This mallet was made for a cabinet maker friend who very kindly gave me some large pieces of beech as it had begun to spalt. The head of the mallet is made from this beech, i chose a piece with minimal spalting, which was still sound, the handle is made from Maple.
The following photos show the process of making the mallet.
First a piece of beech was mounted between centers on the lathe.
This was then turned to the rough shape of the mallet head, a tenon was also formed to enable the head to be held in a chuck.
Next the head was mounted in a chuck, the waste from the bottom end parred off & an inch hole drilled into the bottom of the head.
As the drill wasn`t long enough to pass all the way through the head it was necessary to change the chuck jaws for pin jaws, reverse the head & drill from the top of the head.
At this point the head was sanded & put to one side. The handle was the next, a piece of Maple was fixed between centers, a tenon was cut to fit the mortice hole in the head, the handle shaped & 4 burn lines added for decoration.
The handle was then reversed, the mortise being held in pin jaws so the waste could be parred off & the handle sanded.
Over to the bandsaw & a cross was cut into the top of the tenon.
Whilst at the bandsaw 4 Blackwood wedges were cut with the aid of a piece of mdf cut at 10 degrees.
Finally the head & handle were assembled, the wedges glued & hammered in.
The mallet completed all that was left was to apply a couple of coats of oil.
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