Big Papa Leather Report post Posted March 27, 2009 I took BearMan's inspiration and created my own lightweight maul. I used some Redheart wood and a 1X30 belt sander to shape the handle. The head is UHMW plastic rod 2" in diameter. The handle is much thicker than the BK maul I have. I like the BK maul and think it is a fine piece of work, but making my own was fun as well. I needed a drill press to drill the hole for the carriage bolt that runs through and connects the two pieces. It weighs in at 12.6 oz. I have only tested the maul on scrap but I am going to use it to make a project this weekend. It gave me ideas to make a heavier one. I am going to make another head that is hollow to allow the insertion of lead shot to create more weight. It may even give it a "dead blow" effect. The main problem I have is the plastic place requires a $25.00 minimum purchase. That will be a Huge amount of this stuff. I do not plan on going into production of these things so I might just revert to eBay to buy a smaller qty. So if you see Scissormedic bidding don't bid against me Let me know what you think, and again Bearman thanks for the inspiration! If anyone has any suggestions on the weighted head please let me know! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nocturne Report post Posted March 28, 2009 That's a good looking maul right there, I like it. Where did you get the material you used for the head? I've been looking at making my own, and what to use is giving me some trouble. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
McJeep Report post Posted March 28, 2009 That's it - I'm inspired AND cheep like borscht ;0) Made a call downtown and I can get a foot of the 3" for $16 Time to get the father inlaw working on his lathe and making me up a couple or three nice fat handles for my gimped paws :0) I figger a foot should net me 3 maul heads and we can turn a couple of em down for lighter weight. how long is the head on the one you made? Thanks bud! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Papa Leather Report post Posted March 28, 2009 The head on mine is 2" diameter and 2.25" in length. I am going to pick up some more at the local plastic shop prolly next week. Interstate plastic is the name. Interstate has alot of locations search them on google and see if one is close to you. I intend to try and make few more. Allen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
howardb Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Hints to all: Pack the lead shot tight or use a brass slug. You do NOT want a dead-blow type maul. I experimented with a DBH and it was an unmitigated disaster. You need a nice sharp impact to dent the leather, not a softened one! Trust me on that... If you work in a manufacturing environment, get friendly with a local plastics distributor (or find someone who is). Sometimes you can get samples for FREE! And a sample to those guys would make you a handful of mauls! doesn't have to be UHMW. Try Delrin (acetal / POM) for a harder, longer lasting surface. Nylon would work too. Now all I need is a lathe... Brent Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdkid Report post Posted April 6, 2009 Looks like I have another item for the to-do list. Found some delrin on ebay. I'll have to find some nice wood for a handle and try my hand with the lathe. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
asquaregarden Report post Posted December 7, 2012 I took BearMan's inspiration and created my own lightweight maul. I used some Redheart wood and a 1X30 belt sander to shape the handle. The head is UHMW plastic rod 2" in diameter. The handle is much thicker than the BK maul I have. I like the BK maul and think it is a fine piece of work, but making my own was fun as well. I needed a drill press to drill the hole for the carriage bolt that runs through and connects the two pieces. It weighs in at 12.6 oz. I have only tested the maul on scrap but I am going to use it to make a project this weekend. It gave me ideas to make a heavier one. I am going to make another head that is hollow to allow the insertion of lead shot to create more weight. It may even give it a "dead blow" effect. The main problem I have is the plastic place requires a $25.00 minimum purchase. That will be a Huge amount of this stuff. I do not plan on going into production of these things so I might just revert to eBay to buy a smaller qty. So if you see Scissormedic bidding don't bid against me Let me know what you think, and again Bearman thanks for the inspiration! If anyone has any suggestions on the weighted head please let me know! How did the UHMW work? Did you have to replace the head? If so after how long? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whiteeugene Report post Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) Great post I was looking at buying a new one this may work just as good and I can get enough material for several I just ordered 1 foot of each type will see witch one works best. Now if I could get a tool that applied the correct amount of force and automatically kept the spacing correct. Thanks guys Doug Edited December 7, 2012 by whiteeugene Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
