Unusual Joiner’s Mallet

[TENdriver]

Several years ago, there were drawings (posted on one of the earliest woodworking boards of the then new web) of an unusual turned apple wood joiner’s mallet.

The mallet was formed through multiple offset turning points and also had an interesting non-standard method of wedging for the handle.

This chair has a similar style mallet carved into the back splat:

http://emuseum.history.org/view/obj...ate:flow=6cbf8702-97bc-48e8-983e-2279b922f245




Does anyone remember seeing the instructions for making this type of mallet?






I guess I may have an unusual interest in mallets.

https://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=82664

 

[Mike Davis]

Something like this?

http://www.mikes-woodwork.com/OffsetMallet.htm

Really like the chair, BTW.

 

[TENdriver]

Mike,

Thanks, that’s definitely the concept though not quite the execution of the one in the chair. Part of what made this mallet interesting was also a peculiar method of wedging the handle. It was an interlocking joint that would not seem to work in wood. I was always interested in trying to make/replicate the mallet and the wedge was part of the interest.

I suspect I have retained the drawings and they’re saved on an old backup drive squirreled away somewhere.




BTW, the chair is pretty ornate and isn’t exactly to my taste, but I would like to replicate a few of the tools that were carved into the back. First the mallet, then both types of levels and the square.


Do you happen to know what the long tool in the top right corner was used for? I assume it’s more mason than woodworking.

 

[Mike Davis]

Not sure about that, the text mentions a crude replacement so it may not be the original intent at all.

 

[TENdriver]

Strange things can happen. I was putzing around the shop and spotted this old drawing above.

Looked underneath and found the turned mallet I had been thinking about. Wasn’t even looking for it.

The drawings don’t really do justice to what the vintage apple mallet looked like. The flat areas combined with the offset turning made it kind of interesting.

I’m not too sure about that wedge. It seems like it’s an impossible joint.