Mallet re-handling advice sought

[Joe Bailey]

In going through one of several caches of tools acquired over the summer, I found this.
It appears to be Lignum Vitae, and it weighs more than one would first guess (22 oz)

I like to put a handle on it and use it as a joinery persuader, but not sure how to approach this.

It looks almost as if it once had threads, and if so, the handle wasn't all that deeply rooted.
I'm hesitant to bore all the way through and use wedges.

Any thoughts (and corresponding rationales)??

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[Jim Koepke]

My answer would depend on what you have on hand to do the work and what kind of handle you are thinking about using.

With a lathe, tapping tools and an axe handle, it might be fun to bore a little deeper and make a special handle for this mallet.

It might also be a simple matter of working the hole a little deeper and into a bit of a taper so you could use a handle with a fox wedge to put it back to work.

Otherwise a rectangular mortise with a tapered handle as is common with joiner's mallet might be in order.

jtk

[Richard Line]

The existing hole doesn't look deep enough to provide a reliable connection for a mallet. I would expect it to be half way through the head at a minimum in order to react the moment put into the handle. Even with good threads, I would think the handle to head connection would fail fairly quickly. If you have a lathe, I would bore the head all the way through and then drive a wedge into the end of the handle.

Is there a possibility the head is hollow with a metal weight inside. That would be a reason for having a shallow handle attachment. That's probably a stupid thought.

[Ryan Baker]

At the very least, bore and thread it deeper and screw a new handle in. But I wouldn't do it that way. My experience is that a screw-in handle on a mallet is a bad idea because an off-center hit will cause it to unscrew itself. (Been there.) I would probably bore it through and wedge it. If you want to get fancy, you could fox wedge it in a blind hole. Lignum makes a nice mallet though ... should be nice when you are done.

[Joe Bailey]

Jim -- aesthetically, I don't like the idea of a square taper for this style mallet, I was figuring on a handle like this

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No lathe here, but unless we're talking about tapering the eye, I suppose I could bore it out.

Richard -- there's no metal here, just a heavy chunk of LV. The shallowness of the hole is what seems strange to me -- then again, maybe that's why it's currently handle-less.
Just noticed the number "3" stamped into it.

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Reminds me of another mallet I have somewhere -- a Stanley -- stamped with an "11"

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[Joe Bailey]

Ryan
Jim had the same thought regarding the fox wedge -- I think that's the right solution.
So do I need a tapered hole to use this technique?

[Jim Koepke]

Ryan
Jim had the same though regarding the fox wedge -- I think that's the right solution.
So do I need a tapered hole to use this technique?

A tapered hole makes room for the handle to expand with the wedge.

The entry hole is as big as the handle cylinder. The wedge is made to cause the end of the handle expand to fill the internal taper. If you have a gouge it shouldn't be too difficult to expand the inside toward the faces of the mallet head to make room for the expansion.

jtk

[Joe Bailey]

Thanks Jim; well explained.

Any glue involved?

[Alfred Kraemer]

Extending the round hole all the way through by using a drill press and securing the hammer head well, would be my suggestion, too,
You'll have to pull up the drill bit several times given the denseness of the wood. Wedging should be ok, just don't overdo in -and most importantly: orient the wedge across the grain of hammer head otherwise you might split it.
Lignum vitae mallets are great. should be well worth rehandling the head.

Alfred

[Joe Bailey]

Extending the round hole all the way through by using a drill press and securing the hammer head well, would be my suggestion, too,

No drill press here -- the only electricity in my shop runs the lights. That is one reason I am leaning towards the blind wedge idea.

[Jim Koepke]

Any glue involved?

Usually not needed, but can be used if you like.

Lignum Vitae is somewhat oily so some glues might not work without first degreasing.

I have a small mallet where the Lignum Vitae head is just a friction fit. Hasn't been a problem.

jtk

[Alfred Kraemer]

If you use brace and bit, get one with a good sweep and a sharp bit. You might have to push down, I m not sure if the screw feed will work well. Anyway, you' ll notice right away if you have lignum vitae - it has a characteristic smell.

Good luck

Alfred

[Pat Barry]

Put me in the camp of drilling that hole all the way through and then installing the handle and wedging it in the exit side. You could pare the hole to create a reverse taper to help secure the new handle. Basically what you would do to make a new mallet anyway

[Ryan Baker]

Yes, for the fox wedging, bore the hole the size of the handle, stopping before you go all the way through. Use a gouge or similar to taper the hole so that it is bigger at the top. (Only taper it in the forward-backward direction. No reason to taper side to side because you aren't going to wedge it that way.) Slot the end of the handle and cut a wedge to carefully fit (that's the hard part). When it is ready to go, put some glue on the wedge, line it up, and drive it in.

Glue probably won't do much on lignum, so there isn't much point in gluing to that. A good wedge fit should keep it tight anyway. Boring all the way through and wedging from the top is a bit easier, and also easier if you ever want to replace the handle.

[Alfred Kraemer]

You also want to be careful with the kind of wood for the wedge, the kerf you cut in the handle, and the undercutting of the
hole to accommodate the wedge. The harder the wood you use for the wedge, the more precise you ll have to since you can't count on the wedge to compress much.

Alfred