Club style mallet - PEP BB roundwood.sand.club

This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the PEP curriculum.  Completing this BB is part of getting the sand badge in round wood working.

This is a chunk of wood that is typically cut from a thick branch - with something like a bow saw.  And then one end is made thinner to be a handle.   Usually with a hatchet, but it could be enhanced a bit with a bow saw.  

For some recent chisel work, jocelyn used a club style mallet we found in the library:



I used it too:



Here is a youtube video of one being created.   I think he is showing how it can be done with a lot of different tools.  



I think I would have stopped about halfway through the video and said "good enough!"  I definitely would not have oiled it.

Here's another video, showing a mallet being made quickly with just an ax and knife. He explains the benefits to different sizes and shapes and refinements of mallets, as well as their uses:



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.  

Caleb Larson once told me that after you make a few, you can make new ones in about seven minutes.  Below is a pic I took just now of a few mallets I found in a moment's notice.  The first one was purchased a long time ago.   People prefer using the home made mallets.   You can see that the purchased, hardwood mallet is wearing out when being used on a fro.  The second mallet is pretty heavy and the third mallet is a little light.  All three are about 16.5 inches long.  

Minimum requirements:
   - roughly 16" long and 4" diameter at the fat end
   - handle that you can comfortably hold
   - handle is smooth enough that you won't get a splinter using it
   - made with hand tools only

To document this Badge Bit, provide proof of the following as pictures or a video (<2 mins):

   - Your chunk of wood that you are starting with (about 16 inches long and 4 inches in diameter)
   - progress about half way through, with the hand tools you have decided to use for this
   - final product held in your hand showing that your thumb and first finger can touch (any fatter than that and your hand will get very tired using it)