Compound mallet - PEP BB roundwood.sand.compoundmallet

I made a compound mallet! I set out to make it with a mora knife and a handheld auger. As I was carving the handle, the esteemed Mike Haasl advised me that using a draw knife with a shave horse would be more effective, so I switched to that. The result is a big mallet that's probably well suited to hammering stakes in the ground.

I just want to point out that there is a superior design that is in common use in Japan compared to the basic design that Paul linked videos and pictures of earlier in the thread. I believe it could still fulfill all the requirements too. Essentially, the handle can be fit from the top of the head rather than the bottom. The handle shape tapers such that it cannot physically exit the head from the bottom. It requires a little more care in design, and maybe thus not appropriate for a sand badge bit, but in pure design terms it is safer. The one I have can be easily disassembled, but if you built it with a green head and dry handle as suggested, it would shrink together as desired.

I made a big compound mallet from a piece of green poplar and a dry sycamore pole.

I bored a hole using a brace and bit (shown in pic #2) with two bit sizes, creating a slightly stepped hole. I then cut a taper into the end of the handle and drove that in with a wooden club mallet. It was pretty tough going - it's very securely wedged, despite there being a little space around the handle at either end. I think, in hindsight, I used a slightly large bit and cut a mismatched taper (meaning handle too small at the top, hole too big at the bottom). Regardless, it feels very secure and the head will still shrink!

The handle is pretty rough. I tried skimming the bark with an axe but it kept tearing out near the knots. I decided not to worry too much as it is a pretty rough and ready tool that I don't expect to last too many hours. It is certainly easy enough to make a new one.

I de-barked the head after fitting the handle as, when giving it a few test whacks, the bark began to peel off anyway.

As required, the handle isn't wedged (nor does it need to be!) and passes all the way through the head. The head is green and the handle dry. The final hammer is pretty big and heavy, I estimate 3 lbs; with the long handle you can really give it some force.

Minimum requirements:
 - Green (fresh) head
 - Dry handle passes all the way through the head
 - Big enough to be useful.  At least as big and heavy as a common hammer
 - No wedge
 - Made with hand tools only

To get certified for this BB, post three pics.  

 - Your chunks of wood that you are starting with (one is clearly green and the other dry)
 - Progress about half way through, with the hand tools you have decided to use for this
 - Final product

Second mallet of the day and I knew I’d need the first mallet to make this one. My son bought me a set of chisels for my birthday. He had seen me watching Japanese carpenters on YouTube and also observed me happily using glue and screws to connect bits of wood. Clearly he was expecting dovetails or mortice and tenon, which is the joint I chose today.

The head was the second part of the green tulip wood I had used for the first mallet. I squared it off with my bow saw and then striped the bark with a whittling knife. I used a chisel and homemade mallet to make a mortice through the head. I found a dry and strong stick in the woods. Most of the bark had already peeled off so I knew it would be good for this task. I used my small axe to trim and smoothen the branches and knots and then finished with the whittling knife. I then used the axe to square of one end so it would fit the mortice. It was a very snug fit.

I really enjoyed both tasks. As an added bonus, I sharpened my chisel and knife, so at least one BB there for tool care.

So, I made a compound mallet…unless I’m supposed to wait for the greenwood to dry and shrink before posting. How long will that take, anyway?

(I had this scotch eye auger on my wishlist for a year and this BB gave me the excuse to get it for myself. )

This is my submission for the Compound Mallet BB.  The green timber is the same as I used for the club mallet.  Iron Bark is twice as heavy as pine.  I used my club mallet to make the compound mallet.  To make it better for me, I put a straight side on the club mallet to give me a side to clean (flat) strike chisels.  Attached is my BB journal showing the criteria, my learning, and the pictures as evidence of completing the BB.  Loving building the journal into a book.

I've completed my mallet!    Great old maple trees were sadly cut down at a church in town .  Before it had all been cleared, I scavenged a piece for a mallet head! The handle was a dry maple limb (firewood)


Since I did this slowly over about 3 days I used a homemade pastewax to coat the end grain and pieces that I have cut so the mallet head didn't dry too quickly!

The mallet head was hand sawn to length, then shaped with my framing chisel
The mortice was cut with my brace and bit and my mortice chisel.
to lay out the mortice and the dimensions of the handle I used a centre line method which I used in my log building class!
I marked a centre line and carried it over to the other end using  pin and a string. dimensions were referenced off the centre line.
After sawing to my lines I knocked off the waste with my chisel and a maple limb (primitive mallet for the mallet-less ) then I planed down to my lines.
After planing, I used my rip saw to saw the handle to width then planed those sawn edges until it fit my mortice.
I then used my (freshly sharpened!) pocket knife like a spokeshave to shape the handle. I changed the angle and used my knife as a scraper for further shaping and smoothing the handle.

I rubbed home made pastewax into it and it is done! Ready for use!

Here is my submission for Compound mallet - PEP BB roundwood.sand:

Minimum requirements:
  - Green (fresh) head
  - Dry handle passes all the way through the head
  - Big enough to be useful.  At least as big and heavy as a common hammer
  - Handle that you can comfortably hold
  - No wedge
  - Made with hand tools only

To get certified for this BB, I am posting at least three required pics:

  - My chunks of wood that I am starting with (one is clearly green and the other dry)
  - Progress about half way through, with the hand tools I have decided to use for this
  - Final product held in my hand showing that my thumb and first finger can touch

Here is my compound mallet BB submission made at the SKIP event.

Minimum requirements:
 - Green (fresh) head
 - Dry handle passes all the way through the head
 - Big enough to be useful.  At least as big and heavy as a common hammer
 - Handle that you can comfortably hold
 - No wedge
 - Made with hand tools only

I made this compound mallet on my first day of SKIP camp--the start of a long learning curve! I was later able to use the mallet for other projects, which was a great feeling.

I've attached photos of the original chunks of wood with the shaver I used on the handle, myself drilling through the head with the auger plus the auger sticking all the way through the head (about halfway through the project), and the final mallet with my thumb and forefinger touching (and me feeling like Thor).