How To Make The Impossible Mallet

Measurements for the impossible mallet: blog.lostartpr...
The impossible mallet is not impossible. It is just improbable. The myth says that Abraham Lincoln first designed the impossible mallet.
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[@nanettil]

There is that. That specific joy that one feels by looking a master performing his trade (art). Pure admiration. Many thanks for this video!

[@myrawright282]

Watching in Korea Hotel. You Tube is our only entertainment in this hotel! So...Wood by Wright to the rescue! You taught your DAD something today!! He did not know the difference between a hammer and mallet!! ❤😮❤❤

[@BigFatTonys]

This Puzzle Mallet was in a WW magazine about 17 years ago, author Stephan Shepard. He got an x-ray of ancient example. I asked about a center tenon, none. Dovetails show about 1/2 inch at the bottom. Bend with boiling water. Handle pine, head maple. Roy's is from Shapard''s article. I made mine the month of that magazine, still beating the stuffing out of things.

[@dannyhale7645]

The legend of who created this mallet design is interesting, but Abraham Lincoln himself said not to believe everything you read on the Internet.

[@randomcat198]

My old English teacher had that quote on the wall of his classroom

[@supremegreaser2399]

Watched you make the whole thing, saw the finished product and thought out-loud. “How in tarnation did you make that thing?”

[@c.a.g.1977]

I know I saw this before, but was still thinking: But.... but... HOW??? Awesome project, James, well done!

[@scottswineford6714]

My shave horse and spoon pony which has a reversible seat, and a small carving bench all live outside under the oak tree year round. They are heavily oiled and the end grain is rubbed with paraffin every October. As I don't have or conditioning they get a lot of use during the Oklahoma summer.

[@clockman45]

I loved the way you measured the handle ..lol

[@myerscok]

Here’s my comment down below: A fascinating video, very good to watch. Not sure I’ll attempt to make one but I really enjoyed watching your process. Ken from BBC Southport UK.

[@am2dan]

I watched the whole thing on the other channel and had to come over here to watch the whole thing again to hear you explain what the heck. Really cool.

[@frederickwilt5541]

You must love the process. Skills like yours are admirable.

[@rangerhsschoolofbushcrafta4063]

Great vid and a really cool project well made! I wonder if you could improve the balance by cutting a slot into the bottom of the head, such that the blocky portion of the handle does not protrude below the head, but rather is flush with it. This would, of course, change the geometric aesthetic of the piece, but it may be a fun experiment.

[@vincethomrm]

It is indeed beautiful. Worthy of a God like Thor.

[@Hansenomics]

We have tool cameos here: LAJ and a 40 1/2. Well done you!

[@wj8108]

Got my leather strop and my favorite part was the sticker you put in there. Thank you and merry Christmas!!!

[@brendanlangord1687]

Very cool and interesting mallet. Thanks for sharing.

[@makermark67]

Great work! Tough build but beautiful outcome!

[@reticuluminfirma9407]

Such a neat design.

[@MCsCreations]

Amazing work, James! Stunning mallet!!! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊 And happy holidays!

[@dereksmith2910]

Thanks for explaining and showing on video the process.

[@thomasarussellsr]

Wouldove to see one with a purple heart or osage orange head, and a birdseye maple handle. But its still beautiful with the oak handle. Well done James.

[@nodarikirtadze8220]

That's the best explanation of this mallet I've seen so far, it does look cool too

[@SawForgeGarage]

Watching now. I have been wanting to make one of these.

[@brooklynpaul4003]

I'm gonna have to get in on that Secret Santa thing one year. Beautiful mallet!

[@EngineerMikeF]

I first saw this on Third Coast's channel, seen it elsewhere since & now here. still haven't made mine but thanks for the push, I'll break out the purpleheart.

[@kencarlile1212]

I've never had purpleheart _not_ work like that, as far as the purple to brown to purple goes! OTOH, I think I've been working off of the same piece of purpleheart for a couple years...

[@terryhastings1553]

Nicely done James! I'm surprised that you didn't carve designs in the head or handle

[@gordoncrates3508]

Great fun project James

[@iainmcculloch5807]

That is a beautiful mallet, even if it's not especially functional. The recipient is going to love it.

[@davegravel3740]

Saw a guy in threads make this. But he didn't angle the head. This looks like a great way to test your skills. I can say it is definitely beyond my skills right now.

[@michaelmcdermott2178]

Love this. Really relaxing to watch this one. Thanks!

[@karolczapko4790]

Oh man. I just love how people see something confusing and tend to call it " impossible" . Like, if it was already made, then it clearly is possible. Even if it means thinking thru it.

[@HemiDad1963]

Very nice. Beautiful, well built, and interesting.

[@myrawright282]

I was noticing your new back of the hand tattoo! 😂

[@Tobsen660]

Hey, you asked for questions for a survey. Here is one.... "Cut to the line with the saw or stay away from the line?" I started a few years ago cutting always to the line. It takes some time, but in the end boosts your sawskills...

