Mallet for my new sweatheart chisels

I’ve never used either of those mallets but I do have a few of the sweetheart chisels and I use the mallet pictured above. I bought it at harbor freight for a few dollars and it has worked great. I mainly use the yellow side which is a harder plastic whereas the black side is a slightly softer rubber. It’s heavy enough to do mortice work yet light enough to use all day.

-- Nathan

I like paring (with grain) with a round mallet like the first one and I like chopping (across grain) with a rectangular mallet like the second one. The round one I have is a green urethane one and it works fine. I like the weight. The second one is a somewhat unwieldy Crown mallet. I am planning on making a smaller squarish mallet from heavy wood or with brass rods pinned through the mallet head to add heft.

-- Tom - Measure twice cut once. Then measure again. Curse. Fudge.

I have the round urethane “wood is good” mallet (their smallest size), and it works great for most every chiseling task. I just made an even-smaller mallet this evening from russian olive, we’ll see how it works once the finish dries.

-- Allen, Colorado (Instagram @bobasaurus_woodworking)

Good luck with the 750 sweet hearts, I just picked up a 1/8” in new condition $100.00.
I usually use a round brass one from Lee Valley, only light taps would never use them
for a mortise, got some old beaters and a full set of Narex for that!

-- Lifting one end of the plank.

Good luck with the 750 sweet hearts, I just picked up a 1/8” in new condition $100.00.
I usually use a round brass one from Lee Valley, only light taps would never use them
for a mortise, got some old beaters and a full set of Narex for that!

- rad457

Am I missing something?

Isn’t a 1/8” Stanley 750 less than $30 new?

Jtm. I’m in Canada and everything is more expensive here. It was actually 33.50.

Thanks for the comments. I’m thinking of getting the lee valley now with the brass head or maybe one with the rubber coating

-- designer by education, wood working hack by choice

Chris, I think you’ll quickly get used to either style. Weight and balance is a bigger deal. Suggest you make a simple (square) mallet and see how you like it in that regard. Easy to do, lots of examples here on LJs (search Mallet Seap).

-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. - OldTools Archive -

Am I missing something?

Isn t a 1/8” Stanley 750 less than $30 new?

- jtm

The new Stanley Sweet Hearts maybe, but a new / vintage 1/8” 750 ?
I have the new ones but started to collect the old 750’s

-- Lifting one end of the plank.

What are the handles of the Sweethearts made of? Hornbeam can take quite a beating. I want happy with my current mallet, so I ordered the large journeyman mallet from Lee Valley. Hard to be at $30. It should arrive tomorrow, so I’ll let you know how I like it. Might write a blog review.

-- http://bloodsweatsawdust.com

I went to the Port Townsend woodworking school for a haircut dovetail class. Great experience. They use Back Channel mallets (smaller ones) and I really liked the size and heft. I may get one because my mallet making plans are on hold as I have too many projects in various stages of disarray. DiLegno sells them.

-- Tom - Measure twice cut once. Then measure again. Curse. Fudge.

Haircut. Haircut!!! Hand cut.

-- Tom - Measure twice cut once. Then measure again. Curse. Fudge.

ohhh i like those. thanks!

-- designer by education, wood working hack by choice

I have a few mallets. My favorite is actually a maple “potato masher” that I found in an antique shop for $5.

If you want to make a round mallet but don’t have a lathe, how about making one like this with a domed head? Domed head one one side gives you a nice forgiving strike surface, while the squared surface on the other can get into corners.

-- Paul Mayer, http://youtube.com/c/toolmetrix

I like the round type because it gives me lots of exercise bending over to pick it up off the floor every time it rolls of the bench.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!