WyomingSlick Report post Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) Actually, it was almost free, since a saddler buddy of mine donated the rawhide ( after a good chuckle ), so all I was out, was about a foot of rawhide lacing. And the rock, like nearly everything else we know, is made of stardust. I have used a rawhide mallet for 45 years to do leather tooling with no problem. I even have a couple of the plastic mallets, And yes I have a maul. So what was this big following that mauls have developed over the last decade? Do they really improve your tooling? Are they worth the money that they cost? What are the advantages, and disadvantages, to using a maul? One development of my research into this subject, which consisted mainly of watching YouTube videos, was that maul users seemed to consistantly hold the maul in a way that was no differant than you might hold a rock, or a brick, to hit a nail. So.......why not a rock? Living, as I do, in a river valley in Wyoming, I resolved to go down to the river and see what nature could provide. As it turned out, I didn't have to. I noticed a rock in the alleyway at work which looked like it would fit the bill. Since I didn't want to be hitting my tools with a bare rock....nor did I want rock dust on my tooling bench, I made a covering out of rawhide which I wetted, stretched around the rock, and laced together. After the rawhide dried, I tried it out......using it in the manner as shown in the videos. The learning curve was very short as the 99 cent maul had one big advantage over a maul. It had a much larger "sweet spot" than a maul.....which, until you get very used to using them, can result in a miss-strike since the sweet spot on a round tool, be it a bat, billiard cue tip, or maul is relatively small. The 99 cent maul even worked well using it in the ergonomically correct manner as shown by Don King above. Notice that he is not using his maul like a nail driving hammer, but much like the way reccomended for mallets........his elbow on the table and the action supplied by his wrist and forearm. I suspect he started out using a mallet, or striking stick.......and moved to mauls when he began tooing saddles (heavier leather) with his distinctive deep tooling style. LOL And I suspect that is why some folks think mauls are better......just the fact that they got a heavier maul than the mallet they had been using ! Edited May 13, 2014 by WyomingSlick Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JAM Report post Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) Love it!!!! Edited May 13, 2014 by JAM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WyomingSlick Report post Posted May 16, 2014 Love it!!!! Thanks Julia, I am glad to see at least one other professional appreciates my sense of humor. LOL I also find it amusing that none of the previously oh-so-vocal "maul fans" have seen fit to challenge my assertions yet. Aw well.....maybe this weekend ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JAM Report post Posted May 16, 2014 I went out and found a suitable rock that evening, wrapped it in rawhide, and gave it a test. Yup, it works! I love homemade tools Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavenAus Report post Posted May 17, 2014 This has got me thinking, can I get a decent piece of rawhide to make my own? I've always preferred the larger striking area of other heads to those of the round maul, I miss enough with my little hammer, the mistakes I could make with a curved surface don't bear thinking about Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