[@tomcatfoolery]

If memory serves, I think Third Coast Craftsman also did a version of this. I think your voice-over is better.

[@upsidedowndog1256]

Very cool. That is a great teaching aid for many different skills. Pretty too!

[@gregorypennell1755]

“Comment down below”…Ha! I did it! Thanks for the explanation on how this puzzle works.

[@hassanal-mosawi4235]

Thanks for sharing that, and the make!

[@siiiiiiiiiimo]

1:18 my mouth does that when I'm sawin too hahahaha

[@rickmmakes]

If you want an ovalish turned head you can do multi axis turning and sand it smooth to round it over

[@egonmilanowski]

With the Barnes lathe, you can offset the handle while turning it to make an oval handle.

[@philaandrew100]

Noice. Purple Heart is a purdy timber. One of these days I must get around to finishing off the one I started to build a few years ago...

[@paulzirker706]

Great work James

[@dfmtoolworks]

Super cool build !

[@The_Shiny_Red_Dingus_of_Mingus]

I snapped a mid-blade tooth off of my Diston D8 12tpi crosscut, but I don't want to talk about it... it's sort of a saw point!

[@egbluesuede1220]

I've always wanted to try this, but I'm intimidated. Maybe.....yours looks great, especially like the purple heart.

[@hairy-one]

I think I heard Roy Underhill say, when he made one, that Abe Lincoln made (improved?) this mallet.

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@DudeMan-v6r]

I found a couple pieces of oak laying around this gives an excuse to break out the table saw .. i could make it by hand but i just bought new carving chisels and i cant wait to use them.. they dont have strike plates so im thinking a wooden mallet is must have

[@tomretterath9809]

😳That looks awesome!!

[@WilsonPhotography1]

As always, good work.

[@TheBottegaChannel]

I wonder if it's viable to make an impossible% improbable mallet version of a cane head using a laminated style of construction and a brass ferrule to hold everything together? You think that is possible?

[@huntfishtrap]

Great video. Great project!

[@ethanw8205]

Beautiful work as always!

[@JackFright]

Hi James. This looks great. I'm getting closer to starting mine. I'm not looking to do the impossible dovetail but I noticed that Rex has bulges right at the base of his traditional mallet and you have much larger ones on this since they are needed to make the dovetail work. I'm looking to include the bulges for the same reason that rex wants them there (and you after a fashion). It's a way to register the tool in your hand and know right where the face of the mallet is by feel. I'm thinking of wedging with a taper on all four faces of my handle. The bulges will be the same size as the exit on the bottom of the mallet head and 3/4" down from that will transition into the handle itself. Does something like this sound viable?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Generally the head sitting against your hand will register it for you. You want your hands to be as close to the head as possible for balance. A hammer is held at the end of the handle where as a mallet is held up by the head. That's one of the things I don't like about this handle is I can't move my hand all the way up to the head. It just feels awkward in the hand.

[@tommoeller7149]

Fun project..Thx!

[@alancook303]

You’re a magician James

[@dsb227]

Wow Dude, looks great!

[@mariushegli]

I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.

[@michaeldoto4673]

This is probably a dumb question, but here it it: could you round the striking faces and use it as a chisel carving mallet? Obviously, the overall size would be smaller, but since in carving your more or tapping the chisel. In this case, will the construction method of the mallet be strong enough? It would certainly be a unique mallet either way. Happy Christmas y’all!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

you could but you would probably want to make it smaller for that. but you could turn it round if you wanted to.

[@MichaelBrown-t3c]

Process to plane Purple Heart (and bloodwood, Ipe, Ironwood, Bubinga) always seems like: Step 1: sharpen plane iron to keenness of scalpel Step 2: take 1 pass along the wood Step 3: goto step 1.

[@chrismoore6359]

Thumbs up for the video; especially the rad shirt (I'm here for all the math jokes).

[@marcbarash6045]

Thanks James

[@charitiekbyrd1]

Awesome build 💯😁, that's my 2 seconds of yt fame for today!😂😂

[@frankclancy508]

Near the end you talked about how using a very fine sandpaper to fill the pores allowed the oil to soak in but i thought it was the other way you shouldnt sand over like idk 60 or something because the finish wonts soak in.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Whr fine dust in the poors will wick the oil in a bit more and give greater contrast to the wood. With woods like Maple you don't want to do that as that will cause them to appear blotchy. But for woods like oak and Ash you do want that because they don't get blotchy but you see the grain pop out more. I have a live video I did a couple years ago showing it under a microscope where the dust actually pulls the oil in deeper.

[@nevinmurtha1670]

Would a turning saw with a fine bade work better than the Japanese saw?

