?tid=7352552)
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RE: Help me decide which mallet to make, please. - RonB1957 - 01-24-2020
(01-24-2020, 10:06 AM)Timberwolf Wrote: ..............................Just a thought. If I had a piece 15" long I would cut it in half or thirds depending on the weight. Then you could turn a carving mallet head and combine it with a wood of choice for the handle or make a joinery mallet. I would put leather on the joinery mallet as the hardness of the lignum Vitae could ding the item you are tapping in place. I have even seen people carve out just enough of the wood to be able to grab using all four faces to strike with. I would be interested to know what a piece like that weighs.
Lignum Vitae, in earlier times, was used as the bearings in small hydro-electric power plants..The mallet I made was part of one of those bearing blocks..rescued from the fire they were in as the Inglis, Florida plant was de-comissioned years ago. They burned most all of them..I still have the other half of the bearing in my attic. If I had know they were going to be destroyed I would have gotten them all !!!!!!!
Just a thought. If I had a 15" long piece, I would cut int
Have fun.
RE: Help me decide which mallet to make, please. - bandit571 - 01-26-2020
Once upon a time....I wanted a mallet that actually fit my hand...so..
[attachment=23527]
Found a nice block of spalted maple. And set to turn something on my now long gone lathe..
[attachment=23528]
The one laying down on the job, was inherited, way too light, and the handle too skinny....The one standing up...While I was turning it, I made sure it fit my hand.
Seemed to be the right weight, fit the hand perfectly...and worked.....
RE: Help me decide which mallet to make, please. - Vince - 01-29-2020
I've made a few mallets out of lignum vitae, a simple round head mallet and a couple of turned carving mallets. After getting a chance to handle a couple of Blue Spruce mallets at the last Handworks show, I decided to make a lignum vitae mallet using a similar design. That one is now my favorite.
Vince
https://youtu.be/uZplDG7OFIU
RE: Help me decide which mallet to make, please. - Timberwolf - 01-30-2020
(01-29-2020, 02:02 PM)Vince Wrote: I've made a few mallets out of lignum vitae, a simple round head mallet and a couple of turned carving mallets. After getting a chance to handle a couple of Blue Spruce mallets at the last Handworks show, I decided to make a lignum vitae mallet using a similar design. That one is now my favorite.
Vince
https://youtu.be/uZplDG7OFIU
................................
Excellent video, Vince....Thanks for posting it.,.....I would just add that Lignum is a joy to turn and one of my all-time favorite woods and it's pretty obvious you love it as well........
RE: Help me decide which mallet to make, please. - Derek Cohen - 01-31-2020
I’ve made and used many types of mallets over the years, and have come to prefer a joiner’s mallet (rectangular) over a carver’s mallet (round). The reason is simply that a flat face focuses the force better, and a round head is more at risk for glancing.
The heads on all my mallets are covered with a layer of UHMW, which is nearly indestructible yet does not mar surfaces.
My favourite mallet is a modification of the Veritas Cabinetmaker’s mallet. 19oz ..
![[Image: Mallet-zpsawalgxow.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/j2VDnG6Q/Mallet-zpsawalgxow.jpg)
This is an extra heavy morticing mallet (with infilled brass) ..
![[Image: 3-zps97cd6e8f.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/qR99VdyK/3-zps97cd6e8f.jpg)
Regards from Perth
Derek