Making a NEW MALLET! | Turning Tuesday #7

Around 7 years ago, I made myself a little dovetailing mallet that has since seen ALOT of abuse. With severe reluctance, it's time to replace it.
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My name is Matt Estlea and I’m a Woodworker from Basingstoke, England. My aim is to make your woodworking less s***.
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[@MattEstlea]

If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to press the *LIKE* button. It really helps me out!

[@dbnoho]

The finger getting pinned bit made me lift my feet off the ground like a shark was under me.

[@Cancun771]

This reminds me of the short from that Finnish dude who turns a mallet with a roughing gouge in 56 seconds flat, with no poncy insert shots, no music and no talking at all.

[@j.davidneel9059]

I love your humility and ability to laugh at yourself. Most people wouldn't have the integrity to leave that in the video. Thanks much Matt.

[@ga5743]

Glad you are keeping the old one, nice to see a reminder of where you’ve been and compare it to where you are going.

[@chriswitek9455]

hooks up the dust collector to the miter saw, proceeds to do absolutely nothing as sawdust flies everywhere else lol

[@robohippy]

Oh, the agony of the skew!!! I saw that catch coming before it happened.... I am mostly a bowl turner. So, a few comments on your turning. For parting things off, I don't think any one parts some thing all the way off with the lathe at high speed, and most will part down to a very small tenon, then use a hand saw, especially on that box you turned. Might have to look that video up. For the end grain, a standard scraper can give you a good finish, but for very hard woods, generally they will hone/polish the burr off. Now days, many are using a negative rake scraper. The first version of this was a skew chisel, but you leave the burr from the grinder on. That burr is gone in seconds though. I have a bunch of them, ground to 30 degrees on the top, and 60 degrees on the bottom. Many will use ones with the same angle on each side. With mine, you can burnish a burr on it which makes it cut a lot longer. You can get 400 grit surfaces with one of them, and they are very handy in box making. To grip an end grain piece in your chuck, depending on jaw size, I like some PVC pipe. Cut a ring, then cut a slot in the ring. I do like the thinner more pliable type rather than the schedule 40 stuff like used for heavy pressure lines. With leather, you can get dents from the jaws. For sizing your tenon, use an open end box wrench. They are just a hair bigger than a nut or bolt head that size. It will actually burnish the wood down a bit, then you can fine tune it for the perfect fit. Of course the water in the glue will swell the wood a bit, but when the moisture dries out a bit, the fit can be loose again if you make it too small, but you probably already know that. A quote I love to use, from the movie The Princess Bride, and no it isn't a chick flick, "Good job, sleep well, I will most likely kill you in the morning'. If you haven't seen it, you must!

[@captnsking9079]

Laughing my head off at 2:50 at your reaction when you realized you could spin the handle😂

[@HWCism]

Thanks, love watching your screw ups along the way. Nice job. 😂

[@bobcharlie7982]

Had me squirming at the thought of catching your finger in the hole on the lathe!

[@chm1701]

Quite possibly the nicest thing you’ve done yet. So simple, but yet it’s ultra functional and a damn fine shape. Nice job, Matt 👌

[@MattEstlea]

I would have to agree Chris, cheers!

[@909sickle]

“I have been wacking this thing for years.” Nah. Too easy...

[@screendotquevedo5078]

Love the mallet.

[@MJ-nb1qn]

Good job ! I am glad you warned folks about the dangers of the hole and touching the blank when turning. You may have saved some digits. Also you figured out parting off. Good. You can “catch “ a piece like the handle being parted of with light hand gripping pressure around the handle. With only the chuck holding the piece, and tail stock away the piece really was no way to catch or pinch. Just falls in your hand, but you did it safe and to me that’s rule #1. I love Turning Tuesday’s.

