| Project by shipwright | posted 01-02-2014 11:56 PM | 4806 views | 8 times favorited | 39 comments |  |
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I just couldn’t keep whacking those beautiful Osage Orange wedges in my bench vices with my steel claw hammer. It seemed immoral or at the very least inappropriate treatment of fine hardwood. So I made a dedicated bench mallet. Not a bench chisel mallet although it would and likely will serve that function, but a bench mallet, you know, to hit the bench with.
Like the planes and adjusting mallets I posted recently, this one is made from Osage Orange and Mesquite and like the planes, I couldn’t resist a little marquetry. I am easily amused. It is nice and heavy and balances very nicely in my hand.
Like all the hand tools I have been making lately, it is far prettier and nicer than anything I used in my working life. Back then I would have scorned such gentrification of noble working tools. Now I get enjoyment from using nice looking tools that I have made myself.
I also turned a Mesquite handle today for the burnisher I got when I ordered the Hock plane blades. I didn’t think it warranted it’s own post.
Thanks for looking in.
-- Paul M ..............the early bird may get the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese! http://thecanadianschooloffrenchmarquetry.com/
39 comments so far
Woodwrecker
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4228 posts in 4055 days
#1 posted 01-03-2014 12:01 AM
Nice work Paul.
That is a beauty my friend.
TerryDowning
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1122 posts in 2597 days
#2 posted 01-03-2014 12:01 AM
You do such great work paul.
Always an encouragement.
-- - Terry
prometej065
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336 posts in 4163 days
#3 posted 01-03-2014 12:12 AM
Paul, I admire your sense of detail – from your workshop you have made work of art! Great.
-- http://prometheus065.blogspot.com/
JeremyPringle
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321 posts in 2953 days
#4 posted 01-03-2014 12:21 AM
Sweet.
tinnman65
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1388 posts in 3894 days
#5 posted 01-03-2014 12:27 AM
Very nice mallet Paul, the color of that osage orange is beautiful. Ive been told that osage orange grows wild around were I live but I have yet to see any.
-- Paul--- Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. — Scott Adams
a1Jim
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117711 posts in 4057 days
#6 posted 01-03-2014 12:45 AM
Tools can be fun and cool and show great workmanship ,just as this super mallet does. Very fine work as usual Paul.
Dennis Zongker
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2789 posts in 4071 days
#7 posted 01-03-2014 12:47 AM
Beautiful Mallet!!! I can just see it now, you’ll make the top of your bench out of Osage Orange with marquetry and inlays. lol Great job Paul, It’s always fun to see what your working on!
-- Dennis Zongker
Wolfdaddy
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300 posts in 2314 days
#8 posted 01-03-2014 01:19 AM
Excellent! I love the V8 detail.
-- "MOM! I think there's something under our house! I'm gonna need a jackhammer, a fish bowl, some air tanks, and maybe a few pipes."
gfadvm
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14940 posts in 3170 days
#9 posted 01-03-2014 01:32 AM
Hedge and mesquite? You could probably drive spikes with that!
But it is beautiful.
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
Boxguy
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2846 posts in 2747 days
#10 posted 01-03-2014 02:05 AM
Paul, I know what you mean about attractive tools. I have even been making my second and third generation jigs look more attractive. It just sort of adds to the pleasure of working in the shop when you pick up a tool that you have refurbished or made to look beautiful. You seem more invested in the process.
-- Big Al in IN
hoss12992
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4149 posts in 2372 days
#11 posted 01-03-2014 02:18 AM
Great job. Love the inlay on the mallet.
-- The Old Rednek Workshop https://www.facebook.com/theoldrednekworkshoptn
gbear
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526 posts in 4579 days
#12 posted 01-03-2014 02:51 AM
There was a boatmaker named Paul
He moved to Arizona in the fall
He built a bench on the cheap
and a mallet of mesquite (nothing rhymes with orange!)
and inlaid a V8 on all.
-- gbear, Carmichael, CA
Philip
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1277 posts in 3018 days
#13 posted 01-03-2014 02:54 AM
That’s a great looking Mallet Paul!
-- I never finish anyth
Jim Jakosh
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23197 posts in 3585 days
#14 posted 01-03-2014 03:02 AM
Very nice mallet, Paul. I love the inlay, too….......Jim
-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!
SPalm
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5334 posts in 4361 days
#15 posted 01-03-2014 03:10 AM
Keep amusing yourself Paul, this is fun to watch.
Nice wacker you made there.
Steve
-- -- I'm no rocket surgeon
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