How to Make a Mallet

I made this mallet for 2 tool making contests on YouTube,it is made from maple and oak with beech dowels and colored veneers.It was a simple enough project and very fun to make.

I made a video of the mallet build please watch thumbs up & subscribe if you like it!

• 12" of oak 1 3/4"x3/4"
• 2x 5 3/4"x1" pieces of maple
• 2x 1 3/4"x1" pieces of maple
• 2x 3 1/2"x 3/8" diameter oak dowels
• I used red green and blue veneers
• Wood glue
• Clamps
• Sharp knife to cut veneer
• Miter saw or hand saw
• Drill
• Spoke shave
• sander/sandpaper
• hammer & nails

• Cut your pieces to the dimensions given on the intro page.
• Use the large maple pieces as a template to cut your veneers to the proper size.
• Use a very sharp knife
• I cut six pieces of veneer 2xred 2xblue 2xgreen

• I glued all the pieces together at once but I would recommend for ease of clamping to do it in stages.
• I use a lollipop stick to spread the glue
• I drilled 2 holes in the handle and small pieces of maple that form the middle of the mallet
• I used these holes to put the small nails in to hold the handle and middle pieces to the lower veneered block to make it easier to clamp the top part of the mallet on.It stops the veneers moving.

• Add as many clamps as you can fit!
• Use a wet rag to wipe away as much of the glue squeeze out as possible
• Allow to dry for 24hrs
• Use pieces of waste wood with grease proof paper underneath to prevent the marring the mallets surface.The grease proof paper will stop the waste wood from adhering to the mallet .

• I used my miter saw to trim all the sides of the mallet square
• You could also use a handsaw to do this

• I used a spokeshave to shape the handle to fit my hand
• You could also shape the handle with a carving tool or sander
• I marked the center of the mallet head and drilled two holes to fit the dowels
• If you have access to a drill press use it to keep the the holes straight
• Add glue to the dowels and holes then hammer the dowels home
• Allow the glue to dry for 24hrs

• Sand the beech dowels flush with the sides of the mallet
• Add chamfers to the edges of both faces of the mallet
• The chamfers should stop pieces chipping off the edge of the mallet while its in use
• I also added chamfers to the end of the handle for aesthetics

• I heated some beeswax and mixed it with mineral oil
• Use the mixture to finish the mallet
• I used some old rags to rub the oil and wax into the mallet
• It really makes the veneer colors pop!!

I really enjoyed making this mallet,it was my first time making one and I think I will make more! I really like how the colored veneers contrast with the maple and oak.The mineral oil and beeswax really made the grain and colors pop!

Check out the video of Making A Mallet on my YouTube channel BCDesign!!