Maul? Mallet? Hammer?

[highnoonhunter]

Hi everyone,

I've been doing leatherwork for several years, but I don't really know what type of tool to use for striking my punches, chisels, and/or rivet setters with?

I've tried a plain ol' wood mallet, nylon mallet, dead blow hammer, brass hammer, etc., but I really don't feel none of those are suitable. They are either worn out in a couple weeks, or they damage my tools.

Can ya'll lead me in the right direction please?

Thanks in advance!

hnh

[TimKleffner]

Howdy

when your working your tools DO NOT use steel or metal hammers. It will destroy your tools. If you feel that the hammer your using isn't enough to do the job ... it probably isn't. You may want to try a heavier hammer or maul. Stay away from wood hammers or mauls. they are not the right material to do what you want.

I have several heavy plastic mauls from 24-36 oz to do heavy work. I also went to the hardware store and bought a 30 or 40 oz lead filled hammer. [dead blow hammer].

Depending on what your doing ... ONE hammer/ maul won't do the trick.

p.s. .. don't use them heavy mauls/ hammers on your tooling tools .. they will bend the tool.

Happy Tooling

Tim

[esantoro]

I'd be sure to have a 3lb maul on hand. I think I'd also like to have a 20 to 24 oz maul as well. I find my 3lbs mallet is getting lonely due to lack of use. It's riding the pine, as they say. I don't even know where my wood, plastic, and rawhide mallets are and do not care to look for them.

The maul was new to me some time ago, as I had been using only a mallet. It soon overtook the mallet in usefulness.

ed

[TimKleffner]

I'd be sure to have a 3lb maul on hand. I think I'd also like to have a 20 to 24 oz maul as well. I find my 3lbs mallet is getting lonely due to lack of use. It's riding the pine, as they say. I don't even know where my wood, plastic, and rawhide mallets are and do not care to look for them.

The maul was new to me some time ago, as I had been using only a mallet. It soon overtook the mallet in usefulness.

ed

Ed,

I have multiple mauls and rawhide mallets. I'm with you, I LIKE my plastic face maul. I own Bob Beard black rubber mauls in multiple weights and have Barry King mauls in multiple weights. I find that I like the Barry King mauls better.

Tim

[highnoonhunter]

Thanks for the replies!

I'll see if I can google those mauls ya'll have mentioned to see what I need.

hnh

[TimKleffner]

Thanks for the replies!

I'll see if I can google those mauls ya'll have mentioned to see what I need.

hnh

Both Barry King and Robert Beard have web sites.

Robert Beard 505.632 7039 Barry King 307 672 5657

Both mauls are well worth the price.

Happy Tooling

Tim

[Bree]

Barry Kings mauls (both Barry and Weaver sell them) are excellent. I also like old fashioned rawhide mallets. I use both and like both.

[highnoonhunter]

Thanks Tim & Bree.......................

I have saw those before. But just didn't know for sure what to use. Wish I'd found this site long ago! Sure woulda saved a lot of trial and error.................. and some beat up tools!

hnh

[wildrose]

I'm going to add my rave for the Barry King maul and mallet. I have one of each (yeah, I'm low key on the quantity!) and I love them.

[ContactCement]

What about 1 lb or 2 lb brass hammers. Are they softer than the cheap overpriced import metal stamps ?

[Spinner]

Don't forget about Bearman Mauls & Beary Mauls. I've had a Barry King, Al Stohlman and tried a Bob Beard and I like the new material Ed "The Bearman" & Beary LaBarre are using; it is better than any of them. I have a 28oz. for punching and have a 21oz and a 9oz on the way to fill some spots/replace others. Once my budget for them comes back up I'll be replacing my 16oz with one of their mauls as well. Here's a pic of the custom handled (Amboyna Burl) 28oz Beary made for me last year. Even pounding with nearly 2lbs on slot & hole punches, there almost no impact vibration. Ed's surprising me on the custom wood option for the two new ones. They can be reached at LeatherBurnishers@Yahoo.com

I'm working on updating their website (http://www.leatherburnishers.com) for them to add the maul info so here's a little info in the meantime:

Standard BearMaul weights are from 14oz up to 21oz. and start at $74.50 are available using one of many types of wood such as, Cocobolo, Rosewoods, Figured Asian Satinwood, Purple Heart, Paduak, & possibly more.

