Making a maul - question?

[dikman]

I've decided to make a maul (mainly because I don't have one ). I was going to use Delrin for the head because I have some, but after reading about it I had second thoughts (it's tough but apparently can be on the brittle side) so HDPE seemed like the obvious choice. After melting down some (lots!) of milk containers I ended up with this. It measures 90 x 60 mm (3 1/2" x 2 1/4"). My question is what is the optimum size of the head for using on stamps? For those who have , for example, Barry King mauls what are the head sizes?

And is there any real advantage in having a tapered head?

 

[billybopp]

Awesome project!  I started tooling with a rawhide mallet which worked OK for me, but eventually I wondered what all the hubbub about mauls was, so picked up one of the $15 Chinesium mauls from eBay and found that I liked it.  Next I tried a couple of Shopfox mauls that I found on sale really cheap, but the rubber coating was a little too bouncy for tooling leather sadly.  I eventually found a heavier used maul for a really good price on eBay and bought it .. I think it's a Weaver with a foam handle but don't see a name on it anywhere.  Love it but it's too heavy for tooling but works great for punches and such.

My leather working mauls are about 3 to 4 inch diameter for the head.  The heavier they are, the bigger the head seems to be.  

As I understand it, a straight maul is used when you tool with your elbow up high so that the head hits the tool squarely.  A tapered maul allows you to rest your elbow on the table and still hit the tool squarely.

- Bill

[dikman]

Thanks Bill. This is obviously too big to use as-is but I'm unsure how much to remove. The explanation for having a taper makes sense, I just have to work out whether it will suit me. I'm guessing the head at about 2" diameter and the length about 2 1/2"?  I'll use threaded rod through the head and turn a metal end piece to give some weight (and bling ) and use stacked leather to make the handle.

[heydox]

You should really like it, HDPE holds up really well. I made one a few years back and have been really happy with mine. I can’t recall which maul I patterned my piece of HDPE from, but it is 2 1/2” tall by 3” diameter. 

[GRod]

13 minutes ago, heydox said:

You should really like it, HDPE holds up really well. I made one a few years back and have been really happy with mine. I can’t recall which maul I patterned my piece of HDPE from, but it is 2 1/2” tall by 3” diameter. 

That's really nice work, heydox.  I also have an idea to make my own maul and have been making notes about melting HDPE down to form the head.  Did you mold your head into the taper shape?  or did you turn it down on a lathe?  I'm also keenly interested in the finish pieces atop and under the head.  Are they brass?  Did you make them also?

[dikman]

Thanks heydox, looks great! I've turned mine down to just over 2 3/4" long x 2 1/4" diameter. I might keep this one parallel sided but I can see me making another one (or two?) after this is finished, probably like yours. I'm turning a piece of steel plate down for the end piece which should give a bit of weight forward.

GRod, you can make it from a mold but it's just a little trickier to get the final smooth finish, I've found  a lathe makes it much easier and shaping this stuff is fun, it turns beautifully!  There's a youtube video of someone using a wood lathe to make theirs. The good thing about this is that all the turnings/shavings can be re-used for the next project.

[heydox]

Thanks @GRod I did mold mine in a metal tumbler glass that was just the right taper. I did end up having to do a decent amount of sanding to get a smooth finish. A lathe would have been nice. I put in on the threaded rod and chucked it up in my drill press. Used that same trick on a chunk of leftover walnut that became the handle.

The finish pieces are plated steel, not even sure what they were originally made for but I found them at Home Depot. The HDPE is light enough that the plates were definitely needed to get the weight up. 

[GRod]

I do a fair bit of woodworking @dikman, and I wish I had a lathe.  I've even gone to look at a couple, but I'm at a critical juncture in my garage.  Just one more stationary tool means a vehicle will have to move outdoors into the elements.  And my rule is, first and foremost, my garage must always be a garage first, workshop second.  it sounds like @heydox and I are similarly tooled.  I have a drill press that I've been staring at and wondering if I could use it like a lathe for a few things (like sharpening round punches).  I am also considering weight.  I imagine a chunk of HDPE doesn't weigh that much and assume I'll need to add something to get the mass up.  If I go to all the effort to make my own maul I want it to look nice.  I was thinking of maybe hollowing out a cavity in the head into which I could put some BBs or lead shot or even fishing weights, but haven't been able to devise a solution to cap it off.  I guess I need to just plan on a solid day of wandering each & every aisle of our home centers in town until I find something like heydox.

[dikman]

The story so far....the front piece of steel is loctited to the rod and the maul head, which is threaded, will screw up tight to it. The rear piece is a steel washer that just happened to fit. Both pieces have been polished, but I haven't worried about a perfect finish as it's not as if I'll be selling it (and it will probably get knocked around with use). Next job is to cut/stamp lots of bits of leather for the handle.

 

[Sanch]

49 minutes ago, dikman said:

The story so far....the front piece of steel is loctited to the rod and the maul head, which is threaded, will screw up tight to it. The rear piece is a steel washer that just happened to fit. Both pieces have been polished, but I haven't worried about a perfect finish as it's not as if I'll be selling it (and it will probably get knocked around with use). Next job is to cut/stamp lots of bits of leather for the handle.

 

Looking good so far! And as far as delrin is concerned it's not brittle at all, all of my mauls are delrin...to put it in terms if you chip a chunk of Delrin on a stamping tool you're whaling on it!! I use my 2 pounder for punching holes, setting snaps/rivets and blasting my makers mark on goods. No chipping.

