First Maul

[Tinkerton]

I'm looking into upgrading my rawhide mallet for a 14 or 16oz maul, but there are a few things I am unsure about.

What's the difference between a tapered and a round maul? How should it be balanced? Does the material it's made from make a difference?

I'm fairly little with hands to match, is there a decent brand that offers a smaller diameter handle?

Cheers,

Tinkerton

[Colt W Knight]

Tapered vs. round

When you use a maul to tool, you want to strike the tool square. If you have a straight spherical maul, you hold the maul perpendicular, and raise and drop the maul straight up and down ( you don't want to pivot at your wrist). With a tapered maul, you can hold it at an angle. Ergonomically, it is a personal thing, so only you can decide. Most of us don't have access to try out leather working tools, so it is pure trial and error by buying/trying.

[bruce johnson]

It is kind of how you are taught first and then which works better for you after. I was self taught, and then retaught by an old guy who moved from striking sticks to mauls. With a maul I am holding it perpendicular to my forearm. I rock my wrist without much forearm movement and the deadfall effect of the maul head does the work. If you get a rhythm going you can fly down a line beveling with a little practice. For set stamps I use a heavier maul and still do the rock without much arm into it. Big block stamps I do have to add a little downswing. I can go longer with less fatigue with the rocking motion.

Round vs Tapered - in both cases you want the maul to hit squarely on the top of the stamp shaft. From there it is personal preference. With the round maul you have to have it slightly higher than a tapered maul to make the square hit. I can rest my elbow either at my side or on my stamping bench with a tapered maul. With a round maul I have to slightly raise my elbow. Some guys can keep them down with a round maul, I can't. I have had some shoulder problems and avoided surgery in part by changing how I did things. Hovering my arm with a 1# or 1-1/2# maul for a few hours made the decision for tapered mauls pretty easy.

Head material - They are not all the same. I prefer Wayne Jueschke's material. It is a little grippy without feeling soft. It lasts longer than the Energizer bunny. My oldest one barely looks used. I have them from other makers, but give the slight edge to Wayne.

Balance - In my hands - Barry King's are more neutral. Bearman's seem a touch more head heavy, Wayne Jueschke's are more head heavy. For the way I use one, Barry's or Bearman's are good for small stamps like narrow bevelers, seeders, and bargrounders. Wayne's are my go-to ones for larger stamps.

Handles - I ring my thumb and first two fingers and let the last two fingers relax when I am running a stamp. Rocking my wrist continuously and the looseness at the heel of my hand is the rebound for the maul to bounce off and rebound. When I do a set stamp I grip tighter and let it fall, maybe add a little oomph for a bigger stamp or lighter maul. Bigger stamps and I grip and rip. All of the handles can be reshaped. I have had my little finger dislocated a few times and it splays out to the side. The taper on Wayne Jueschke's maul handles are good for me. I sanded one of the handles of Barry King's down and it worked well too. I had my Bearman turned down and like it 100% better. That's just me. You will find an even split of people who prefer the different maker's handles as-is. Barry King's handle is my favorite for driving heavy punches or setting rivets. If I am swinging one like a hammer his handle shape is the most secure for that.

[StrigaMort]

How do you guys figure out the weight? Op, I hope you don't mind me butting in?

I use a 2lb dead blow mallet and it just doesn't feel heavy enough. I guess how well the leather is cased, and how good your stamps are are factors too. I'm a big guy and I have to whack my little basket weave and camouflage stamps to get good definition that doesn't blow out easily on bends.

I was wondering about the head shape too so i'm glad you asked.

[bruce johnson]

I'd say start with a 16 oz for most stamps then a larger one for big block stamps. My most used are 16 and 24 oz. I have a 32 oz for big blocks. My 3# is used to drive punches.

[StrigaMort]

Thanks Bruce.

[Tinkerton]

Thanks Bruce. Looks like I'm leaning towards a 16oz tapered. I have some shoulder problems too, and have had some issues holding my elbow up with my 9oz mallet for long periods, let alone a heavier maul. At least with a maul I won's have to swing as hard to get a good impression, so maybe that'll make up for it.

[earlthegoat2]

I like my 20oz tapered maul for general tooling and stamping. When I do letter stamps or a strap end cutter I usually go for my 32 oz straight mallet. So basically, when I tool, I use the wrist rocker technique as described above and hen I need to put my arm into it I prefer a mallet with a straight face.