# Homemade Mallet



## SLAC_Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

This is my first attempt at making my own woodworking hand tool. I used what ever I had laying around and tried to make do. In a couple of hours I was able to make, what I think, Is a cool little carving mallet. It weighs in at 13 oz. And though small has a nice heft to it. The size was primarily dictated by brass stock that I had on hand. It's a very simple design with a wedged mortise and tenon to join the head to the handle. 

I tried to take photos along the way but it was a quick 2.5 hour project that I thought I would try after work.

Here is the head getting machined 









Finishing off the top side









The finished head









Turning the handle









Dry fit before the wedge









The finished product



























Sharing space with some of my other hand tools used to make this tool.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

That is gorgeous! Very nicely done.


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## SLAC_Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks, I also have plans to make a traditional brass head mallet, maybe with some kind of hardwood infill on the striking surface.


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## autre (Jul 12, 2011)

That is just beautiful!


What type wood is the handle?


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## SLAC_Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks it's an old piece of turning blank I picked up years ago from woodcraft. It's called zebrawood which I guess is obvious from the grain. But I don't really know anything about it except that I thought it would look cool when turned.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

This would have been worthy of posting in the Project forum.

I am jealous you have a metal AND wood lathes, and to top this off a blank of brass just hanging around.

Very nice piece. Perhaps too nice to smash against intransigent objects like pieces of wood.

I would be willing to have you send this to me so I could put it on display for you. :yes:


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## jharris (Jan 8, 2011)

That is gorgeous! 

I'm a tad envious as well. Not so much that you have wood and metal lathes but that you clearly have the skills to use them with such impressive results.

Jeff


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Very nice :thumbup:


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## SLAC_Engineer (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks for all the kind words guys. My woodworking has been on hiatus for the last year due to moving my shop into a smaller location and Trying to manage my space and machines and free workspace. I have been jonesing to make something, anything, with wood. So bad in fact that for the last couple of months I have been going into the garage and dinking around with the hand tools before bed. There is something therapeutic and relaxing about making wispy shavings with your block plane, paring endgrain with a nice sharp chisel, and cuting to a line with a handsaw. 

Anyways this is something I have thought about making for the better half of the last decade. It's actually a compromise of what I wanted to make which was a traditional double ended mallet. I thought I would keep it simple for the first go around.

It is nice having the machines to pretty much do what you can dream. My garage is split into two rooms. The back half is a fully outfitted machine shop Including the lathe, a cnc mill, and a Bridgeport manual mill. The front half of the garage is dedicated to woodworking with all the typical machines. I hope to start a thread soon sharing my little corner of the world. As soon as I can get photos. I am in the middle of hanging drywall in the woodworking shop.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

That's a nice piece of work. Came out great. I do some carving and was wondering what size that mallet is (overall length, and length of the handle alone)?










 







.


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## Ryan Grondin (Jun 14, 2016)

Awesome looking mallet... Great job


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## gornarak (Jun 5, 2014)

That's nearly too beautiful to use.


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## TimeTurnsElastic (May 4, 2015)

Beautiful!!! Not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask -- But would you consider selling one of those? I'm on the hunt for a birthday gift for a carpenter I work with, who also happens to be a very gifted woodworker all around. He's been a great teacher/mentor to me, and I'd love to be able give him something unique and meaningful that will be put to good use.


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