[heydox]

Looking great, nice progress! I’m excited to see that setup with a leather handle. 

[fredk]

what I really wanna know is, how many milk jugs are needed!?!

[dikman]

Fred, I can't say as I had already experimented (somewhat unsuccessfully) with this stuff before so I had a few lumps of it to use up. 7 or 8 maybe? Once I've finished this one I'll make another, something like heydox's ('cos I like making things and these look cool!)

[fredk]

Thanks. I'd try making a milk-bottle-maul but I don't have any of the tools for finishing it off, nor access to the tools

[GRod]

The maul is looking very, very nice. 

I'm a little envious of the lathe, too. 

[Colt W Knight]

Ive used Delrin and HDPE, and I think they both have their advantages. The Delrin will break if its thin and you hit it hard enough. 

 

[dikman]

Just about done. GRod, the lathe is nothing fancy, a medium size same as the Grizzly 0602. I was collecting and smelting range scrap from my pistol range and sold enough to pay for it! I also have one of those mini metal lathes off ebay for small stuff, it's not a bad unit for what it is but needed a bit of work to get it running smooth. The wood lathe is an el-cheapo $99 Chinese thing, pretty basic but adequate for turning handles and stuff.

Back to the maul - I cut out lots of sort-of round bits from my scrap leather pile, punched a hole in the middle of each piece, glued them with white glue onto another rod and screwed them down tight with wood blocks on the ends. Once dry I turned it down on the wood lathe. It sort of worked but when I do another I'll have to give more thought to how I do it as I couldn't seem to get it balanced in the lathe. Came out ok for a first effort, I guess. While it was spinning I sanded it down then applied some wax and buffed it up. It actually screws onto the threaded rod so it's all pretty tight. I just need to find a suitable dome nut for the end, or maybe make something out of brass. Haven't decided yet.

Next thing is to make a tapered one.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by dikman

[JazzBass]

Beautiful!!

I noticed the rod protruding on the handle end - I forget what it's called...a "cap nut" or a "crown nut" or something . Did you have/find one of those to finish it off? Looks GORGEOUS with the stacked leather handle! It's as nice a maul as I've seen. GREAT job! :)

[battlemunky]

I'm envious, that looks awesome! I have a Frogjelly rawhide maul and its great but I really want to make my own. I really like the Frogjelly maul though. I have a Chinesium one too and it chipped

Edited March 7, 2019 by battlemunky

[fredk]

1 hour ago, dikman said:

 . . . I just need to find a suitable dome nut for the end, or maybe make something out of brass. . . 

Any motorcycle or car accessory/parts places near you? you'll find a suitable nut there

30 minutes ago, JazzBass said:

. . . I forget what it's called...a "cap nut" or a "crown nut" or something . . . 

Those nuts have numerous names. One common name here for them is 'acorn nut'

T'is a very nice looking handle

[GRod]

Absolutely fantastic!  I'm not sure where on the globe you are, and like Fred, I also know them as 'acorn nuts'.  One of the big-box home centers near me (Menards - it's like Home Depot/Lowes, but a midwest regional chain) carries a selection of chrome plated acorn nuts that would finish that off nicely.  

If that maul works half as well as it looks, you're going to appreciate it for a lifetime.  Nice, nice, nice work.

[dikman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I'm downunder (Australia), we have a large hardware chain here that lists dome nuts, but they only say they're 10mm and don't give the pitch size! I'll have to buy a pack and hope they're the right pitch, otherwise I'm back to making something.

I've been chopping up milk cartons into little pieces ready for the next one. Might make this a bigger diameter but tapered like heydox's, and probably turn a wooden handle rather than leather (a stacked leather handle is a lot of work!!).

Another one I might try is a rawhide one, a chap on youtube made a mallet using those big rawhide dog bones to get the rawhide. Sounds like another challenge.

[dikman]

Ok, fitted a chrome dome nut and now it's finished. I started on the second one, using the turnings from the first one. When I started turning it, however, I started finding fissures where the plastic hadn't fused together during the melting process. Fortunately the solution was fairly simple, I used a Dremel pin-point gas torch to carefully melt the fissures and feed in small pieces of cut plastic, using a screwdriver to move the molten blobs around. A word of warning, this stuff catches fire if it gets too hot!! This one will end up smaller than I intended but I'll turn a taper on it and make a wooden handle.

[dikman]

No 2. The brass at the front gives it quite a bit of weight. I had experimented with melting brass a couple of years ago, it melted fine but my casting was borderline disaster, I ended up with a thick disc and a lovely run across the ground! I figured this disc would do for the front but turning it down revealed a lot of small air bubble inclusions (you might see a few on the front). I also found a big one inside when I drilled and tapped it for the rod. Oh well, still good enough for this job. Like the other I Loctited it to the rod. The first handle was a piece of aged Blackwood, unfortunately a chunk split off partway through turning. This one is a piece of aged Apple tree, interesting stuff as it's actually reasonably hard wood. I applied three coats of my home-made Walnut stain, which came out better than I expected, and finished off with beeswax applied while it was spinning in the lathe. Not very shiny but quite grippy.

Now I need to make a much bigger one but I need to give more thought to the melting process.

 

[GRod]

Aaaaand, another beauty!

You casting your own brass weight from reclaimed pistol cartridges, yes?  That's a really great idea!  Did you do the same (with a different metal, obviously ) for the first maul as well?