1907 Carver's Mallet

[Lonnie in Orlando]

I turned a carver's mallet yesterday that is exactly the right size and weight that I needed for striking a chisel in cutting dovetails. Feels great in my hand. The angle of the head is right. Maple, finished with BLO, turpentine, min spirits, then waxed.

I have attached a .zip file of a full size plan from an illustration in a 1907 turning book on Google Books ...

Elementary Turning for use in Manual Training Classes
by
Frank Henry Selden
1907

Print the .pdf in the attached .zip file (Carvers mallet - actual size.zip) at "Page scaling = None" for a full size 9-1/2" plan. The radius of the end of the head is 1-1/2" ... I had to remove the original dimention to be able to print onto 8-1/2 X 11 paper.

FYI - Here is the original page from the book.

- Lonnie

[scmhogg]

Lonnie,

I turned my mallet out of a solid piece of brass, with a compreg handle. It allows good control with my chisels.



Steve

[chopnhack]

No photos of your work Lonnie? Would love to see how it turned out. Steve, does the compreg come that color? I didn't think it could be stained.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Thanks for posting Lonnie. I've had this on my to-do list, and seeing the dimensions in your link inspired me to get on the ball and glue up some stock. Would like to see how yours turned out.

[Lonnie in Orlando]

I really like the design, but the "Elementary Turning" carver's mallet proved that my turning has a long way to go.



Maple, 9-1/2" long, 3" diam at end.

- Lonnie

[Bill in Buena Park]

That came out fantastic! Shape and finish look great.

The core of my glue-up is also maple, but I added cheeks (Kiawe) on the mallet and handle in the hopes of adding a contrasting color pattern.

[Lonnie in Orlando]

Steve -

I can see how you can control your brass tipped mallet better than a larger wooden one, especially for light delicate taps. It's a little beyond my abilities. The only problem I see with your design is that I would never use it. It looks too good to scuff up!!

Does brass turn with regular woodworking tools? How did you attach the brass? Dimentions? Tell me more about this compreg stuff. Sounds interesting.

I'm gonna file your mallet in my brain as a future project. One for me and another as a gift for a woodworking buddy.

- Lonnie

[BigguyZ]

Brass is pretty soft, and will turn with regular woodworking materials on a wood lathe. Only thing- be careful of the shavings! I've also turned aluminum, and I've wanted to turn copper as well.

Basically, any non-ferrous metal is fine.

Though in actuality, I HAVE turned some steel as well- but really only to drill it or I filed it down for what I needed (a file and a lathe work pretty well).

[scmhogg]

Chop--That is the color of the Compreg I was given. It will not take stain.

Lonnie--Brass turns pretty easily with standard tools. I put a hook on my scrapers for the best result. The head is held on by a 1" round mortise and tenon. I drilled the mortises with a carbide tipped forstner bit.



I made three mallets from my hunk of brass. I made the initial shape using a mini lathe duplicator. You can see the pattern in the foreground.



Steve

[chopnhack]

That looks great Lonnie, very nicely done.