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Thread: Best wood for Mallets??

  1. #16
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    Thanks to all....Much good ideas here...I will plunge forward into the unknown with patience and low expectations...Thanks!!!
    Jerry

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Olexa View Post
    ...I will plunge forward into the unknown with patience and low expectations...
    That's a good line. I might steal it.

  3. #18
    To put a point on it Jerry, FREE is best. I've made mallets out of both Hard (Sugar) Maple and out of Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry). Both work equally well and hold up nicely. To start I'd glue up whatever you have, make a mallet, use it, and then modify design and wood choice based on your results. Invariably the second round will be better than the first.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  4. #19
    I make two kinds, and I realize this may not be standard practice.

    For the head:

    1) For mortising. I like a heavy head that does not mushroom. White oak has served well on my most recent mallet.
    2) For paring. I like a lighter, softer mallet. Walnut and cherry look and feel great here.

    For the handles:
    As for turning tools, while I love the sturdiness of ash and oak, I find closed grain woods like beech, maple, or cherry more comfortable to hold

  5. #20
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    I took down a dead Dogwood and made several malets, so far. Hickory, ash, white oak, maple, fruit woods... make good handles. Drew Langsner has a huge malet that is reported to be very old, made from a Dogwood root.

    IMG_1580.jpg

    You can't drive a glut with a tack hammer. My gluts are made from Dogwood too, and I have been amazed at how tough they are.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 12-12-2017 at 6:17 PM.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Anderson NH View Post
    To put a point on it Jerry, FREE is best. I've made mallets out of both Hard (Sugar) Maple and out of Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry). Both work equally well and hold up nicely. To start I'd glue up whatever you have, make a mallet, use it, and then modify design and wood choice based on your results. Invariably the second round will be better than the first.
    Good reasoning, Dave...Makes sense to me....Learn by doing....Thanks, good approach.
    Jerry

  7. #22
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    Jerry

    If you're up for a road trip all the way across town again () I've got a chunk of ash you could make a mallet or two out of.

    I have made mallets out of whatever is in the hardwood firewood pile for a long time. Hickory, Osage, locust are some of the harder, denser woods that you can actually find in abundance. Persimmon is great, but sorry.........that get sliced into boxing for my planes.

    White oak, hard maple, etc......work great, too.
    Last edited by Jeff Heath; 12-14-2017 at 2:59 PM.
    Jeff

  8. #23
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    Persimmon?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Heath View Post
    Persimmon is great, but sorry.........that get sliced into boxing for my planes.
    It sounds like Persimmon is useful to some people. Is it generally hard to come by? I ask since I have a good stock of Persimmon drying now for over 10 years. I use it for woodturning and there are often pieces I trim off the slabs that go into the burn pile.

    If useful, in general, what size pieces of wood go into "boxing" for planes? (I know next to nothing about planes except where I put my two in the shop!)

    I have a lot of Persimmon trees here on the farm and do save the wood when one comes down so I have some drying. I also have a friend with the biggest Persimmon tree I've ever seen, I'm guessing 60-75' of straight trunk well over 24" DBH. He said it's too close to his house and we could cut it at any time. Another friend has a smaller but still large Persimmon tree he wants cut down. Do you think there are enough people who would like some chunks to make it worth the effort? I have a sawmill and can cut slabs to dry and I'm not afraid to share. (BTW, Persimmon slabs cup like CRAZY unless quartersawn.)

    Just for fun, here are a couple of turned boxes I made from persimmon, a fantastic wood to turn. Turns like ebony. (Ha!)

    persimmon_boxes_e.jpg

    And this is a wormy Persimmon handle for a horse rider's crop:

    crop_xxx_2015_IMG_4737.jpg

    JKJ

  9. #24
    I saw some reference ,years ago, about early USA that said persimmon was mallet material in the North and dogwood was used in the South. Might have been a Wintertur book.

  10. #25
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    Back when I started playing, the best persimmon went into making golf clubs. It was hard, dense, durable and the best wood drivers

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    Back when I started playing, the best persimmon went into making golf clubs. It was hard, dense, durable and the best wood drivers
    Old farmers around here said buyers used to visit their property and offer big money for persimmon trees for golf clubs.

  12. #27
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    I had a mallet that I liked, it was hard maple. Apparently, I lost it when Harvey came through. I bought it on line, but I don't remember where.

  13. #28
    Lowell, if your mallet was blown away ....and hit someone. That requires a serious reexamination of A. Lincoln's promise of
    "mallets toward none".

  14. #29
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    Jerry, find some Osage. Even if you have to drive over the river. You won't regret it.
    Where did I put that tape measure...

  15. #30
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    I've got a chunk of ash you could make a mallet or two out of.


    Jeff, thank you for your kind offer (again)....Fortunately, I have many hardwood scraps to incorporate into a mallett..The holidays seem to be interfering with my progress..Nice of you to offer..
    Have a good holiday...Early 2018, we can schedule a meeting..even though you are some distance. sincere thanks,
    Jerry
    Jerry

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