Crepe Myrtyle Carving Mallet

[manfre]

My brother is interested in carving and wanted a mallet. This is my first attempt, made from a crepe myrtle tree that was cut down a few hours before putting it on the lathe. This was my first time turning green wood and it was fun! The mallet is already starting to crack in one spot on the head. For the next attempt, I'm going to rough it down to about 1/2" wider than final dimension and let it sit for "a while". Any suggestions on how long I'd need to let a 4" diameter piece of crepe myrtle sit before I can finish it?

The mallet weighs 19 oz, 10.5" long and is burnished with beeswax. I was hoping the beeswax would help keep it from splitting while providing a better grip to keep the mallet from slipping out of hand. The handle has a very slight bulge between where the first and second fingers will hold it and then a very gradual taper toward the end. The head is tapered (~5 degrees) to make it easier on the wrist when striking.

I'm not a carver. I made this based upon mallets I've seen for sale, so any construction criticism would be greatly appreciated.

 

[woodArtz]

Looks very nice. Great job! :icon_thum

 

[Gunslinger]

Good looking mallet and should work well.
The general "rule of thumb" for wood to dry is one year for each inch of thickness, so it may need to sit for quite a while. If you just cut it, it probably had the sap rising and is about as full of water as can be.

 

[manfre]

Good looking mallet and should work well.
The general "rule of thumb" for wood to dry is one year for each inch of thickness, so it may need to sit for quite a while. If you just cut it, it probably had the sap rising and is about as full of water as can be.

I don't have the patience or storage space to wait that long. I think I'll try microwave drying the next one. Good thing I never got around to selling the spare microwave.

 

[CarvedTones]

Looks good!
I have had some success with shellac on the end grain of mallets turned from green wood. It doesn't speed up the drying, but you can use it while it is drying. I said "some" and "mallets" because I did this for a couple of large ones I use with the froe (the mallets are often called a maul or beetle when used with a froe) and a small one for carving. One of the large ones did check quite a bit, but it had some substantial use first. It is dogwood and it is a log uglier than yours (they are sort of a consumable with a froe, so I just got it round and left as much weight as possible).

 

[eyekode]

I have heard of people soaking mallets in BLO. That may help this case (or may not?). I am going to try it on my next one. The other thing you could try is drying using alcohol. The bowl turners do this: http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/turning/articles_473.shtml

Salem

 

[CarvedTones]

I have heard of people soaking mallets in BLO.

At the risk of hijacking the thread on a tangent, I think the difference between dipping a piece of wet hardwood in BLO for a couple of minutes and soaking it for a week is 6 days, 23 hours and 58 minutes. :gar-Bi
I understand the alcohol soak as the water and alcohol can mix and the alcohol is a solvent that can change the nature of the wood a little. The oil and water not so much... I do see how the oil on the end grain would slow down the water loss to get it to dry more evenly.

 

[eyekode]

I didn't say I knew it would work . I am guessing this mallet is doomed anyway. I would not have expected it to split unless it contained the pith. In which case I am not sure it can be made stable.

I have also heard of somehow infising acrylic. Anyone know the process?
Salem

 

[CarvedTones]

Yeah, I did make sure to include the "I've heard" part.

The pith in a big log is definitely a no-no, but if you look up instructions for the maul for a froe, it is actually recommended that you use a limb or sapling. They are a little different than standard mallets though; the idea is not to mushroom the steel on the back edge of the froe, but OTOH you want it to lose the battle slowly so it doesn't have to be replaced too often.

Anyway, back to the regular scheduled program, I have heard of the PEG product for stabilizing ornamental turning blanks but I don't know if it is a good idea for a mallet.

 

[jhreed]

looks good. makes me want to strike something with it.

 

[AmishWarlord]

4 years isn't that long, just chuck into a drawer and forget about it. I saw this Korean wood worker once on TV. He made wood combs. He had drawers full of black tepid water and the wood blanks soaking in them for 20 years.


Hmm I might do that to make money in my retirement. I'm 40 now, retire at 65 so I need to start soaking my first batch of blanks in 5 years.

 

[Grumpybear]

Reed wants to smack something with it? It looks too pretty to actually use! Nice work.

I guess when you have a mallet, everything looks like a nail? That's a great country song!

 

[manfre]

My brother had a chance to use the mallet a bit and it sounds like the prototype was a success. He likes it and the crack hasn't gotten worse yet.

I've many more pieces of crepe myrtle that I had planned on using for additional versions. Since I seem to have gotten the basic functional requirements on the first try, I think I'll tinker with making more decorative mallets.