[@Maninawig]

A question about purple heart; last time I looked for naturally coloured wood (wanted to make a chess board), all I found was very soft redwood. Looking into this one, I see it is described as a hearty and durable wood... does this mean it's a hardwood?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

It is extremely hardwood. Between this and bloodwood or paduke they are incredibly hard.

[@Maninawig]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo thanks! Now I have three options to look into in the spring when I'm ready to pull out the tools. There's just something about using the natural colour of the wood that I find brings out the beauty.

[@davidpeters8813]

Amazing work. What is the difference between a file and a float?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Here is a short on that. kzbin.infozyag1jLCuB0?si=pLBNutEFfUtU0dQQ

[@davidpeters8813]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo thank you,

[@jclwyd]

An interesting project

[@jamesthompson7825]

Looks a little more complicated than the Gottschall block. Turned out great! I wonder how much total time it really took to make and film the project.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

This one was about 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours.

[@pettere8429]

It would make a nice pendulum for a grandfather clock.

[@NomadicHacker.]

Great video

[@cuttwice3905]

That's a beautiful show piece comment.

[@KennethKassabian]

Truly handmade.

[@robohippy]

I have looked at that type of mallet and just say no way. Mostly this comes from 30 years of construction work, and a lot of that was before nail guns became popular, and we drove most of the nails by hand. Square face, square hit, nail goes straight in. In theory at least. Maybe I should try one some day.... Side note, you can turn an oval handle on the lathe. Off set your mounting points, so instead of just one center, you have 2, and that will leave you with flat sides and rounded top and bottom.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That's one of the big differences between a hammer and a mallet. With a hammer you hold it at the end of the handle with a mallet you hold it right up at the head. And if you have a square head on a mallet it forces you to twist your wrist more and actually makes it harder. So mallets have an angled head and hammers have a flat face.

[@robohippy]

I am guessing that the size of the mallet makes a lot of difference in where you hold it. When you were using your small mallet, you were holding it near the end rather than the head. I may still need to make one just to see for myself....

[@davidlynn7161]

Below comment, 1 each. But really that is amazing beautiful work.

[@anpr5309]

So no glue is used at all? Nice job BTW.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

no need for glue on this one.

[@PedroPereira-ut6pp]

Know to make the impossible chisel!!

[@MG-vo7is]

Very cool!

[@patrickhoxie9175]

I’m be tried this mallet 3x in the last 4 years. It’s very time consuming and one wrong grain direction and those corners will explode. My first time actually went better than my third time! So, I dunno. One of these days I’ll give it another shot.

[@keithrosenberg5486]

It might be functional if you get a Viking outfit and helmet and wield it!

[@markgiammona6601]

Considering that this work of art is functional, but not a great mallet, what would be great mallet, that works better than it looks?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

The traditional English joiners mallet is my favorite. Here's a video kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYCXgqeggtqBarMsi=RbWsyZCP0LluliLU

[@LaurelSchaafsma]

Why did you use a cheap new, modern saw in some these scenes?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

For rough large crosscutting they are very useful.

[@jrherman3rd]

Old Grunt was here. Duck farts!

[@Rossco242424]

super cool

[@Bogusalways]

What is the brand of that brass back tenon saw?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I believe you are talking about the Bad Axe.

[@Bogusalways]

@WoodByWrightHowTo yes, I searched it up and that is the same one that you're using. I really like the design of it and will be looking into buying it. Thank you.

[@bogdanaasarbu8038]

How do you choose the angle for the face of the mallet?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Just eyeball it. Something that looks about that. If you want exact measurements there's a link in the description but I generally prefer to just find an angle that fits the geometry available.

[@SomcoCape]

Comment from South Africa

[@WoodenBoatBen]

INCONCEIVABLE!

[@alexanderkononov1113]

Nice!

[@theidlehandsworkshop3884]

I was going to ask if this was the one reportedly made by Lincoln, now for the obligatory snide comment... PPE Much ??? Just because you work with hand tools doesn't mean you're exempt... and it was amazing how fast you bored that mortise out, almost as if it was motor driven... ok, guess that was like 3 in 1, but it's the season for giving

[@walterrider9600]

thamk you

[@KevinOMalleyisonlysmallreally]

It's there a reason you and Rex are both using big box saws?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

For big rough cross cuts they are great. They don't leave a very fine cut but they're fast and efficient and dirt cheap. I'm currently experimenting with a few of them. Big rough cross cuts are about the only case where they're useful though.

[@Hansenomics]

I love purple heart.

[@bronsonstephens5799]

Haha. Using the mallet as a mallet before it was even a mallet.

[@rfeighner9142]

You can make a shave ponie that fits on your bench

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

The problem is where to put it when not in use.

[@philswindler3361]

I like it.

[@tatehogan5685]

Sticking true to the name, plant based like the burger

[@MartinHelton-p3m]

I would like to see them making a saw

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Hopefully that video will be out next saturday.