| Project by Will Mego | posted 07-15-2009 09:39 PM | 4169 views | 0 times favorited | 15 comments |  |
 |
So after hammering away at a mortise a minute ago, it occured to me I haven’t posted my mallet.
pics:
I took a mulberry log, which is on of my fav woods these days, from a fallen tree last spring, and cut a section of it out. Mulberry is surprisingly stable and resistant to rot and impact. Also tough to saw through. Pics 2 shows the log, and 3 the wedge. I ended up using a power tool in this project, a drill, to bore a hole through the chunk, after I had squared off the sides with a drawknife and planes. The handle I made with hand tools out of some unknown chunk from somebody’s rotten pile of firewood, which I was throwing into the compost, and noticed this interesting and stable piece of wood. I actually had two pieces, the other became my froe mallet. This I shaped roughly to my handaxe pattern. I tried a poly glue on this project, and probably paid the price for it when the handle twisted slightly when driving it home. Of course, the glue is like steel…it’s there for life. Pic 4 shows it completed the next day…notice the yellow circle of heartwood in that shot. Pic 5 shows the final mallet several weeks later, and yes, while it has had some tung oil and wax to protect it, 90% of that color is the wonderful thing exposure to UV does to mulberry wood! That golden colored circle has become a deep, rich gold/brown, and really the only color added by the tung oil is seen on the sides of the mallet.
The mallet is pretty big, about 2-3 times the face size of a “normal” mallet used with a chisel. It’s also very heavy, coming in well over 5-6 lbs. It’s tiring for most people to wield, but I like it’s heft, and I certainly won’t miss the blow with that face size.
-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - http://www.willmego.com/
15 comments so far
Kindlingmaker
home | projects | blog
2658 posts in 4032 days
#1 posted 07-15-2009 09:49 PM
From the size of it, there appears not a chisel made that could resist a blow from your Mega Mallet!
-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings
Elaine
home | projects | blog
113 posts in 4129 days
#2 posted 07-15-2009 10:17 PM
I would have had to put a longer handle on it and used it with gluts :) Good work
HokieMojo
home | projects | blog
2104 posts in 4234 days
#3 posted 07-15-2009 10:28 PM
you better not miss. ouch!
SnowyRiver
home | projects | blog
51458 posts in 3986 days
#4 posted 07-15-2009 10:33 PM
I bet there are a few teachers out there that would like to use it. :-)
-- Wayne - Plymouth MN
lew
home | projects | blog
12859 posts in 4261 days
#5 posted 07-15-2009 10:38 PM
Now that is one serious bug smasher!!
I often wondered how mulberry was to work. We have a tree out back that will need to come down soon. Looks like I’m keeping the wood.
-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.
tenontim
home | projects | blog
2131 posts in 4250 days
#6 posted 07-15-2009 11:50 PM
Nice! I have one almost just like it. I use it to work on watches. :)
jockmike2
home | projects | blog
10635 posts in 4752 days
#7 posted 07-16-2009 12:33 AM
Nice persuader. We call that a Michigan screwdriver.
-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -
Christopher
home | projects | blog
576 posts in 4426 days
#8 posted 07-16-2009 12:41 AM
OF DOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
Will Mego
home | projects | blog
307 posts in 4218 days
#9 posted 07-16-2009 01:11 AM
That’s the beauty…I can’t miss..it’s huge.
Lew: I’ve been making lots out of mulberry lately, it’s great wood…and, makes some fantastic smoke on the BBQ, can’t recommend it highly enough.
-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - http://www.willmego.com/
a1Jim
home | projects | blog
117721 posts in 4083 days
#10 posted 07-16-2009 01:31 AM
Get a bigger hammer and you did. good job
cabinetmaster
home | projects | blog
10874 posts in 4064 days
#11 posted 07-16-2009 01:35 AM
I haven’t seen any mulberry for years. Like to get my hands on some for a turning or two.
-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps
dustyal
home | projects | blog
1310 posts in 3981 days
#12 posted 07-16-2009 02:03 AM
I only wish I could have cut down a few of the mulberry trees that grew in our neighborhood… Mallets would have been a good use… some tree huggers claimed they were “historic” trees when in fact they were seedlings when we moved in… like, they grew to 40 feet in 15 years. Anyway, they are still there—lumber in waiting.
Nice job on the mallet… super-duper whacker. Crab shells wouldn’t stand a chance…
-- Al H. - small shop, small projects...
Dan'um Style
home | projects | blog
14181 posts in 4489 days
#13 posted 07-16-2009 05:51 AM
THOR !
-- keeping myself entertained ... Humor and fun lubricate the brain
jockmike2
home | projects | blog
10635 posts in 4752 days
#14 posted 07-16-2009 05:22 PM
Thor! I’m tho thor I can hardly pith!
-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -
patron
home | projects | blog
13653 posts in 3847 days
#15 posted 09-25-2009 08:44 PM
looks like it will do just about anything ,convincingly !
just don’t get a job in a circus ,
you will have to make a bigger one !
-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle
Have your say...