New Mallet

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Recently I got a nylon mallet for tooling. It was sold as a 14 oz mallet but the head weight is 8 oz. I like it a lot and found the nylon (UHMW, I assume) is a great material for a mallet. I needed a larger one so I got one from Barry King. It's a monster and will do for the larger stuff. Still, I needed a smaller one for very light work like with figure carving where a lot of light taps are in order. I've been using a rawhide mallet for the job but wanted a UHMW one for light work.

I ordered a piece of 1-1/2" round UHMW from ebay. It arrived and it is enough to make three mallet heads. Nice. I cut it into three 2-3/4" pieces and stashed the extra two.

To make a handle, I drilled a 5/16" hole lengthwise through a 7" piece of sledge hammer handle that has been lying around. Although I like a shorter handle, I wanted this one to be a little longer for counter balance. Of course, it wasn't centered exactly so there was an amount of work to grind the thing to roughly a round shape. To do that I ran a piece of 5/16" threaded rod through it and put nuts on each end so I could clamp it in a vice. When it was "round" I chucked it in the lathe and supported the end with a bushing in another piece of UHMW block. Spinning in the drill press, I filed with rasps, files, sandpaper, you name it until it was the desired shape. Then I cut a piece of 1/4" rod the right length and threaded both ends. For the head, I counter sunk the rod and handle so nothing stuck out or looked too home-made. I dyed the handle with leather dye and put a thinned coat of linseed oil on it. For assembly, I put an acorn nut and washer on the handle end and a nylock nut & washer on the head end. It came out good, with a 3 oz head. Perfect for my needs.



For a good visual comparison, here it is with the other two mallets, 8 and 22 oz head weights respectively.

[Rube Burrows]

That looks like it will be a good addition. Great job.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, Rube. I think it will work out pretty well. I practiced a little with it tonight and it worked great.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

After using the new mallet a bit, I still wasn't sure if the long handle was optimum. I had another piece of UHMW so I put a seconc one together with a 1-1/2" shorter handle at 5". This one is great for tooling work. That one is in with my tooling tools and the long handled one is in my other tool box full of knives, punches and other construction tools.

I like them both for different reasons but if I had to choose a preferred one, it would be the one with the 5" handle. The head on this one came in at 4 oz, probably due to the fact that I made this with a piece of 5/16" threaded rod instead of a 1/4" rod through the handle. The head is also 1/8" longer.

[1961MJS]

Hi

I was taught to always hold a hammer at the end so as to get more leverage in swinging it.  That works well when you're nailing a floor down, roofing, etc.  I have a whole one hammer, when I'm using a beveler, I hold it closer to the head.
Just my $0.02.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I hold both of these at the same place for tooling. The 4 oz rawhide mallet I was using before I also held closer to the head for tooling. For other purposes like setting snaps, riveting, driving tacks, punching and such, yes I hold a hammer at the end.

[1961MJS]

... yes I hold a hammer at the end.

I was really sure about that part...   
Later

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I was really sure about that part...   
Later

LOL