Mauls : Poly or Rawhide

[Tkleather1]

Well that explains half of the shoulder problems, Cat mechanic,Riding bulls, and cowboy work probably explain the rest. You know I think I might get one of the tapered mauls next time and try it out for more than 2 minutes. All of what you guys are saying sure makes a whole lot of sense. I find myself with my round maul getting so tired in my shoulders that I cant hardly hold them up any more. and then in turn have a lot of glancing blows and beat up fingers and knuckles. Thanks for the insight even though I am not the one who started the post.

[hidepounder]

Unfortunately mauls is something that my son and I played with qute a bit when we were testing and trying what we liked best. We probably gave away 10-12 mauls with exotic wood handles and 3-4 leather handled ones to people that were starting out. We have several of Barry's, a Maul Master , a Stohlman and many handmade ones.

I prefer the poly hands down to the rawhide because as Bruce Gibson so accurately stated "....Rawhide peels and flakes like a sun-roasted tourist." I haven't tried one of Wayne's either. it was interesting to hear Bruce Johnson's choices.... I prefer the tapered on for because it allows me to tool a little longer without feeling as tired. The reason being is that my elbow is slightly lower and I don't have to expend as much energy (simple biomechanics). The one that we use for stamping larger basketweaves and geometrics has some extra weight added to the top end of the maul. We have also going to try a maul with a larger diameter piece of poly.

Bruce is right...test and try to see what you like.

Bob - Which one did you like so much?

Regards,

Ben

Ben, I like the mauls that Bob Beard used to make. They were made out of some sort of black polymer. He had to stop making them because he couldn't get the material anymore. They don't bounce, they grip the tool, there is absolutely no flaking and they last many times longer than than the white poly. The heads are a little longer which allows me to choke up and use the end for a light strike on 2/3 oz leather or when I want more weight I can strike near the base. These mauls were cast, handle and all. I had heard that Hadlock & Fox was making them, however when I called a while back, they informed me they were not making them and no longer sold them. My assumption is that they were carrying Bob's and of course are out of them. I have a 16oz, 20oz & 24 oz. Wish I had a 12oz and a 32oz. I have never seen a used one for sale, and have never been able to talk anyone else out of theirs......oh well!

Bob

[greg gomersall]

Does anybody use a stamping stick when carving anyore. i have a single ended one as well as a double. Use these and maul's steady. Greg

[Kevinjohnson]

Hey Bruce and Greg, has either of you used the maul that Bob, just came from a Phish concert, Beard use to make. They are the only ones I used for the last 8 or 10 yrs. and would not trade them for anything or maybe a dime bag which I could trade for more mauls. Greg, not sure, but I think I saw one of those double headed mauls in a magazine one time? It was probably in Shop Talk or The Leather Crafters J.

[bruce johnson]

Kevin,

I haven't used the black mauls because everyone who has won't give them up. I am kind of recalling that Gore tools used to sell them or something like them too?? I haven't used the stamping sticks but a lot of those old guys did. I haven't been around anyone who used them, just don't have the experience. I got started with a Maul-master, enough said there. I got a couple straight ones from Barry, and then a couple tapered ones from Wayne after I tried them at a show. I like them all for different things.

[Bree]

I have a 64 oz maul that I got from Weaver which is made by Barry King and a 20 oz that I got directly from Barry at a show. The Weaver Master Tools Mauls are Barry King mauls at a discount... at least the last time I looked.

[superchute]

ok have to speak out I made my maul out of hockey pucks and the 2 pucks my maul is 20 oz. I like how it kinda grips when I hit with it and is 3 inches acrost so a little bigger then some. i have made 3 with wooden handles and put some pucks on my Dads STahlman maul and he like it better then the harder plastic.

Russ

Edited March 19, 2009 by superchute

[BruceGibson]

ok have to speak out I made my maul out of hockey pucks and the 2 pucks my maul is 20 oz. I like how it kinda grips when I hit with it and is 3 inches acrost so a little bigger then some. i have made 3 with wooden handles and put some pucks on my Dads STahlman maul and he like it better then the harder plastic.

Russ

I'd like to see that. Have you got any pictures?

[superchute]

here is my puck maul

Russ

[gtwister09]

Greg,

I had a couple but don't use them anymore. One was extremely poorly made and the other had so much lead in the end that it was too top heavy (the center of gravity was about 1.25 inches from that end).....so I never really took to using them.

Bob,

I had one of those but never really liked the feel and the action of them. I gave it away (Don't worry it was a 24 oz). However I have to add that it did seem a little better for stamping basketweaves and geometrics. So we adopted some of the ideas of the heft at the end of the maul (additional weight and longer/larger diameter maul heads) to make one that I like for that purpose. One of these days I will get a metal lathe and turn some brass to replace the washers at the end of the maul. The washers work great when prototyping because you can keep adding weight as you test them.

A lot of the poly heads are HDPE (High Density Polyethene) and some are UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethene). I have not seen much HDPE in black rod form but I have seen UHMWPE and ABS in black a lot. Both of them also come in White and sometimes green. I have a sneaking suspicion that Bob's might be ABS Machine Grade Rods like Lustran 752 or Polycarbonate like Hydex 4301. It most likely is the ABS due to the Rockwell hardness and a fairly high impact resistance. I would have to look at them to see because it has been quite a while since I gave mine away.

When I was looking and selecting rods for the heads I looked at 3 specific properties to gauge it by. The hardness (Rockwell R or Shore D for plastics), density or specific gravity and impact resistance (specifically notched izod due the the edges of tools sometimes striking at less than a 90 degree angle). The three that I considered were Lustran 752 (ABS), Hydex 4301 (Polycarbonate) or UHMWPE.

Here's the three specs for them.

You notice that UHMWPE has the best overall impact resistance but falls behind in hardness to the Lustran ABS. However a 69R for hardness isn't too shabby either. The Lustran has the highest hardness and the 2nd highest notched impact resistance. Either one would be a good choice but I would stay away from HDPE because it is about 10R less and it's notched izod for impact resistance is low at 1.5-3.

Regards,

Ben

P.S. Probably more than you wanted to know about plastic rod!!!!