[@meticulousvisions4591]

Awesome stubby mallet! Your absolutely right about keeping calm when things don’t go right. Easier said than done 😂

[@wortheffort]

Getting better. And you were on the right track seperating the two pieces, a V cut so that the two points don't wedge each other safe way to separate. You could do that between centers too. That last catch wasn't caused by the skew but how you are holding the blank in your chuck. Just as in a mortise and tenon joint the strength comes from the shoulder. With no shoulder registered on the face of the jaws there is very little strength in the blank holding. Twas exasperated by the distance from the chuck which amplifies torque working against it. (Simpler: a shoulder when clamping in the chuck gives it more strength, the farther out you turn from the chuck the more you torque the piece outa chuck.)

[@MattEstlea]

Gargh! That makes so much sense now I look back on it 😂 Cheers!

[@nickelliott123]

Loved this one matt. Especially love that you own your mistakes and demo how to recover which is always very helpful to the hobbyist. Suggestion - now that game of thrones is coming back make a big gaudy goblet!

[@wvhopkins]

A safer way to drill through the head with the forstner bit would be to drill a pilot hole with an extra long small drill bit all the way through, then drill through from each side to meet in the middle. You would need to make sure that your two faces are exactly parallel for the holes to line up just right. I have extra long, small diameter drill bits scrounged from the cast-off bin at a michinist's shop that I use for situations like that.

[@rsauve999]

Excellent advice - thanks, Walter.

[@davegower123]

I was just about to say "You're doing great with the skew!" when you got the catch. Tough one, but it all worked out in the end! Nice work!

[@keirfarnum6811]

Nice little mallet. Thanks for sharing.

[@wb_finewoodworking]

Great video. Your point about turning something with a hole drilled through it was excellent. That’s something I’ll definitely have to remember. That big catch in the handle actually caused you to make the handle a little smaller and it seems to fit your hand a little better. The end product looks fantastic.

[@MrPaddy1000111]

One thing you can do when fitting axe heads and mallet heads like that is to turn it upside down and hit the bottom of the handle. Don't clamp it in anything but let it float free, seems counter-intuitive but by hitting the handle whilst upside down means that the stationary mass of the head causes the handle to drive its way into the head without clamping anything. An old axe-makers trick I learnt a while ago when re-handling an old axe

[@howardhagadorn9443]

When mounting something in the jaws if you bring the tail stock up and line up the point of your center onto the center of your turning it helps to get it squared in the jaws before you tighten them up reducing wobble on your part. I love the mallet and I think I'm gonna turn one now rather than what I had planned before

[@davidwoods1337]

I've worked with tamboti before. My favorite thing was the smell. When cutting it, it smelled AMAZING!!!

[@murphymmc]

You may find that an oval shape to the handle will work better as it will give you an intuitive registration to keep the head in the "north and south" position. Round handles do tend to rotate slightly in the hand when being used and that will throw the direction of impact slightly off and also need a constant adjustment while using (annoying and with potential to damage the intended surface). The ash nicely compliments the mallet head, great choice. As others have mentioned, a wedge in the top would be nicely decorative and very functional .

[@Scudpuddle]

This is the first videos I’ve seen of yours on the day of release. I saw your dovetail video about 3 weeks ago and binged all the rest. Great work Matt, I’ve learned so much. Thank you!

[@andrewmaddams2013]

Hi Matt. Really liked this one. I make these too, if you like taking the handle through the head, try leaving the end as a dome, they look great. You can also turn the head in brass from 50mm brass rod, you'll be surprised how easy this can be done on a wood Lathe. Good stuff thank you

[@rjforca]

Great looking mallet. Tamboti is one of our local woods that I use quite often, Just be careful with it as the dust is very toxic and irritates both the lungs and the eyes. Its a fantastic wood to work with and finishes very nicely. Nice video as well. Keep them coming.

[@sapbuckets]

Very nice result, that mallet looks good and should serve you well. The only thing I'd have done differently in assembly is to avoid the glue, leave the handle long, cut a top kerf, and applied the traditional wedge prior to final top trim-up. Just to make it easier to re-handle if ever necessary. I've never turned on a lathe so your mallet beats anything I could turn out right now.

