Shop Made Mallet Question

[Stephen Clem]

I've decided to make a mallet for chopping mortises and to help with assembly. What type of wood is best for this-hardwood or softwood? I have some pine two-by stuff, Red Oak, and Jatoba. I was thinking about making one side of the head pine and the other side Jatoba or Oak. Do you apply any type of finish?

Also, if anyone has a picture of their shop made mallets, I'd love to see them for design inspiration. Thanks!

[Sam Yerardi]

IMHO, use a hardwood. Softwoods aren't going to be durable enough for your purpose and will eventually split. In the hardwoods, wood such as beech, lignum vitae are good choices.

[Steve Pippins]

Stephen, I do not usually post here but could not resist your question.

For assembly, get yourself a dead blow mallet. A wooden mallet would damage your work. The heads of the deadblows are plastic and filled with shot. They will ease the work pieces together without marring or bounce back.

For chopping mortises, walk out into those glorious Alabama woods and pick up a piece of dogwood. Dogwood is incredibly tough and will probably last you a life time. If you do not have a lathe, have a friend turn one for you. Or, you can do a decent job with drawknife and spokeshave.

Steve Pippins

[Mark Stutz]

Stephen,
Dogwood is a great idea. Around here, Osage is plentiful and very hard and durable. Persimmon would work well also. Probably about anything will work, IMO. Some people advocate using any wood softer then the chisel handles. When the mallet gets a little too beat up...make a new one. That way the mallet absorbs the punishment, not the chisels handle. Having said that, I have a traditional Beech joiner's mallet, and turned ones from Ipe and Jatoba, with a chunk of Osage waiting for me to get time to turn it. I have found that I prefer round to square, but not all share that preference. Either style will make a nice shop project.

Mark

[Sam Yerardi]

Steve and Mark have good suggestions. Another wood to use is Apple. How the wood holds up will also have something to do with the grain & how the wood was cut as compared to how you mount it in the handle.

[Mike Henderson]

I make them by the dozen from whatever wood scrap I have in the shop. I teach carving and make the mallets for the students.

The one I use the most is the one in the foreground with the ebony stripes. The small lignum vitae in the foreground is also nice but a bit heavy for carving. I also like the bloodwood (red) in the center.

Steve's suggestion of a dead blow mallet for assembly is very good - but a black rubber outside on the mallet is not the best because it marks the wood.

Mike

[Sam Yerardi]

Nice work, Mike. I like the bloodwood mallet also.

[David Tiell]

Stephen,
You want to use some sort of hardwood. Like Mark, I prefer a round mallet. I turned this one over 15 years ago. Not sure what kind of wood it is, but it works great. I've chopped many dovetails and mortises with it, but it's hard to tell by looking at it. It has held up extremely well.

Dave

[Brian Ward]

I made my mallet out of European beech. In the photos, it's sitting on part of the same board it was made from.

[Roy Griggs]

Always willing make a mallet they are great little projects...
First...ABS wrapped and lead weighted 2 on left and PVC wrapped and unweighted
Second....glue-up
Third...Osage Orange

[Dave Lindgren]

Any suggestions on what to use for a mallet used with a froe? I do a lot of green woodworking, and my froe is my friend. I used to use one made from live oak, but it got lost in a move.

[Mike Henderson]

Any suggestions on what to use for a mallet used with a froe? I do a lot of green woodworking, and my froe is my friend. I used to use one made from live oak, but it got lost in a move.

Since you're beating on the metal of the froe, almost anything that's softer than that metal will do (just to minimize mushrooming of the froe blade). I guess I'd make a fairly heavy mallet from whatever scraps I had and use that until it became too beat up to use. Then I'd make a new one.

IMO mallets should be looked at as "temporary" tools and should be replaced every couple of years, either because they get beat up or because you want to try a different weight, handle size, or you just want a new tool. I don't view mallets as something to pass along to our children (let 'em make their own!).

Mike

[Jim Von Culin]

Dave, Do you have dogwoods in Dallas, OR? Roy Underhill, in one of his books, recommends using the root crown of a small dogwood for the business end of a froe club and the stem for the handle. When I got the chance I made one. Boy, is that stuff hard and tough! I can't speak to it's durability from actual use, since I almost never do that kind of work, but it sure seems like a good bet.

[mark adams]

Just a few questions for those who like round mallets. Long and skinny or short and fat. What do you prefer and when? More into the point, does a longer head of less diameter feel like a mallet with a shorter fatter head? Also, which variable do you prefer to adjust during work, mallet diameter, length or mass? And where is your sweet spot in that consideration?