Joiner’s Mallet

[Sean Wright]

After watching an episode of The Woodwright’s Shop where Roy Underhill made a joiner’s mallet, I decided to make one. Mine isn’t exactly the same as Roy’s, but it’s close. Also, unlike Roy’s it was made using some power tools. The handle is maple and and the head is ash. The wedges in the handle are paduk (because they are a good contrast). It is finished with BLO and then a few coats of paste wax.

 

[Ted Calver]

Nicely done, Sean. Nice design and well executed...it should get'er done!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Nice-looking mallet, Sean. I'm not very educated on old-school woodworking tools...what would a joiner's mallet traditionally be used for? How does it differ from other types of mallets?

 

[Sean Wright]

Nice-looking mallet, Sean. I'm not very educated on old-school woodworking tools...what would a joiner's mallet traditionally be used for? How does it differ from other types of mallets?

Thank you Vaughn. It is my understanding that a joiner’s mallet is the typical mallet you would find in a craftsman’s workshop. It would be used to strike chisels (but not carving chisels-there’s a different mallet for that) and for “helping” joints go together. Typically the faces are cut with about a 2 degree slope, from top to bottom. This is to compensate for the height of a chisel being struck. Where as a hammer hits a nail much lower, than the height of the chisel. This is why a hammer has a flat or straight face.

 

[Darren Wright]

Beautiful and functional, love it!

BTW, Were there plans somewhere for this?

 

[Frank Fusco]

Nice and well done. It's fun making your own tools.

 

[Sean Wright]

Beautiful and functional, love it!

BTW, Were there plans somewhere for this?

Darren, Thank you! The plans can be found here:
https://lostartpress.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/underhill-mallet.pdf


They are linked in the the following article (very interesting/informative, if you plan on making one):
https://blog.lostartpress.com/2017/06/26/the-son-of-roy-underhills-mallet/

 

[Sean Wright]

Nice and well done. It's fun making your own tools.

Frank, thank you. It was a fun project. If I had the consecutive free time to work on it, i could have finished it in a day, or less. I worked on it, here and there, for about 4 days or so (as time allowed).

 

[Darren Wright]

Darren, Thank you! The plans can be found here:
https://lostartpress.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/underhill-mallet.pdf


They are linked in the the following article (very interesting/informative, if you plan on making one):
https://blog.lostartpress.com/2017/06/26/the-son-of-roy-underhills-mallet/

Thank you sir, it looked like a good project to do with my grandson, though his will be much softer wood. He'll probably think it is a Thor hammer, but should a good time with him.