Mallet Or Maul For Punching? (Not Tooling)

[unicornleather]

I use a no 2 rawhide mallet

[keplerts]

^{Just bought the 22oz and 3 pound Master Tools mauls that Weaver Leather sells. They are very nice and the price is reasonable. Got them on the Weaver Route truck and paid no shipping.}

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I agree with most of the comments made here concerning mauls vs. mallets. I will add that I (Personally) prefer rawhide over nylon for the head. I like the sound, or lack of it that the rawhide makes vs. the tapping sound of a nylon head and also like the fact that when using a rawhide head, even if you miss hit the object you are applying persuasion to, it will "grab" the object and direct the force anyway. Also the same reasoning for maul over mallet, in style of head used, especially when applying a lot of force, as in large holes, strap ends and oblong holes in the 1" and over size in 10 oz. and up skirting leather.

Bob

[XSport]

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in on this subject if I could. I am pretty new, but feel I can add something. For perspective I'm 5'8" and about 190lb, fairly strong but not a weightlifter or anything like that. I work an office job but have spent a lot of time working on renovations and other wood based projects. I'm pretty accurate and effective with a hammer and nails.

I started off with the basic cheap yellow plastic Tandy hammer. The biggest improvement I made was getting a piece of granite from Tandy. It really makes a differnce for noise and striking something solid, the stamping is much easier. I just bought a 20oz Barry King Maul at Longview Leather in Alberta, Canada. I find it, just a little bit tricky to hit the stamp square, but it is only a marginal difference and it's getting better with each strike.....but again I'm pretty good with a steel hammer and nails so, take that for what it's worth.

The thing I really notice though is the weight. I find I only have to tap the stamps, really, really lightly to get the impression. I've only tried stamping on 2 to 3 oz leather so also take that for what it's worth, but right now I would say the 20oz is a little heavy for me for light stamping, but might be better on the 8 to 9oz. I find that with a maul, I fatigue easy because I have to hold my elbow out to the side to strike the stamp perpendicular. Because of these experiences I plan to get a 14oz tapered maul soon from Barry King as this will allow me to drop my elbow and I won't have to be so gentle due to the weight.

The 20oz is a really nice weight (for me) for hole punches and stitching punches on 8-9 oz with a 2 to 3 oz backing, for a total of 10 to 12 oz of leather plus glue.

The Barry King Maul's seem really nice. An impressive tool for sure and about half the price of the ones at Tandy. I also bought his swivel knife and really like that too.