Mallet Opinions

[earthling33]

I'm a complete newb and I'm getting ready to order a basic carving set and a mallet. I'd like to get good quality stuff. I watched one video tutorial where the guy said there's nothing that compares to a good rawhide mallet. Is this true? Is a rawhide mallet the defacto quality standard? I have an 11 oz leather mallet in my cart, but I thought I'd ask for opinions before I pull the trigger.

[Mudruck]

Personally, I have used a mallet in the past and it was okay. I picked up a 21oz maul from Bearman and it is awesome and I would never go back. The balance is much better and it makes longer tooling sessions easier on the arms and wrist. Bearman makes some amazingly beautiful mauls as well!

[Hi Im Joe]

I don't do a ton of tooling but it seems that everyone who does uses mauls rather than mallets.

[Luke Hatley]

Get a Maul...you'll never go back..............

[earthling33]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It looks like I'll be buying a maul or two.

I'm going over to Grand Rapids tomorrow to visit the Tandy Leather Factory store. I want to find some material to start working on.

John

[St8LineGunsmith]

order your tools from springfield leather they are less expensive and you can save a good deal with their wholesale club membership

plus the barry king mauls are better quality than the al stholman mauls

I use the 1 pound maul but thats just me.

[WyomingSlick]

I am with the guy in the video. A mallet is better. The thing is that you need to use it correctly. In tooling, it is not used like you would use a hammer for driving nails. For most tooling, you need to use it by holding it lightly in your palm and fingers, about midway on the handle, and tap the tool by twisting your wrist while resting your elbow on the table. For lighter taps you may choke up on the handle, that is move your hand closer to the head. This allows you to have a kind of bouncing motion which makes it easier to walk your beveler along.

Mauls are favored by toolers who do a lot of deep tooling on saddles. The maul's one big advantage is that they are usually heavier than mallets and thus are easier to make a deep impression with. If you watch a video of someone using a maul then you might notice that for the way they are using it, they may just as well use a brick or a rock. One big disadvantage, particularly for a novice is that you are hitting a small target with a round toolface, and miss-strikes easily occur. Another big disadvantage is their price.

But, on the other hand, I would't pay the price that Tandy is asking for their mallets either. There are literally tons of mallets around, and they are commonly found at garage sales, secondhand stores and such, where they can often be picked up for a few bucks. In fact, come to think of it......I have never bought a mallet from a retail outlet.

And for those people who think mauls are so wonderful....yes I have one, and I do use it sometime for heavy stamping of some large stamps. And then sometime I use my steel Garland with the rawhide faces.

[LTC]

maul is the way to go and it's not just for deep tooling if your technique is correct and you use the right size maul, but anyway...

[rosiart]

earthling 33, I'm with mudruck on this. I have 2 bearman mauls and really like them. I have issues with my elbow and these mauls allow me to work longer with less pain. I emailed with Ed and based on the things I was planning to do, followed his suggestions as to the weight. Mine are 15 and 20 oz. On top of that, they are beautiful :-)

Hope this is helpful.

Edited May 3, 2014 by rosiart

[Art]

It really is a matter of what you get used to and what you like. I started with that little leather mallet from Tandy (it really was Tandy back in those days) which did more to turn me off of mallets than anything else. Next thing was an original Maul Master (the one John Bianchi designed) which was anything but good for tooling. Somewhere along the line I picked up one of Bob's mauls which I use today although it is a little lite for me. For anything heavier than 16oz, the Bearman Mauls are treating me well, a lot like Bob's.

If you are just starting out, stay on the lite size (16 oz. or so), but Maul or mallet is really an individual thing.

Art

[Mudruck]

I would agree with the others on the weight when you are starting out. 16oz or so would be about perfect for general tooling and such. As you start to tool more, depending on what kind of tooling you are doing, you may want to move up or down in weight and that is where the custom mauls can really come in handy. The one I got from Bearman is a 21oz maul, mainly because i do tooling on larger items such as tank bibs and such and you may be tooling for a couple hours at a pop. I found that the heavier maul allowed me to work longer due to the fact that I didnt have to really hit the stamp, but just let the maul fall onto the stamp.

[St8LineGunsmith]

Ah yes I remember the days before The Leather Factory bought the Tandy brand. that is when they were pushing the rawhide mallets

I don't even think Tandy Leather even offered a maul back when I first started going to Tandy Leather on Brainerd Road as a kid.

the first maul I had was a home made maul given to me by an old saddle maker who taught me the craft.

also had a big heavy industrial foot pedal type Singer sewing machine that was converted to electric and man that thing sewed Sewww SWEET!

(Wish I still had it!) it was a top notch machine for how old it was.also had a bunch of other fantastic leather working tools and stamps you can only find if you are lucky (long gone).

