What is the angle on a mallet face?

[Kent A Bathurst]

You know - the ubiquitous beech mallet, used for whacking mortise chisels and others, whose faces are at an angle to the centerline of the handle. Like the Lee Valley one below.

What's that angle v. the handle centerline?

Going one question too far, I suspect: If you were making one, what angle would you use?

This will be used 90% on LN and Ray Iles mortise chisels - heavy, and Ima whale on that sucker.

Thanks


Beechmallet.jpg

[Rob Luter]

It depends on the length of the handle. The faces are angled so the plane established by the face intersects with the tip of the handle.

[David Carroll]

I've made several over the years and mostly just eyeballed it, or traced the angle from one that I liked. These days I use the urethane Wood is Good carver's mallets. Their angle is about 4-degrees off 90. My favorite stone carving hammer, built just like a small woodworkers mallet, but with an iron head is 5-degrees. I think that's about right. I imagine the longer the handle the closer to 90 degrees and the shorter the handle the more angled it should be. This is based on my own conjecture.

Maybe draw it out on paper and see if it looks right, or mock it up out of a piece of 2x4 with a dowel handle and see if it feels good before committing to a nice piece of hardwood.

DC

[James Pallas]

Turn your wrist like you normally strike a blow. Put your fist flat on your bench. Grip a stick in the fist. Measure the length of handle you want on the stick. The angle you want can be measured bench to stick. Perfect for you. Probably 3 to 5 degrees.
Fun way to arrive at it too.
Jim

[Edward Weber]

Here's a link that explains how the angle is determined. Scroll down to the end of the build.
http://www.timberframe-tools.com/too...et-head-angle/

[Kent A Bathurst]

Boffo, gents!

A guy can learn some good stuff hanging around with you fellers.

[Jim Koepke]

My last mallet was made with the faces at ~4º > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?288317

Hickory Mallet With Turned Handle.jpg

This is now my main user. The turned handle makes it fit the hand very well.

My first mallet was made of a type of cherry firewood.

Mallet-Cherry.jpg

It has seen some heavy use over the past dozen years > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161952

This Roy Underhill mallet making episode still seems to be available > https://www.pbs.org/video/big-ash-mallet-jn5sfd/

jtk

[Reed Gray]

With all the years I spent doing construction, driving stakes and nails, I don't think I could get used to an angled head on any hammer. Table height is not an issue, I would still tend to strike square to the handle.... Some old habits just don't go away....

robo hippy

[Edward Weber]

With all the years I spent doing construction, driving stakes and nails, I don't think I could get used to an angled head on any hammer. Table height is not an issue, I would still tend to strike square to the handle.... Some old habits just don't go away....

robo hippy

I was pretty much the same way, it took me a while to get used to using an angled face and I'm still not quite there, as in comfortable.
I think my next mallet will have a face angle about half as much as the last one I made.

[David Carroll]

There's a lot of truth to what you say Reed. If it is true that the optimum angle is dependent on handle length and arm length, then any mallet purchased is only optimal for a tiny percentage of users. But in practice, one takes a couple of swings at the chisel and feels if it is striking sweetly. If it isn't, you adjust your arm, shoulder and wrist position until it does "feel" right. We do this really without thinking about it. The only time it is a problem is if an angle is so far off that no comfortable swing will land on a chisel without it wanting to bolt out one direction or the other. Fortunately with a wooden mallet, the remedy is easy enough.

DC

[David Zor]

I made mine based off of a mallet that Roy Underhill made. I think maybe Pop Woodworking or Lost Art Press posted the dimensions. I don’t remember if I followed the directions to a T, but my faces are a little over 4 deg off 90 and from the top of the head to the end of the handle is about 13 1/2”. It smacks a Ray Iles mortise chisel reel gud.

DED1C22A-3BF3-4AC6-B3DD-AF096DE98F34.jpg

[Scott Winners]

or mock it up out of a piece of 2x4 with a dowel handle and see if it feels good before committing to a nice piece of hardwood.

DC

This is brilliant. Thank you David Carroll.

[Kent A Bathurst]

.....dependent on handle length and arm length, then any mallet purchased is only optimal for a tiny percentage of users. But in practice, one takes a couple of swings....feels if it is striking sweetly. If it isn't, you adjust your....[choke].... until it does "feel" right..........

Joey Votto version

Joey Votto.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

Changing the angle after making a mallet is relatively easy if the original angle doesn't feel right to the user.

There is this consideration to ponder:

If one starts with a shallow angle of 4 or 5º it is easy to increase the angle with a minimal loss of mass to the mallet head.

If one starts with a steeper angle of 15 to 20º then more mass will be lost from the mallet head to correct it toward a lower angle.

jtk

[Eric R. Smith]

With all the years I spent doing construction, driving stakes and nails, I don't think I could get used to an angled head on any hammer. Table height is not an issue, I would still tend to strike square to the handle.... Some old habits just don't go away....

robo hippy

Old framer here. I drive with the face square from any angle an used the face to steer what I’m driving. All my mallets in the shop are round like a carvers mallet.