Tooling maul or mallet?

[Tjstewart]

I got some plastic mallets I've bought from Lowe's and Freight I've been using to tool with. But I'm wandering if a leather working maul would work better or if would make a difference in the crispness of the impressions.

 

[MADMAX22]

The mallets you got are probably pretty bouncy I would think. Personally I really like mauls. They take a bit of getting use to at first but for tooling I dont use anything else anymore. Either one maul or mallet needs to be the right material and it will make a world of difference. 

[plinkercases]

For tooling and light punching and rivets - I started with Mallets but only use a maul. I get way better balance, control and more forgiving for when you happen to strike off the line of the tool. But oddly enough are more consistent that way. I believe having the striking face closer to the centre line of the handle and hot having a weighted bit sticking out the opposite side helps greatly.  Much easier on the wrist too.

For heavy punching and rivets I use a #2 (lbs) Thorex Mallet with the hard nylon (white) striking faces (you can get different one such as rubber etc.).

For my makers stamps I use a 1.5 pound Power Fist "dead blow" hammer which gives ZERO bounce. Excellent for makers marks.

Hope this helps.

Edited July 16, 2016 by plinkercases

[Colt W Knight]

I was using the summer hammers you describe. Bought a nice leather working maul, and I would never go back. Mails are the way to go for leather working, in my opinion. 

[Tjstewart]

The mauls I see on Tandy's website are between $80 & $100. So it was hard for me to justify paying that when I could buy a mallet for $20 or less at Harbor Freight or Lowe's. Cause at first I didn't think there would be a big difference long as it wouldn't a metal hammer. But in using cams and pear shaders now I'm really wandering if it makes a difference as the cams are hardly defined. Pear shaders seem to be muddled.

 

[MADMAX22]

You can get a bear man maul for the price of those tandy things. Much nicer and will last ya a good long while. Up to you though how you spend your money. Ya think thats bad wait till you start getting nice stamps instead of that craft tool stuff. 

[Tjstewart]

5 minutes ago, MADMAX22 said:

You can get a bear man maul for the price of those tandy things. Much nicer and will last ya a good long while. Up to you though how you spend your money. Ya think thats bad wait till you start getting nice stamps instead of that craft tool stuff. 

I've never heard of bear man or even where to get them. Far as stamps I was thinking about those two as all mine are new Tandy stamps. I'd eventually like to get in to the business of leather working. But I keep comparing my work to what I see on here and hadn't figured out how they are getting so much better definition than I am getting 

 

[MADMAX22]

Look up Bearman on the forums here, think his son is making the mauls now. Think they start somewhere around $70 or so. 

Remember alot of people here have been doing leather work for years and years, some using very nice leather, and very nice tools which arent the answer to good tooling but it helps. Most of it is just experience and lots of good practice and nice leather. 

[Tjstewart]

18 minutes ago, MADMAX22 said:

Look up Bearman on the forums here, think his son is making the mauls now. Think they start somewhere around $70 or so. 

Remember alot of people here have been doing leather work for years and years, some using very nice leather, and very nice tools which arent the answer to good tooling but it helps. Most of it is just experience and lots of good practice and nice leather. 

This is an example of what I'm talking about the pear shading on the flower petals you can't really see. I did mess up in cutting on the scroll but I had just bought a Barry King swivel knife and this was 1st time using it versus the Tandy one I have. But what I'm after is better more crisp definition in my stamping. The flowing curves will come with more practice with the swivel knife.

[MADMAX22]

I am not the best at critiquing tooling and I know it just takes alot of practice. 

That piece looks fine, the leather looks pretty rough and I am sure is contributing to not taking the stamped image as well for things like the pear shaders. I would keep practicing on that stuff for now trying to finish the pieces so you get the kinks worked out of the whole process then try and get a nice shoulder or side of leather like wickett and craig, hermann oak, RJF leather. Something that will tool so much nicer. 

[Colt W Knight]

How are you casing the leather? 

Did you rewet the leather while tooling?

[Tjstewart]

16 hours ago, MADMAX22 said:

Thanks madmaxx22, the leather is from Tandy I bought for $80 a side. Figured it would be good to practice on. I did have to re-wet once I believe 

 

[Colt W Knight]

Too me, your tooling impressions do not look crisp because 1. The leather wasn't cased properly, and 2. When you rewetting the leather, it causes the leather to swell and loose definiton. 

[MADMAX22]

What thickness leather is it? 

I have rewetted leather for tooling during the process because some of the projects you just cant finish in time, its usually not a big deal. I dont notice any problems with it. Just dont over wet it, damp sponge usually works well for this. 

It could not be cased properly but it also looks like the typical tandy leather that has that rough hard skin side that just doesnt take tooling very well. I remember the first time I switched over to some good leather and the ability for it to hold impressions was like night and day. 

Not saying that hide isnt good to practice on. I would start trying to do simple patterns at first though. 

[Boriqua]

I used a rawhide mallet and a tandy yellow for some 20 yrs or there about. A year ago I bought a Tapered 27oz maul and will never go back. I found it for about 50 bucks. Its not very pretty but works well enough. If you have the scratch I would recommend one but in all honesty I dont know that you are far enough along to really get the benefits of the extra control. I know its not directly an answer to your question but I might suggest spending that $100 on more practice leather, a swivel knife sharpening guide and perhaps a new swivel knife blade.

As an analogy .. I was once seriously into bicycling. Yup a bike weenie. I rode a steel frame fuji for 3 years before I started to notice where it was letting me down and before the benefits of a better stiffer frame would actually make a  difference in my power transmission and speed.

 

Oh here is a link to where i got mine .. their pictures show mauls with handles finished much better than the one I received so buyer beware but .. how pretty the handle looks doesnt affect how it works.

http://www.wrising.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&zenid=1f8a020cf7263721dea838c01cb7afe6

Edited July 17, 2016 by Boriqua

[Tjstewart]

On 7/17/2016 at 0:11 PM, MADMAX22 said:

What thickness leather is it? 

I have rewetted leather for tooling during the process because some of the projects you just cant finish in time, its usually not a big deal. I dont notice any problems with it. Just dont over wet it, damp sponge usually works well for this. 

It could not be cased properly but it also looks like the typical tandy leather that has that rough hard skin side that just doesnt take tooling very well. I remember the first time I switched over to some good leather and the ability for it to hold impressions was like night and day. 

Not saying that hide isnt good to practice on. I would start trying to do simple patterns at first though. 

It's 4-5 oz so not very thick but has lot of blemishes and what looks like stretch marks in it. At first thought it was gonna be better than what it really is. But way I figure it now if I can make that look good then should be able to tool just about anything