But anyway I think there comes a point when someone finally tries a maul and instantly sees how much better it is for tooling/stamping

and even setting hardware.(Although I do use mine for that on occasion) I don't recommend using your nice expensive tooling mauls for setting hardware, a good cheapo Harbor freight 2 pound rubber dead blow hammer is better for that task.

I do know some folks who use all three different weighted BK mauls depending on what kind of stamping/tooling they are doing

I have a heavy hand already so the one pounder works pretty well for me on any stamping I may be doing.

[Wild Bill46]

Earthling 33

I would concur with the majority here.

I went against the grain of good advise too to start with, in getting a maul . I soon found out, I was wrong, a Maul WAS the way to go !

even though it cost a bit more. Take your time, learn to use it well .

Now that I have one I use it for everything, Tooling, setting snaps, rivets, strap end cutting, etc.

I would also recommend a 16oz maul to start , you can always move up at will.

Also would like to welcome you to LWN, the best leather spot on the net, There is a wealth of friendship and knowledge here, Just ask

And Good Luck in all your Leather Endeavors.

[earthling33]

I ended up getting a Barry King 16 oz maul. Several factors influenced me. One was the bulk of the advice here was to get a maul. Second, the Barry King maul was less expensive than the the Stohlman and Bearman mauls, but I'm happy with the quality. Third, they are sold (made?) in Sheridan, Wyoming which I know very well, as I grew up just over the Big Horn mountains in Greybull. I always like to buy "local" even though I don't live there anymore.

[Billy P]

I learned with a mallet and used it, about a 11oz until about 3 years ago. My mom bought me a little 14oz maul for Christmas, and i've used it for tooling ever since. When setting snaps I still use the mallets and when using strap end cutter the old steel with rawhide face mallet. All in all you can use both, but for tooling get a maul, easier on the wrist and arm. Billy P

[WyomingSlick]

I learned with a mallet and used it, about a 11oz until about 3 years ago. My mom bought me a little 14oz maul for Christmas, and i've used it for tooling ever since. When setting snaps I still use the mallets and when using strap end cutter the old steel with rawhide face mallet. All in all you can use both, but for tooling get a maul, easier on the wrist and arm. Billy P

Hah ! Another person talking about tooing being hard on the arm.

I noticed in the very first paragraph on the page for a popuar maul ( http://leatherburnishers.com/BearMauls.html ).......... that it says:

"Combined with the way BearMauls are balanced most people notice that they can tool longer with less pain and fatigue on wrists, elbows and shoulders."

Elbows and shoulders ?? If you were taught the proper way to use your mallet, striking stick, or maul.......that is, the way that the vast majority of professional leather carvers who spend many hours at the tooling bench, use.... and recommend.........your shouder and elbow have liitle to do with the striking action.

The most conductive way to use your striking tool for extended periods of tooling ( think about the extreme amount of beveling in Sheridan style work ), is to to rest your elbow on the tooling surface and use mostly a wrist action,

as shown in this photograph of Don King above.

Yes, there are times when you need to raise your elbow and use a fuller arm swing;as when using stamps with large tool faces such as large basketweaves or geometrics, or even your "maker stamp".

So for all of you out there who are still using your mallet, or maul, like a hammer........don't you think it is about time to give your arm and shoulder a break by "doing it right " !

[Steve75]

Learn something new everyday. I have many of Stohlman's books on leather working. This is the first time I have seen an illustration showing an individual resting his elbow on the tooling surface. I looked back through the books and only found mention of how to hold the mallet no mention of resting your arm as you strike the stamp.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Steve75

[St8LineGunsmith]

Learn something new everyday. I have many of Stohlman's books on leather working. This is the first time I have seen an illustration showing an individual resting his elbow on the tooling surface. I looked back through the books and only found mention of how to hold the mallet no mention of resting your arm as you strike the stamp.

Ya first time I ever heard of resting your elbow on the table and I have been around leather work for years and some of the best toolers I know dont use this method of stamping either.I have however heard of the chicken wing method which does not detail resting your elbow on the table.it does detail keeping a bent arm at the elbow.

some people think their way of doing something is the only way it should be done

what works best for one person might not work so good for others sometimes you have to test the waters to see what works best for you

[Steve75]

None of my books ever addressed anything more than holding the mallet. No mention of resting the elbow or "chicken wing method." I had to double check just to be sure I had not overlooked it. I have the Craftool Tech Tips, and How to Carve Leather by Al Stohlman. In fact all the stuff I have learned from books has come from books written by Al Stohlman. If I did not learn from those books I learned it from reading posts on this website.

I have used the "chicken wing method" only by accident. I just kinda went with what seemed to work for me. I do, however, believe that it is time to consider buying a better instrument for striking the stamps with. The mallet I have came with a Tandy kit. It works ok, but I would like to see better impressions. I think I will start with replacing the mallet. I am thinking that a 16 ounce should suffice. Still not sure whether I should get the mallet or the maul.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Steve75