Leather-faced mallet

[bigern00]

I wanted a nice, heavy mallet I could use for assembling woodworking projects around the shop, but I have a hard time buying things when I know I can just make them and have a lot more fun (if I only had more time).

The head is made from a block of cherry and the handle is alder. I faced it with leather attached with contact cement to prevent it from denting or damaging my work. The handle lines were cut with a skew chisel on the lathe to increase grip. I friction burned with a piece of guitar string (E, A, & D are usually the wound ones that work well due to friction, but that is a tool for another post). Head is secured with a wedge that was glued and driven in.