Show me your used mallets and mauls so I can purchase wisely.

[AllenKelley]

Basically my wrist and forearm easily become sore before making much tooling / stamping progress. I'm  looking into purchasing a mallet or maul and before dumping big money into the toilet  I would like people to post photos of their used and abused mallets and mauls. Most mallets and mauls don't appear to be repairable with the exception of split head mallets that use inserts. I turned a scrap wood maple handle and epoxied it into pvc 2" id pipe, the head was pretty slippery when striking and maul weight was only 11 ounces 6-7 strikes for an impression.  A crafts man red 1lb dead blow mallet took 5 strikes to make an impression on moist thick leather. Harbor freight metal mallet with 2 plastic heads 3 - 4 strikes. My 1 pound brass hammer may work well as it has good solid strikes. If the the hobby store leather stamps actually stuck to a magnet one may be able to use a brass hammer. Most cheap stamps are obviously poor quality and have very porous metal grain if you even dare to call it metal. Its a shame I should feel need to switch hobbies and use blacksmithing skills I have learned at a workshop seminar to maybe make my own stamps. If I do that I'll have to first need to build a propane forge, then harden and temper the leather stamps as hard as a cold chisel used to cut steel. I'm almost to the point of melting 10 HDPE milk cartons as seen on u tube and turn one on my wood lathe.

Thanks for your time everyone.

[slipangle]

You posted this FIVE TIMES?

 

Annoying. 

[bikermutt07]

1 hour ago, slipangle said:

You posted this FIVE TIMES?

 

Annoying. 

Slip, new folks don't know how our site works.

 

Allen, our system takes a minute or so to update a new thread. And if you could wait just a bit after hitting the post button it will list your thread. Otherwise, you will wind up with multiple threads. No worries.

As to your question, let me ask a question. How old are you? Have you done lots of physical hands on work during your career?

I am in my early 40's and have done lots of physical work with my hands. I started playing with leather about two and a half years ago. I learned very quickly that my hands can't handle tooling. From my wrists to my finger tip I get immediate fits from stamping. Lots of pain. A hobby should be fun, not painful. So, I quit with the tooling.

One more question. Are you casing your leather prior to stamping? And another, are you using veg tan leather? 

If you answer no to these two questions, that could be a big part of the problem.

[Bodean]

I'm with @bikermutt07. It sounds like something else is going on. I have worked in the construction field all my life. I am also cheap. I use a rubber mallet I bought at the dollar store with scrap leather glued on the ends and have no problem making impressions while tooling. 2 whacks at the most. Also are you using a good hard surface under your work? Such as a marble slab?

[slipangle]

"Slip, new folks don't know how our site works."

Right, thanks.  Sorry...I posted a little hastily. 

[Mattsbagger]

I have used the cheap plastic yellow mallet and the black 1lbs maul. Both from Tandy. Both get good impressions on well cased veg tan. The yellow mallet can have a little jump on the stamp so I only use for tooling stamps. Like the beveler and the like. 

[slipangle]

1 hour ago, Bodean said:

I'm with @bikermutt07. It sounds like something else is going on. I have worked in the construction field all my life. I am also cheap. I use a rubber mallet I bought at the dollar store with scrap leather glued on the ends and have no problem making impressions while tooling. 2 whacks at the most. Also are you using a good hard surface under your work? Such as a marble slab?

This sounds odd to me.  I don't tool leather but do occasionally use the few stamps I own. It shouldn't take several whacks to make an impression in damp leather. Unless..  you are using some form of leather other than veg tanned, A. Kelley.  Are you using vegetable tanned leather? Or similar? Some leathers, being more highly processed,  like oil tanned or chrome tanned, don't take stamping impressions well. 

Just a thought. 

[Bodean]

1 minute ago, slipangle said:

This sounds odd to me.  I don't tool leather but do occasionally use the few stamps I own. It shouldn't take several whacks to make an impression in damp leather. Unless..  you are using some form of leather other than veg tanned, A. Kelley.  Are you using vegetable tanned leather? Or similar? Some leathers, being more highly processed,  like oil tanned or chrome tanned, don't take stamping impressions well. 

Just a thought. 

Yep, I have to keep my nails trimmed or I can accidentally make a mark sometimes in the leather while bracing my fingers while stamping. 

[Wulfing]

You need full grain, thicker the better veg tan leather that hasn't been dyed or finished yet in any way. Also leather that has waxes and oils added dont take stamps so well if at all. Case the leather properly first (youtube search for casing leather for stamping) 

Whilst its easy to get right, its even easier to get wrong.

Bruce cheyney does some amazing videos on youtube to look up as does ian atkinson.

I use the attached nylon leather mallet. About £10 on amazon. Works fine. Not to big. In fact quite small. I never hit more than once for a basic stamp that leaves an image impression inthe leather. Hitting 2 or 3 times risks missing your lines and creating a blurred image. Obviously beveling cut lines needs lots of taps but if you keep the cut shallow you wont have to bevell so hard. 

Its also worth mentioning that there a lot of inferior low quality stamps for sale on the net that dont leave much of an impression due to how they are constructed. Even the tandy stuff is good compared to some stamps ive bought on ebay thinking they were a good deal lol

Also worth mentioning that with the bras stamps that fix a handle to you can purchase a hefty handle which is chunky compared to the normal handle. This hefty handle is much better.

the key is to do lots of research before starting. I've only been doing it for 6 months and learn stuff with every project and there are people on here who have been doing it for years and say they still learn new ideas and better ways all the time.

[slipangle]

Wulfing,

While I don't do any tooling to speak of, and only stamp now and again,  I've wondered about those mauls with plastic, (nylon?  Delrin?) heads. Do any of you that use them experience the head sliding off the stamp,  what with being a cylindrical shape made of slippery material? Or maybe it's a non-issue...as I'm mainly punching holes, and I know doing stamps requires, or should, a couple of light taps at most.

I have a couple of rawhide mallets that I like,  but the rolled variety,  where you're striking with the flat end of the cylinder. Makes good contact but those mallets, even in the larger sizes, are not that heavy.   I've been tempted to make a maul in laminated, or stacked leather rings.  Just to see if I could do it. And I love to make tools. 

Edited March 26, 2017 by slipangle

[Sanch]

It sounds like you may be just doing geometric stamping if that's the case just get a mallet or make one out of delrin.  I make my own mauls and delrin is my choice material but I do use them for basket weave stuff as well for my makers mark I use a dead blow hammer (plastic type) no bounce or stutter of my mark. my .02 cents 

[Wulfing]

1 hour ago, slipangle said:

Wulfing,

While I don't do any tooling to speak of, and only stamp now and again,  I've wondered about those mauls with plastic, (nylon?  Delrin?) heads. Do any of you that use them experience the head sliding off the stamp,  what with being a cylindrical shape made of slippery material? Or maybe it's a non-issue...as I'm mainly punching holes, and I know doing stamps requires, or should, a couple of light taps at most.

I have a couple of rawhide mallets that I like,  but the rolled variety,  where you're striking with the flat end of the cylinder. Makes good contact but those mallets, even in the larger sizes, are not that heavy.   I've been tempted to make a maul in laminated, or stacked leather rings.  Just to see if I could do it. And I love to make tools. 

Basically I make belts but hope to do other stuff in the near future. I use that nylon mallet to create borders with stamping tools, to bevel cut lines and set rivets / snaps. For l the hole making and heavier stuff I use my new arbour press rather than hitting tools with a bigger mallet. as to your question My nylon mallet has never moved or slipped off. I like it as its top heavy so feels good for stamping.