What are your mallets filled with?


TheFatBaron

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I'm heading to the shop in the next couple weeks to make a couple things, and I'm planning on cutting up some spare hickory to make a mallet. How do people feel about weighting their mallets? I see some people making and filling voids with lead shot, or fishing weights or whatever... but it seems like if I'm buying enough weight to be noticeably heavier than the hickory, I'm spending more cash than I'd like on big bags of lead shot test weights.

 

I saw a video where someone used sand, but it didn't as much weight as the shot. Any thoughts on alternate materials?

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I ran into a lot of trouble with a heavy hammer and dull chisels when I started. The heavy hammer and my youth had me overdriving the chisel and tearing out fibers. I won't say hammer weight does not matter (I hung siding for seven years carrying a 28 oz framer and still keep it for those jobs) As a hobbiest I lack the deapth of experience. In my small experience the value of a mallet for joinery is that the shape of the mallet usually removes the need for as great a precision of swing when chasing a chisel. This allows me to keep my eye on the chisel point and swing the mallet by feel.

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One thing iv noticed with my framing hammers (i do rough carpentry for a living) i dont really get different ... How do you say .. Strike force? With a heavier or lighter hammer (obviously i could if i wanted to) with the weight of the hammer instead of changing my striking force it just changes my swing, with my 23 oz i always take a long slow swing with my 19 i take shorter faster swings, so eventhough they are completely different in how i use them i get pretty much the same results... Basically ehat im trying to say is its all preference, most of the time i preffer to use a medium weight hammer.

If you preffer to take long slow swings weight accordingly same with fast shorter swings.

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I like my lead shot filled plastic tipped dead blow hammer to drive joints closed and not leave marks . It has a soft tip on one side and a hard tip on the other. I use it to knock joints apart after a dry fit as well. I usually use a non dead blow hammer for chisel work. A neoprene hammer is useful when you need to beat the crap out of something without leaving marks! They are expensive and worth it when you don't have to refinish a part .

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Baron,

Your timing is perfect! I'm building a wooden mallet as well. I thought about weighting with lead fishing weights, but I've since changed my mind. I think I'm going to use bbs instead. You can buy them relatively cheap, and they won't weigh quite as much as lead fishing weights. I think it's important to add some weight to these mallets in order to give them the right "feel". Once I finish mine, I'll try to post a pic.

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Your timing is perfect. I've just built a couple of mallets.

A "normal" mallet for guiding chisels should not be lead shot filled (IMO). It also doesn't have to be that heavy. Notice I said guiding chisels not driving them.
I'm not sure what mine weighs but its simply mahogany and purple heart. (See woodworking challenge thread).

 

I have another mallet, twice the weight of my standard, again no lead shot. This is my beat on mallet. I call it Thor's hammer. I have used it on occasion when mortising a large mortise, but mostly its for beating on things.

 

Lastly, I have a "Dead-blow hammer". This one has lead shot. It also has a leather face. This is for assembly and dis-assembly. The lead-shot prevents bounce, the leather face protects your wood project. I like lead shot, but I've seen people use bb's... I've even heard of sand or crushed concrete.


So, the answer to your question (as with so many other questions in the world of woodworking) is what are you going to do with it?

 

Dead blow = Yes to lead shot.

Guiding chisels = No to lead shot.

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My dead blows seem to be filled with something like lead shot (you can hear it rattling) but I can't be absolutely certain as they are sealed units.

My chisel mallet is a regular heavy wooden one that I bought it from the local tool store. Not sure of its weight

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In the ones I made recently, I bought some lead musket balls and melted them down. I made two mallets, so took some scrap that was the same thickness as the middle section of the mallet and screwed some 1/4in ply on one side to make molds for the lead. Very satisfied with the weight of them so far. 

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  • 1 month later...

Thought I'd provide an update. This is the mallet with a single coat of BLO. Hickory, with walnut for the wedges. I ended up adding about one pound of lead to it. It's noticeably heavier (about 4 lb total), but suprisingly, not that much heavier than the wood by itself. I definitely could've made it lighter, but this really drives a chisel with only light taps.

 

I followed the guide from Woodworking for Mere Mortals and a few other people use.

 

Amusingly, I intentionally set the "mortice" for the handle a little tight, assuming I could always shave it down later. Turns out I did too good of a job. I ended up getting the handle wedged (prior to adding glue or adding the actual wedges) so well, I couldn't remove it and had to finish seating it with my sledgehammer.

post-6112-0-52595100-1367110007_thumb.jp

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