asquaregarden Report post Posted December 7, 2012 Great post I was looking at buying a new one this may work just as good and I can get enough material for several I just ordered 1 foot of each type will see witch one works best. Now if I could get a tool that applied the correct amount of force and automatically kept the spacing correct. Thanks guys Doug Keep us posted on your results. I've been doing some research trying to figure out what the best material is. I have some UHMW and i did some testing on it before i even tried making a maul. What I found was that every hit on my stamp left an impression in the UHMW. All the info online as far as i can see(i am not a chemical or mechanical engineer) shows that this material has one of the highest impact resistance. I figured that means it doesn't break not that it doesn't dent. My next try was going to be Delrin. I was reading people's comments on the Bear mauls and they say it doesn't dent. I noticed some of them have brown heads and i did find that they make brown Delrin. I would really like to confirm what they use if anybody has a clue. Any confirmation or suggestion for material would be welcomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mcn Report post Posted December 8, 2012 Looks interesting. McJeep if you can get it for that price would you consider shipping some my way. I would rather pay a member here than some of the prices I saw on Ebay . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LNLeather Report post Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) There is something about this topic that just doesn't seem right. I can't quite put my finger on it... Please Forgive me for asking, but... If you want a Rrreally Great Maul like the ones that Ed the BearMan makes, then why not buy a real 'BEARMAUL' from him? http://leatherburnis.../BearMauls.html http://www.flickr.co...s/42560042@N03/ Edited December 9, 2012 by LNLeather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Southtexas Report post Posted December 9, 2012 I don't see a problem with this at all. Only discussion is on making our own tools. Not selling them. As to weighing... If you look at many of the commercial mauls you'll notice heavy metal discs at the top, sometimes between the head and handle also. Fender washers work, to some extent. Just load on as much weight as you need. I make my own mauls from 3/8" thick disks of lexan stacked on a 1/2" threaded rod. I found the lexan as scrap... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whiteeugene Report post Posted December 10, 2012 There is something about this topic that just doesn't seem right. I can't quite put my finger on it... Please Forgive me for asking, but... If you want a Rrreally Great Maul like the ones that Ed the BearMan makes, then why not buy a real 'BEARMAUL' from him? http://leatherburnis.../BearMauls.html http://www.flickr.co...s/42560042@N03/ I suppose for the same reason we carve our own leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted December 11, 2012 There is something about this topic that just doesn't seem right. I can't quite put my finger on it... Please Forgive me for asking, but... If you want a Rrreally Great Maul like the ones that Ed the BearMan makes, then why not buy a real 'BEARMAUL' from him? http://leatherburnis.../BearMauls.html http://www.flickr.co...s/42560042@N03/ I have to agree with the above. Ed does great work. Both attractive and functional. He also does great tooling, awsome actually. But the reason many of us are here is we like to make our own stuff. Some of us here only want to do a limited amount of stuff, others like to do as much as possible ourselves. I personally will oftentimes spend more money and many hours duplicating something I like but want to make one myself. I would like to know exactly what the brown material is too. Aaron Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LNLeather Report post Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) Yup, I Totally agree with you... making tools is perfectly OK and I love how everyone freely shares their leather work knowledge here. I think that is Wonderful... I love that about Leatherworker.net. But, the name of this topic is not about just making a tool or a maul... it is about a BearMan inspired maul and I just thought it was important to give credit where credit is due…… and imho - I Think that should have been done in the beginning – it could have been done easily… Just to explain my thinking - This topic went from talking about dimensions and materials for making a BearMan inspired maul - to someone asking “if you can get it for that price would you consider shipping some my way” **I just didn't know if that question was in reference to shipping material or shipping finished mauls. **Especially after the trouble Spinner had with someone stealing his design for the burnishers. *****You all may not have thought about this or may not be aware of this but There are A lot of people that read these posts that are not members of Leatherworker.net and have no idea who the BearMan is. Also, there are a lot of new members here every day that read these posts, that have no idea who the BearMan is……… BearMan has been a member here since 2008 and has a Business/Website selling the BearMaul, among other things, and is one of the nicest and kindest fella's around. http://leatherburnis.../BearMauls.html http://www.flickr.co...s/42560042@N03/ BTW - I love my BearMan Maul... Edited December 11, 2012 by LNLeather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ferg Report post Posted December 11, 2012 Cheryl, I understand where you are coming from, but...... There are folks that like to make things for themselves and are capable and have the equipment to do so. Most have little desire to manufacture the Mauls and sell them. From experience in our family business, many folks have tried to emulate what we do, they quite often simply do not "get it". Lots of work and many hours devoted. We have done our thing for over 35 years now. Been copied by the major manufacturers, very few if any still make the product. Bearman has a Niche market, he and his son do their "thing" very well. I wouldn't worry too much about this if I were you. ferg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LNLeather Report post Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) I wouldn't worry too much about this if I were you. ferg I'm not worried Oh Ferg..... I guess you missed the first part of the last post where I said "Yup, I Totally agree with you... making tools is perfectly OK"..... Edited December 11, 2012 by LNLeather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