[@RattyfromInsideFPV]

Yay, you listened to my suggestion. Awesome. Looking forward to this.

[@terrystephens1102]

Great mallet, well done Matt 😃👌👏👏👏

[@stevecoster322]

Hiya I've only one problem with your videos, I've watched them all!!! Found your channel about when you moved to your current workshop and binge watched your earlier content... now reduced to sitting on the edge of my chair... Thank you and keep up the great content... Take care...

[@MattEstlea]

Dammit Steve! 😂 I’m sorry you had to put up with my voice for that long! Really appreciate it, cheers!

[@xylonguitars]

It looks absolutely gorgeous!!!

[@AliAlSawad]

Beautiful result, thanks for sharing

[@venessarobins6813]

Very nice work Matt. I would love to make one of these one day. I love that you own and share your mistakes as this helps others like me learn too. I hope this new mallet serves you just as well if not better than the old one 😊.

[@Ivan-yj5cf]

A beauty. Thanks for sharing!

[@just-dl]

that's awesome. the wood for the head is gorgeous; and, ash is my #1 favorite wood. So, the combination is a dream come true....

[@just-dl]

After making this comment I made a similar small “slugger.” What I had at hand was Osage and olive wood. Olive handle and Osage head. I love my little mallet. Thanks for the inspiration. I just watched this again and realized this was what prompted me. Thanks for all you do! You are an encouragement.

[@heyimamaker]

Looks great Matt!

[@curl-E]

Nice work, man. That mallet looks great!

[@TempleThomas]

That was really well done the finished product is awesome

[@MattEstlea]

Cheers mate!

[@ryanallthewiser]

Love the side commentary!! Great job

[@MattEstlea]

Cheers Alan :)

[@sparthir]

Nice work! I use the back of the chisel to test for roundness rather than my fingers. It saves the chance of losing my fingers. As the piece spins it will bounce the chisel if it has a flat spot. I pretty much finish parting off anything large-ish with a saw then sanding off the nub.

[@bsouza1675]

You need a mallet with a longer handle to crack walnuts ! Great mallet 👍

[@nunatakker9829]

Next video: a shooting board and pros and cons of different sizes and styles and which routers to use?! And does it makes sense to integrate a kind of sawing guide (sry I’m German) in one of the guide rails?

[@paulmoulin1040]

Nice job like always! Little suggestion: try to wrap some leather around the handle of the mallet with the backside up I’ve tried it on mine and it feels so good, it improves the grip and reduce the vibrations into your hand and sh** it looks very nice!

[@chipsterb4946]

Really nifty tool. Concave and convex contact surfaces is a nice touch. To get the handle seated in the head I would’ve tried pounding the butt of the handle on the bench. Inertia would push the head further onto the handle.

[@johnlowell2171]

Very nice work. On your next handle, consider an offset turning. Result is a nice oval handle, have done this on many projects.

[@MakeBrooklyn]

So after parting when it grabbed the skew, I may have pooped a bit on your behalf! It came out great though!! Maybe if you make another, you could make your life a bit easier and make the tenon fit a bit looser and use a wedge in the final assembly to make it nice and tight though do keep in mind, that I am an idiot and most likely have no idea what I'm talking about :) Cheers!.

[@PetersPorsches]

For the second face I would use turning tape and mount it to a blank on a faceplate holds pretty well for some light scraping an sanding

[@archiejackson833]

With the scrap from the head you could cut a plug for the other end of the handle hole, also hiding the wedge

[@moonwolf7135]

Awesome mallet Matt

[@TheHurlyclaw]

Nice! Matching chisel handles would look sweet

[@MattEstlea]

Ohhh man now you’re talking!

[@johnburens3395]

Nice Job! I think I might like mine with the ends slightly tapered though.

[@WriterAndBanker]

I think I would've tried to add some registration to the grip? Maybe a squared bit at the top of the handle? Or a leather wrap that takes it into more of an oval shape. Although that final look is pretty stunning as is.

