Maul From Acetyl Plastic

[Ryan Barto]

I was thinking about making a maul myself. I bought the acetyl plastic rod for the head and some wooden handles online. The store I bought the plastic told me that it is easy to cut even with a handsaw, but I now know differently. So, I have a rod of acetyl plastic 2.5" diameter and about 10" long. I'm curious if anyone has made a maul out of only this material, turning the rod on a lathe to make a handle but keeping the entire maul one solid piece. I'm thinking it may weaken it, causing the head to break off, but I may give it a try in the next few days. Anyone try this yet?

[dirtclod]

A one piece one might work. Like you said try and find out. As far as cutting a piece off i would think a parting tool ( that may be the wrong name for it anyway what you use to cut a piece when the lathe is turning would work. )

[TwinOaks]

You could probably design it so that it WOULD break, but a simple tapered transition should handle all the stress you'd ever put on it.

And if you're swinging hard enough to break a 1 inch thick acetal rod ( presuming your handle thickness), you're probably going to drive the tool through the leather and fracture your carving block. It's very tough stuff...

[Ryan Barto]

Thank you guys very much for your input. I was thinking this type of plastic should be tough enough to handle it, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to do something that someone had already tested. I'll post an update when I get around to turning the handle on it.