Cheap Mallets (Mauls)?

[Tex Shooter]

I have been using a rawhide mallet for quite some time. Because I live on SS plus a little extra and taxes and insurance take one half of my income I don't have extra to spend. I have wanted a maul for quite a while but have not found one cheap at a garage sale or etc. I have seen a couple of wood working mallets (mauls like about $15) cheap at sales but did not know if they would work well with steel leather stamps and etc. So now my question is has any body tried a "Shop Fox" or "Wood is Good" maul (they call them mallets) for leatherwork. They do show up once in a while at garage sales. -- Tex

[Gump]

Tex; You can buy ultra high molecular weight polyethylene in 2" dia., in any length you want for very little[ 2' cost me $ 12]. Simply drill a hole through from end to end and use either a long bolt or threaded rod and stack leather washers on till you have the length needed. Tighten nut with large washer until leather is tight and sand to shape. UHMW polyethylene is very dense but won't hurt your tools. Stonemasons use it to make their hammers/mallets out of so they don't mushroom the tops of their chisels. It can be drilled side to side and fitted with a wooden machinist hammer handle. I made one 4" long, drilled sideways and total cost was about $6. Works very well, no signs of wear so far, 1 yr old. Gump

[GerryR]

Any reason not to use a "dead-blow" hammer like the Nupla hammers. They would seem to be more effective than a standard mallet, are available in various weights, and are reasonably inexpensive. They are even available with interchangeable faces of varying hardnesses of plastic, copper, brass and steel. Maybe not as pretty as a maul, but I would think at least as effective. Just a thought.

[Matt S]

If you are simply using it to hit chisels, punches etc almost anything will do so long as it doesn't doesn't marr the tool. Wooden mallet, nylon hammer, hardwood branch, piece of 2x4...

[Jasonlboyd]

Great thread! I was considering turning my own maul. I will reconsider.

[Cyberthrasher]

Deadblow really shouldn't be used for general tooling. For setting snaps/rivets/etc... - go for it. But when you're tooling, you want to TAP, and not STRIKE the tool. It requires finesse to get good results. I have contemplated finding some of those wood working mauls to try out though. The primary thing you'll want to watch for is good balance and comfort. Hold it in your hand and rock your wrist back and forth (no forearm movement) to see if it's comfortable.