BearMauls from 22oz up to 28oz, will add $10.00 to the price because of the larger head material required.

Custom mauls are limited only by our combined imaginations. An example of a Custom Bearman Maul feature is a special medallion in place of the standard decorated head cap. Custom BearMauls start at $87.50 on up. The price varies depending on the type of wood wanted, & other Customization options.

Each BearMaul is a Handmade Very Functional work of Art, which takes time to make. Wait times can range from 2 weeks up to about 4 months, depending on work load, & complexity of design. Priority shipping for a single Maul, within the US is $9.50 and for most other contries is just $18.95 .

Previous Bearman Maul photos can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/BearMauls

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. - yeah, I know it's a dead old thread, but since it was revived it made sense to add recent info of one of our member vendors.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Spinner

[Mudruck]

Don't forget about Bearman Mauls & Beary Mauls. I've had a Barry King, Al Stohlman and tried a Bob Beard and I like the new material Ed "The Bearman" & Beary LaBarre are using; it is better than any of them. I have a 28oz. for punching and have a 21oz and a 9oz on the way to fill some spots/replace others. Once my budget for them comes back up I'll be replacing my 16oz with one of their mauls as well. Here's a pic of the custom handled (Amboyna Burl) 28oz Beary made for me last year. Even pounding with nearly 2lbs on slot & hole punches, there almost no impact vibration. Ed's surprising me on the custom wood option for the two new ones. They can be reached at LeatherBurnishers@Yahoo.com

I'm working on updating their website (http://www.leatherburnishers.com) for them to add the maul info so here's a little info in the meantime:

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. - yeah, I know it's a dead old thread, but since it was revived it made sense to add recent info of one of our member vendors.

I'll second the Beary & Bearman mauls. Got one a little while ago and it is absolutely amazing! The head material can't even be compared to the poly head material. I had a 16oz Tandy AS maul and even at 16oz it felt front heavy. The Beary maul that I got has a balance that you almost have to feel to describe. When you're holding it, the 21oz Beary maul feels lighter then the 16oz AS but weighs a full 21oz and is much easier on the wrist after hours of tooling.

[88 Custom Leathers]

I am looking into getting a new set of mallets, mauls, but its a bit interesting to see the different weights used fro different thing. I have a 24 oz maul that I use religiously for my punches. though I have been weary about what weight seems suitable for tooling...any suggestions from my fellow leather pounders out there?

[genewshipp]

I have not read every post here....but I recently destroyed my Craftool maul.

I was basket weaving two layers of 1/16" leather.  Not sure what weight that is.

Because I had stamped it the first time with so much water that it was soggy, it looked poor. 

Very.

Ugly.

So with the right amount of water,  which was a little hard to tell (a) because I had already stamped it and (b) because it is very white veg tan leather (from Tandy) it was hard to see much burnish, if any, after re-stamping an area.  The stamp is a Tandy hourglass basket weave.  (See a pattern?)

Point is I was hitting it very hard.   Had to to get a good looking impression.  That and i previously whacked my daughter's flower stamp so hard that I broke my granite.  That time the leather was thinner than 1/16 and one layer.

The maul (i'm guessing two pound, it was the biggest one they had the day I was there) now has divots in it.  If I hit one of them along its edge it turns the maul.

Will every maul do this,  if hit hard enough?  Or are Craftool mauls softer than the high dollar ones?

I probably did not have the leather soaked all the way through on both occasions.  I realize that that adds to how hard I had to hit.

Gene

[brmax]

Them Beary mauls look pretty dang nice, I'm late to this party though as a couple Barry K came in the mail recently.

But always the future and a 40 or bigger 48  might be used for some 1/2 eyelets.

Thanks for the tip, sure will keep them in mind next

Floyd