Club style mallet - PEP BB roundwood.sand.club

I started carving an elephant but about half way through decided it is a better hickory nut smasher. Zero artistic talent.

Ultimately did not use the knife. Squared off the end & made 2 partial cuts with the bowsaw. The rest was done by chipping away with the machete. Could have done it much faster & cruder but wanted some woodchips for the worms. Also just wanted to do something different & fun today. Without arterial bleeding.



Doesn't look anything like an elephant at this point.



The proof is in the pudding glove.

Greenwood mallet

That doesn't look like green wood - so i suspect it took about ten times longer! I certify that this BB is complete!  

No it wasn't green.  I got a lot of dead trees and wood laying around and figured I would use that.  Last time I make that mistake!  I kept saying to myself, seven minutes?!!, there's no way!  But I can see after doing the other mallet head in green that it would be possible with some practice.

I think there is no reason to try to make something fancy here.   When using this type of mallet with a fro, it will disintegrate in about eight hours of use.  So the mission is to be prepared to make lots of these.

If you do want to make something fancy, make a root maul as Roy Underhill of the 'Woodwright's Shop' does. He uses this maul specifically for hitting a froe. He describes how to make one in one of his books 'a practical guide to traditional woodcraft'. The book has a picture of one he has been using for 6 years and it has many more years in it. He mentions making one out of hickory or dogwood and you will wear out 12 pairs of shoes before you wear out your maul. This book is a quick and enjoyable read, look for it in your library. I look forward to making the progression of tools described in the book starting this spring

Also, much of the show is on the PBS app for streaming devices for free

Does this count or should I have taken more pics?

We need the chunk of wood you are starting with.

paul wheaton wrote:We need the chunk of wood you are starting with.

Oh dear! Jusf chevked and appently thats the only photo wd didnt make of the finca that day. Doh!  I'll have to make another one. You can't  have too many sycamore mallets!

Today, at Wheaton Labs, I made a club style mallet. I made it with wood from a tree that Roby, Philip, Alexis, and I all felled together.

I started making the mallet with a hatchet and bigger piece of wood than I ought to have used. I ended up having to do a lot more sawing, which was quite something!



This was after I debarked my piece of wood and sawed it down a little.



I debarked it some more.



This is my oversized Flintstone club mallet that I needed to be sawed down to a smaller size.



I then spent a lot of time sawing to get the mallet to size.



I then used a hatchet to make the mallet handle smaller.



And this is the final product.

Today was mallet day here at the lab. Let's see if this is badge worthy

Felled a deadwood fir tree with fellow Boots, David, Alexis, and Robbie.
I did not want to kill or harm a living tree for greenwood and did not mind the extra carving time.
Used my hatchet and large hammer to chip away bulk pieces.
Then began to use medium sized chisel to make out the handle.
Used a bow saw to flatten the top of the mallet.
Last finishing touches were all done with a knife.