Over at Hillsborough Orange Woodworkers we have been honing our turning skills. Thought I share my project: a turned mallet with a celtic (sort of) cross in handle and decorative scallops.
The handle is walnut with oak cross and ambrosia maple mallet with mahogony decorative scallops. Here's the pics of the steps along the way.
First glue up the walnut for handle and cut the first of 4 cuts for the celtic cross. Notice side #1 is on top - used a 45 degree miter sled with a 1/4" dado blade set to go almost all the way thru the handle:
Second, glue and clamp the 1/4" oak piece in the slot (note side #2 is up):
Third, after flush trimming the first insert, I cut, then glue the insert in the opposite side (note side #1 is now up):
Fourth, repeat cut, glue, clamp, trim on side #3 then #4:
Here is the final glued up handle:
Next, I glued on the maple mallet face to the handle. Then I decided to put some scallops along the top of the mallet. For this I used the same concept as the celtic cross, except I set the blade at 25 degrees and only went an inch or so into the wood. Enough that each side crossed the one next to it (kind of like the top part of the cross only):
Finally, I glues in the mahogony inserts for the scallops on the 2 opposite sides. Once dry, I did the other 2 sides:
Next, I chucked it up on the lathe (Thanks WoodArtz!) and turned it down to a mallet shape. In retrospect, I woould have used ash or beech instead of oak in the handle, we had to wrestle with some tear-out:
And here is the final result: A mallet too pretty to use!
It was a lot of fun and a good learning experience! Great time with the Hillsborough Orange Woodworkers!
Thanks for looking!
Dan
The handle is walnut with oak cross and ambrosia maple mallet with mahogony decorative scallops. Here's the pics of the steps along the way.
First glue up the walnut for handle and cut the first of 4 cuts for the celtic cross. Notice side #1 is on top - used a 45 degree miter sled with a 1/4" dado blade set to go almost all the way thru the handle:
Second, glue and clamp the 1/4" oak piece in the slot (note side #2 is up):
Third, after flush trimming the first insert, I cut, then glue the insert in the opposite side (note side #1 is now up):
Fourth, repeat cut, glue, clamp, trim on side #3 then #4:
Here is the final glued up handle:
Next, I glued on the maple mallet face to the handle. Then I decided to put some scallops along the top of the mallet. For this I used the same concept as the celtic cross, except I set the blade at 25 degrees and only went an inch or so into the wood. Enough that each side crossed the one next to it (kind of like the top part of the cross only):
Finally, I glues in the mahogony inserts for the scallops on the 2 opposite sides. Once dry, I did the other 2 sides:
Next, I chucked it up on the lathe (Thanks WoodArtz!) and turned it down to a mallet shape. In retrospect, I woould have used ash or beech instead of oak in the handle, we had to wrestle with some tear-out:
And here is the final result: A mallet too pretty to use!
It was a lot of fun and a good learning experience! Great time with the Hillsborough Orange Woodworkers!
Thanks for looking!
Dan
Nice work Dan! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap I'd have to be pretty angry to wack anything with that mallet. :gar-La; WAYYYYYY too nice looking. :icon_thum
