What Mike said! I made my mallet--albeit a small one that works well for my weak wrists and small hands--from fresh maple. It took a long time to do with my dull hatchet. Once we sharpened the hatchet, work went much faster.
Aged wood is also harder to carve. I made my
spoon from aged, dry cherry wood, and it took a while! The one from fresh maple I made went much faster, even though it was 4 times as large.