Help me pick mallet head stock

[Tony Wilkins]

I want to make a traditional joiners mallet. My local lumberyard has the following choices:

12/4 walnut
12/4 cherry
16/4 hard maple

Which would you choose and why?

[Jim Koepke]

I want to make a traditional joiners mallet. My local lumberyard has the following choices:

12/4 walnut
12/4 cherry
16/4 hard maple

Which would you choose and why?

Due to the size I would pick the hard Maple.

I have a mallet made of a wild cherry and if that was in the larger size it would be my choice.

I would also want grain as straight as possible. This would be another factor in what would be chosen.

If the 12/4 is wide enough for your mallet design, then the cherry might be my choice. It would also depend on the visual appeal of the pieces available.

jtk

[Josh Nelson]

Walnut personally for looks and the density.

[Doug Bowman]

image.jpg
i used 12/4 white oak for the one I recently built
I like the size and wish I had done this many years ago

[Allan Speers]

I like the sound of Walnut thwacking against a chisel handle. Maple bothers my ears. (Rosewood is the worst, OMG...)

I've never tried Cherry.


Yeah, I know: Few folks ever consider the sound, but they should.

[Jim Koepke]

Yeah, I know: Few folks ever consider the sound, but they should.

Shop made almost primitive music...

No, I think I will stay with Mimi Blais: (hey that rhymes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo4tUHDgNik

jtk

[Tony Wilkins]

I like the sound of Walnut thwacking against a chisel handle. Maple bothers my ears. (Rosewood is the worst, OMG...)

I've never tried Cherry.


Yeah, I know: Few folks ever consider the sound, but they should.

i wonder if it would change the sound of my mouse organ?

[Matthew N. Masail]

I like the sound of Walnut thwacking against a chisel handle. Maple bothers my ears. (Rosewood is the worst, OMG...)

I've never tried Cherry.


Yeah, I know: Few folks ever consider the sound, but they should.

I actually agree, it's one of the most important factors to me too, so I use a thor I wonder what Lignum sounds like

[Joe A Faulkner]

These are nice complimentary striking tool to have in your arsenal: http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/mallets.htm


I faced my jointer's mallet with leather. I've used it to set holdfasts regularly and the expected impressions are working their way into the mallet's face. I used white oak, because I had it on hand. I'd go with the hard maple, and face it with leather.

[Tony Wilkins]

These are nice complimentary striking tool to have in your arsenal: http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/mallets.htm


I faced my jointer's mallet with leather. I've used it to set holdfasts regularly and the expected impressions are working their way into the mallet's face. I used white oak, because I had it on hand. I'd go with the hard maple, and face it with leather.

I've got the 12 oz and 20 oz wood is good mallets that have been my main mallets for a couple of years now. TBH they probably could do all the work I needed but this is partly about the experience of making it.

also, noticed the Bell Forrest has a piece of bubinga that has the right dimensions; I wonder if it would make a good mallet head.

[Kevin Hampshire]

Tony, I'm a Wood is Good mallet guy too but the joiner's mallet will be very different (in a good way). I just watched the episode of Woodwright where he made a joiner's mallet. I then grabbed a gnarled piece of pear wood, some air dried white oak fence board and proceeded to make a joiner's mallet. Turned out great and works even better.

I also grabbed a nice quartered piece of seasoned white oak firewood and roughed out a billet for two or three more joiner's mallet heads. The quartered figure is spectacular. Even better than the QSWO that's in the fence board I used for the first handle.

I guess what I'm saying is there's some no cost wood laying around up on the cap rock that will make a near no cost mallet. You can probably find some pecan or maybe even some mesquite.

[Zach Dillinger]

Out of that list, my choice would be hard maple. Walnut is too soft and splits very easily. Cherry would probably be ok but I'd hate to waste good cherry on a mallet. The maple provides everything you want in a mallet, and if the sound bothers you just glue a piece of leather to the striking face.

[Jim Newman]

How about some hickory or ash? Wonder how ironwood would work?

[Tony Wilkins]

How about some hickory or ash? Wonder how ironwood would work?

Just going with what my one local hardwood place had in stock in woods 12/4 and over.