Mallet for dovetails?

[Adam Cruea]

Thanks Adam! I might make 2 just because they make such a nice pair

What angle did you use for the faces? Also, I missed the "soaked" reference. What were they soaked in?

They were both soaked in BLO. Little thumper was soaked for a day I believe, and big thumper was soaked for a week.

For the face angle, I just ran a straight line from the bottom of the handle to the top corner of the head. Thus far it's worked for me, and I can basically just drop Big Thumper down on a mortise chisel into hickory and take out a 1/16" chunk. Giving it a "put your back into it" whack, the chisels will dive down progressively farther.

[Chris Griggs]

They were both soaked in BLO.

Really, BLO? Not a secret mix of your own sweat & used motor oil from the Harley (with perhaps a touch of lambs blood)? BLO seems a little, shall we say too refined, for a man of your grit.

[David Weaver]

used motor oil

Carcinogenic! Even tough guys don't want to get cancer!

Used oils and unrefined oils (even unrefined mineral oil, though I don't know where someone gets unrefined minearal oil) are carcinogens. Fresh motor oil isn't as bad (if it may still be bad anyway, I'm not sure).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2612787

Strange result in the summary is that used diesel engine oil didn't test as carcinogenic where used gasoline oil did. Somewhere there are people who spent $50,000 on a diesel pickup hooting based on that result!

End result, don't use used motor oil on things, not even on sharpening stones.

[allen long]

The Thor-branded hammer that Derek has showns us does not deserve to carry that name. Adam's big thumper - Now that is a mallet worthy of the name THOR!!

I bet the chisel drives itself out of sheer terror when it simply sees Adam's big thumper coming close!

Beautiful Mallets, Adam.

I use the rubberized carvers round mallet for a variety of wood butchering - but I generally don't really put my back into it. I also have the Vertas round brass mallet but it tended to mark up the chisel handles. I put a small section of PVC pipe on it by using a heat gun to soften the pipe) I use it when I really need a little more finess in murdering the wood.

[Chris Griggs]

Carcinogenic! Even tough guys don't want to get cancer!

So its just sweat and lambs blood than?

[David Weaver]

So its just sweat and lambs blood than?

Yeah, that's OK. You can tap the drain at the gym and the local butcher.

[Chris Griggs]

Yeah, that's OK. You can tap the drain at the gym and the local butcher.

Well its ok for guys like Adam.

My secret finish would need to be made from hemp oil and soy milk.

[David Weaver]

Oh yeah, used sweat and blood isn't vegan. I forgot!! There really isn't anything as gross in the vegan world....maybe rancid banana oil.

[Chris Griggs]

Oh yeah, used sweat and blood isn't vegan. I forgot!! There really isn't anything as gross in the vegan world....maybe rancid banana oil.

Well, I suppose I'm ok with human sweat and blood....I like non-human animals better than I like people. Mix that with fermented rancid banana oil and I think we've got a winner.



errrr....just to say on topic...my favorite mallet is my turned "Katrina Mallet". Friend and creeker Archie gave it to me back when I lived in NOLA. He turned it from a hunk/branch of live oak ("live" being the species not the state of the tree) he found when he came back from katrina. Love that mallet.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I use mallets all day some days. Since I bought the Wood is Good 12 and 30's, no sore wrists or elbows, and no beat up chisel handles.

Another fan of the WIG mallets, I use a 18 ounce mallet.. It doesn't take much make the tendonitis flair up on my right elbow and thankfully I can use the WIG mallet all day and have no fear... As soon as I so much look at an Estwing hammer the tendonitis flairs right up..

[Adam Cruea]

Well its ok for guys like Adam.

My secret finish would need to be made from hemp oil and soy milk.

I'd be too tempted to torch the mallet after a soaking in hemp oil.

And yes, just BLO for soaking. I was going to use bunny tears and some of Satan's urine, but I couldn't find a bunny when I made the mallet.

I was also all out of Harley oil. That's what gets used to cook my wild boar bacon and ostrich eggs (sunny side up, of course).

[Chris Griggs]

I'd be too tempted to torch the mallet after a soaking in hemp oil.

And yes, just BLO for soaking. I was going to use bunny tears and some of Satan's urine, but I couldn't find a bunny when I made the mallet.

I was also all out of Harley oil. That's what gets used to cook my wild boar bacon and ostrich eggs (sunny side up, of course).

This makes me happy on so many levels!

[Tom Vanzant]

Back to the topic... For chopping dovetails, I mostly use the 20 oz Veritas journeyman brass/cherry mallet but sometimes a no-name beech mallet measuring 5-1/4 x 3-1/2 x 2-1/2. The beech mallet is my go-to for mortising. Most of my bench chisels and mortising chisels are Narex from LV...not pretty but work fine in cherry, maple and walnut.

[Daniel Rode]

Thanks for all the tips!

The WIG mallet arrived today. The size, weight and balance are pretty much what I hoped for. It felt very natural as soon as I took the first swing. It's 50% heavier and the extra mass helps. For me, that means slower more controlled swings and taps. That part is nice but the real benefit is that it's easier to propel with wrist movements. It looks and feels indestructible. The handle was smooth and needed no work at all, so that's probably worth the extra $15 right there.