What is the advantage of wooden mallets?

[Bobby O'Neal]

Are they to protect your chisel handles? Always wondered... Thanks

[Kent A Bathurst]

Are they to protect your chisel handles? Always wondered... Thanks

Yes.

But - if you look at Japanese chisels, you will see an iron hoop near the end of the chisel handles. These prevent the handle from splitting when whacked with a metal hammer. Of course, it has to be an Official Japanese Chisel Hammer [poking fun at myself - I have 2 OJCHs].

[Lee Schierer]

Mostly that you can make them yourself to any size an weight you desire.

[Frank Drew]

if you look at Japanese chisels, you will see an iron hoop near the end of the chisel handles. These prevent the handle from splitting when whacked with a metal hammer.

And they work (the hoops).

I need to make myself a tiny little wood hammer out of a really hard wood for use with my infill planes; either the heel of the plane or that small screw you tap to back out the iron can get mushed if you hit them with a steel hammer too often.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Frank gives a good argument.

I have a mallet I turned for use at the lathe when starting my drive center into a piece of wood. If I used a hammer to do that I'll bet the #2 Morse taper wouldn't be a #2 very long.

[Bobby O'Neal]

So why beechwood? What characteristics make for a good mallet?

[Frank Drew]

So why beechwood? What characteristics make for a good mallet?

It's usually available in dimension sizes and it's relatively inexpensive, and it's fairly hard and heavy.

Dogwood, which I've never seen available commercially, makes a great mallet head and was a wood of choice for the purpose many years ago -- it's heavy and hard with very tight grain.

I made a mallet head out of a mahogany 16/4 offcut from a shop where I worked; it's fine for light taps with carving tools but this piece is really too soft for chopping work with bench work chisels.

[art san jr]

Frank gives a good argument.

I have a mallet I turned for use at the lathe when starting my drive center into a piece of wood. If I used a hammer to do that I'll be bet the #2 Morse taper wouldn't be a #2 very long.

Excellent idea..never thought of it. Learn something new everyday. Thanks.

Art.

[Russell Smallwood]

1.)Wooden - It is easy to build to any shape/width and it won't damage your tools. You can make a large one that doesn't weigh a ton.

Which brings me to:

2.)Mallet - Ever try to hit a chisel with a hammer with your eyes closed? This is essentially what you are doing when you bang the end of a chisel, you are usually not looking at what you're hitting, you're looking at what the other end of the chisel is doing.

[Mike Henderson]

So why beechwood? What characteristics make for a good mallet?

To a certain degree, a mallet is a consumable (note that I use round carver's mallets and not hammer shaped mallets). One issue is that your taste change - maybe you decide you like a handle that bigger around, or a mallet that's heaver or lighter, or maybe one that's shorter or longer. But also because all wooden mallets eventually delaminate. The wood starts to come apart at the grain lines.

Some wood is better than others. Lignum vitae is a good wood for mallets because it's heaver, and it doesn't delaminate as easily as maple (for example). You can purchase lignum vitae as turning blocks - usually green but you can dry it yourself before you turn your mallet.

But mallets are so easy to make that when a mallet starts to come apart, you can just make yourself a new one from whatever scrap you have in the shop.

Mike

[Frank Drew]

2.)Mallet - Ever try to hit a chisel with a hammer with your eyes closed? This is essentially what you are doing when you bang the end of a chisel, you are usually not looking at what you're hitting, you're looking at what the other end of the chisel is doing.

It's really not that difficult to hit a chisel squarely with a hammer, or with the sweet spot on a mallet.

[Russell Smallwood]

It's really not that difficult to hit a chisel squarely with a hammer...

I will have to take your word for it

I don't trust myself enough to try.

[rick carpenter]

Wooden mallets provide better kinetic energy transfer for chiseling wood (basically cutting it), versus metal hammers for chiseling rock/etc (breaking it off in pieces).

[Gary Herrmann]

Agree with Mike. I like round mallets just because you don't have to look at them when you pick them up. Mine is made from osage orange so will probably last awhile.

You have to be careful with osage though. It likes to crack.

[Rod Sheridan]

Are they to protect your chisel handles? Always wondered... Thanks

Speaking as a father, the advantage of wooden mallets versus steel hammers is that mallets don't rust when your kids leave them outside in the rain after pounding tent pegs in on a Girl Guides trip.

Regards, Rod.