[@blueblur6447]

Great work! inspired me to also make one very soon! Be warned about the waxed wood from the supply store. Check its moisture content before working, it can really open up, breathe and crack when it is turned. Waxed doesn't mean dry :/ Not sure if this stock was waxed or not just sharing my bad luck I had with Peppermills once :)

[@allanstephenson3083]

Little copper or brass inlay in the side of the mallet head would look cool.

[@maxschroeder_smart_services]

Really like the proportions of that mallet! I know the Handle isnt going anywhere but designwise wouldnt a crossed wedge Look cool?

[@MattEstlea]

Yea a wedge would have been awesome! Unfortunately, as you said, it was just waaaay to tight to even consider it at the end

[@simatbirch]

Great vid.

[@SeleckPlays]

3:33 nice touch with the music and film speed

[@Scudpuddle]

I’m gonna miss that old mallet.

[@Spoteddy]

easy to remember convex vs concave, is to imagine that you go in cave, so in conCAVE you go into the piece.

[@johncole9964]

Nice Mallet, never heard of either of those woods. As a Brit living in the US I can tell you that no one here has any idea what "fly tipping" means :)

[@emm_arr]

That got me curious. The woods are: tamboti - Spirostachys Africana chacate preto - Guibourtia conjugata

[@thierrychiquet4848]

Wow you should sell them!! I would be your first customer 😉

[@MattEstlea]

I’ll give it some damn good testing first!

[@applebutter4036]

2nd!

[@MultiWarrior63]

3rd

[@coelhorob]

Nice!

[@dr.sawdust4278]

Just found your channel, I LOVE IT!!! ps: you look (a bit) and sound (allot) like "you know nothing John Snow 😂

[@tonyelschner]

nice one!

[@javashak]

NIce combination of colours and looks like it's got good weight. If you made another one, I would buy it (potential income stream :)

[@schlaubiderzweite2144]

18:22 Blimey! By the way, nice moustache! (12:49) LUL

[@MattEstlea]

😂

[@toby1kenobe]

concave - caved in

[@Felipera_]

I like having oval handles on my tools to help with alignment by feel (like they do in swords). I wonder if there is a technique for making that other than willpower powered hand planing

[@howiebalch8402]

Nice work Matt, but you need to whack something with it in the end! :)

[@ThinkB4UAct]

Hi Matt any chance you can put a link as to where you purchase the wood to make the mallets.

[@jello1977]

Very nice. How much did the end product weigh?

[@athmostafa2462]

love it .🤔

[@07zgreen]

Great video. I was wondering if you ended up drilling a 25mm or a 30mm hole for the eye of the mallet. Thanks for everything you stare.

[@attilabalint344]

how the heck did you get the mallet head off the handle when dry fitting? Looked so tiiiiiiiiiiiight

[@Keir51]

question from a novice: would there be any merit in either putting a dowel through the head and the handle? Or, putting a wedge through the end grain of the handle's mortis?

[@Furtheronmusic]

Could you have drilled from both sides on the pillar drill or were you concerned on not meeting up? But as hole centered surely that would be easier and safer than 26th the hand drill?

[@hakonwille9322]

Saw a guy make an osb bowl today, with a rim of hardwood. Why dont you try that? 😊

[@alexmendiola]

It's a lovely mallet. I'm still dying to know about your speaker on the shelf behind you. Did you make it yourself or did you purchase it? In either case, I want one for myself. (build plans? link to purchase?) Thanks for great content!

[@robertherzog2087]

You should have used a wedge in the handle instead of glue. Looks real nice.

[@SeleckPlays]

4:56-5:02 "That's what she said!"

[@user-gc1qc1lm2d]

LLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL you killed me mate!!

[@davidsteele3037]

Why does your handle look like a teardrop but mine looks like a Parsnip?

[@m2autoworks]

4:59 what do you have against wacking small ones

[@kestonharrison6641]

I seems to have the same expansion issue when glueing dominoes. The dry fit is perfect then I’m fighting to clamp up with glue.

