Case of Two Mallets

The workshop and kitchen mallets shown below were done at the same time from similar scrap wood except for the white polyvinyl face. Most wood workers prefer using a solid piece of material for the mallet head. Laminating thinner pieces to make a mallet head has three advantages: narrow pieces are cheaper, more so when using scrap material; laminating makes a stronger and bigger piece free from cracking or warping; mortises can be achieved simply by creating a space in between the lamination during glue-up.  And mixing wood species allow for a more attractive two-tone appearance.

Many years ago I did make one mallet I call "the enforcer" (below) because it has the heft of Thor's hammer. I had used it considerably and it had its purpose but for light duty work I used commercial rubber mallet or brass hammers.  Since I wanted to make a kitchen mallet I thought I'd make a light duty wooden mallet as well.

It's time to use some of the left over scrap hardwoods (red cherry,white mahogany, white oak and walnut) lying around the workshop. 

Liberal amount of glue and several clamps make for good lamination of four narrow pieces.

Hand planing a small work piece is fun to do although the power planer would have been much quicker.

If the mallet head were a solid piece a mortise had to be cut to accommodate the handle. Lamination makes it a lot easier to create a mortise by simply allowing the desired amount of space between lamination as shown below.

To add mass to the mallet head I had used short pieces cut from a steel bolt.  Four were used in the big mallet I did years ago  but only two in the light duty mallets. The steel bolt pieces may not seem like much but the kinetic energy generated during the strike is substantial.

2-part epoxy and wooden dowels will secure the bolt pieces snugly.

Below are old cutting boards - a white hard plastic and end grained bamboo. The face of the kitchen mallet will have the white vinyl and the workshop mallet will have the bamboo face.

Tip: Below is the safest way to slice a thin wide piece of material.  I do not recommend running the piece along the saw fence with one's bare hand.

Another tip: - A small shop-made sled is the safest way to cut small pieces shown below.

Polyurethane glue is ideal for joining dissimilar materials and it is water proof.

Tip: (Photo below) A slight taper on the mortise so that it flares out slightly will insure a tight fit as the wedge is driven. Glue smeared to the inside of the mortise and on the wedge will secure the handle to the head.

The light duty workshop mallet will be ideal for striking chisels or wedges for joinery.

 The white plastic cutting board had held up well against sharp knives so striking the back of a cleaver  was no problem.  I prefer using a mallet for a well placed clean cut on fish, ribs, chicken and duck.