Mallets/mauls

[Sylvia]

It isn't the weight, it is the feel of it, it's the balance.

I just went and got them together and even though the weights are similar,

the AS maul is top heavy and that makes it feel much heavier in my hand.

I would rather use my old wood Tandy mallet than the AS maul.

The Bearman maul is far superior, ( oh - in my humble opinion )

Anyone want to buy my AS maul?

I bet Double C would if the price was right.

[TwinOaks]

Thanks for the good topic Sylvia, I've been kinda wondering about this. With all the good reviews on the mauls, I feel kind of silly boring out the spare wood mallet and using shot pellets to make a wooden dead blow hammer.

[busted]

How much do you want for your outdated AS maul?

It isn't the weight, it is the feel of it, it's the balance.

I just went and got them together and even though the weights are similar,

the AS maul is top heavy and that makes it feel much heavier in my hand.

I would rather use my old wood Tandy mallet than the AS maul.

The Bearman maul is far superior, ( oh - in my humble opinion )

Anyone want to buy my AS maul?

[DoubleC]

Wow I just woke up and what a wealth of info. I'm going to have to read this all again. Although Sylvia is right, I'd use an AS right now if I could afford it. I had already contacted Bearman before I went to sleep and asked about his mauls because I wanted one of his awls and asked if I could change that to a maul. I haven't checked my messages yet so need to do that to make a decision. Now I have to decide what SIZE because I need something that will do oblong punches, and strap end and could use my silly Tandy wood mallet for the little amount of tooling I have a chance to do these days compared to the other things I do. I'm going to probably write Sylvia since I'm still 1/2 asleep from being up so long yesterday before I laid down to let her just tell me what I need, LOL. GREAT info. Cheryl

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the good topic Sylvia, I've been kinda wondering about this. With all the good reviews on the mauls, I feel kind of silly boring out the spare wood mallet and using shot pellets to make a wooden dead blow hammer.

That certainly is a valid temporary solution, Twin. Ive considered doing that myself! But even with a bunch of lead shot I don't think you'll get the heft you want, unless you melted the lead and poured it directly into the cavity. If you got lucky and it didn't catch fire... it might work. lol

From what I gather 14oz to 20oz Poly headed mauls are preferred, for all around use, with 5-9oz being used for lighter more delicate stamping. Balance seems to be important depending on the users method of holding the maul. I tend to old my mallet like I would a 16oz framing hammer... all the way down on the handle. Especially when I am using brute force to get some of these larger punches to go through.

According to the young man at Barry King (not Barry, and I've forgotten his name), the white material is the most resilient, and there was some side note about nylon I don't recall. The brown and black apparently have a slightly, almost indiscernible, difference in feel from the white and yellow.

[BearMan]

Hi Everybody,

There are some major differences between the Nylon head materials & the Brown/Black head materials. Nylon is a good durable product,,, but, it does have some drawbacks. First off, there are several grades of Nylon. Nylon is a very hard, Very Slippery plastic. That's one reason it's used as bearings in some industrial applications. That's one of the reasons that some people cut grooves in the surface, to help increase the friction, between the Nylon & the stamping tool. The hardness of the Nylon is transferred to the toolers wrists, elbows, & shoulders. Nylon is far better than the Rawhide head material.

But,,, there is a much better head material. It's the exact same material that Bob Beard used to use in his mauls. If it wasn't for Bob Beard's approval, I wouldn't have started making these mauls. Bob & a several other top notch toolers say that these are the Best mauls made today. I of course have to agree. Bob, will tell you,,, that this material has lots of benifits, such as: It doesn't flake, it doesn't chip, it "grips" the tools a lot better, so that it doesn't slip off nearly as bad,,, but one of the main benifits as far as I'm concered, is that it reduces the shock load that your arm feels with each strike. I hear it all the time from people when they tell me that they can tool a lot longer, with less,,, or no pain compared to the other materials out there. Another benifits of this maul design, is the balance. Basically the balance just makes it a lot easier for most people to tool easier & longer. There are a few people that actually like a longer, or different shape handle,,, everybody is different. Not everybody likes Ford or Chevy either,,, hehehe

If we are to believe the experts, like Bob Beard, Bob Park, Chan Geer, & many more,, they swear by these mauls. It took me several years to develop the "BearMauls", because I knew there had to be a better material than Nylon,,, & this is it.

Please don't get me wrong,,, Barry King's mauls, & the Stohlman mauls are pretty good mauls,,, but when you need or want something that is truly better,,, just look us up.

But,,,what it really boils down to is ,,,, what works best for you. There are still some people that are still using "striking" sticks to tool with. I just say use what works best for you.

Thanks for listening,,, Ed

[Sylvia]

Hi Ed:

Thank you for providing us with extra insight on the poly vs. nylon vs. rawhide thing.

So let me get this straight... you are placing Barry King's Mauls in the same category as Al Stohlman ones?

[DoubleC]

Ed I appreciate you explaining that and clearing it up. You already know I want one of yours as soon as I can afford it. Not that yours are expensive; they are right in line with the other ones but I mean until I can afford any maul. And you've been so patient with me changing my mind 12 dozen times. Someday I hope to have every size you make :-) Cheryl

[BearMan]

Hi Sylvia,

No, In my opinion, the Barry King mauls are a much better than the Stohlman. I've had the opportunity to replace the leather handles with some exotic woods. Between the 2, the quality seemed to be much better in the BK mauls.

[LNLeather]

How much do you want for your outdated AS maul?

I'll put the AS Mallet in the Marketplace Items For Sale

Thanks again leatherworker.net for all of the great information available here. If I hadn't found this place,

I could have spent a lot of time and money in search of many things, including my favorite (Bearman) maul.

Edited May 20, 2012 by LNLeather