[@howiebalch8402]

I think that's due to the glue swelling the wood... I always leave a tiny bit of clearance on tight fitting joints for that very reason.

[@tex87sae]

I may have missed it in the beginning, but what are the dimensions of the head. It’s a beautiful piece

[@henrysiegertsz8204]

Oh, yeah! Now that's more like a turning Tuesday project! (Good job it turned out well, because my Russian car crash video channel hadn't got any new videos)!

[@MattEstlea]

You and I share the same taste in videos...

[@Murphyslawfarm]

Hi Matt love your videos mate. Are you interested in wood carving if so would you consider making a video on it.

[@MattEstlea]

I did a bit of letter carving once. Found it a lot more enjoyable than I thought I would however I am not an expert by any means! I’m not against doing (attempting) some carving in a future video though :)

[@robbiterry38]

i want one, make mine next..

[@AKQuaternion]

Beautiful mallet! I'm really enjoying these videos, Matt, thanks. But my OCD is killing me, the numbers on the pen jaws don't match those on the chuck. ;) What is that stain on your workbench?

[@fordprefect2716]

So i'm not the only one! Thank you Sir! 😂

[@beepIL]

17:47 why all the headache? can't you just part it with a saw and sand it?

[@baileydyson2845]

Making this coment after 8:51 so fogive me if it is answered later in the video. But why wouldn't you turn the head then drill the hole making a jig to hold the head if it was hard to hold clamping from the faces of the mallet. As wouldnt the holes on the lathe potentially cause spots to catch and cause tear out. Also the dangers that you mentioned as well, pluss once you have turned the head the hole wouldnt have to be so deep and you could chuck the bit better. Just curious please tell me if I am wrong.

[@MattEstlea]

To be honest Bailey, I have absolutely no idea which is the best way to do this! It was complete guess work for me

[@just-dl]

For the most part, I'd call it 50/50 as to which to do first; but, I think the safety tip that Matt mentioned (plus the catching possibility you suggested) gives the nod to spinning the head first, then drilling the handle hole. At least, that would be recommendation, if anyone asked me...which, to be honest, has yet to occur...(sigh. such is life....)

[@baileydyson2845]

@@MattEstlea Still "Turned" out great 😂

[@MattEstlea]

Eyyyyyyy

[@baileydyson2845]

@@MattEstlea Also going back to your video of 5 tools for woodworking, you showed off the marking knife. I have just bought a pack of those blades and am In the process of making a handle. I remember you said "you'll never be seeing a wood turning video from me" now that you have turning Tuesdays. It would be cool to see how you made your handle or you could do a completely different design with your new skills...especially with the skew😂

[@craigframe3313]

You about to do a river table or wood epoxy combo

[@julioaragao]

I think you will need an apron next time! :D

[@MattEstlea]

I’ve needed an apron the entire series, Julio 😂😂

[@DrChattan]

I feel like you could have made 3 heads with that block

[@liuyang3072]

Hey Matt, can u do a lathe tool sharpening tutorial without using the grinder?

[@arbitrarystuff1229]

Bit late but all turning tools are sharpened on a grinder. Only exception is you can touch up a skew or some gouges with a diamond card.

[@derekwilkinson7939]

Why do catches always seem to happen just when your finishing the piece. Matt do you know that rags soaked in linseed oil can self combust. Stick them in a tub of water when your finished with em.

[@nunatakker9829]

derek wilkinson I think Matt mentioned it when he was working on the kitchen desk if his mothers house... But: good point

[@derekwilkinson7939]

nunatakker oh right I must of missed that. 👍

[@stephengriffith1605]

Hi Matt The grey clamps you use in this video can you send me a link for them please. I would like to get some Thank you Stephen

[@MattEstlea]

Should find all my stuff on here Stephen :) www.kit.com/mattestlea

[@micheldavid6535]

Hi Matt very nice mallet can you make me one and send it to me in Canada, Quebec, et voila !