Raw Hide Mallet Repair

[zzmikeg]

Hi Everybody,

Does anybody know if this misshapen raw hide mallet can be repaired?  I got it used so I don't know how it got so deformed.

Can I file it? Heat it up? Soften it under water? Hit it with a stick?

Thanks for any feedback and or ideas.

Mike

[Hildebrand]

I would put it on a belt sander until it was back to a flat surface. No guesses as to how it got so out of shape. 

Todd

[battlemunky]

Yep, belt sander. I've reshaped mine before but from mushrooming/wear. I don't have any idea how that happened either.

[zzmikeg]

 

Hey guys

Thank you kindly for the feedback.  To the belt sander she goes.

Mike

[battlemunky]

How'd it work out?

[zzmikeg]

Thanks, battlemunky, for asking me how it worked out.  Your email helped me get back here to this post.  I don't spend enough time navigating the site and I was having trouble finding my way back,  so, thank you for that!  I wouldn't have given up, just for the record.  I'm big on contributing as much useful info as I can, no matter what forum or website I'm on.  I've been the recipient of so many good tips, etc, that I feel obligated to contribute.  I say this to anyone who doesn't contribute. You know who you are.  :  )

Here's where it sits right now.  I was afraid of getting carried away so I didn't take it completely flat, but flat enough to make a difference.  Plus I was using an angle grinder.  A "burning flesh" smell lingered for hours afterward (I got burned once, and although the mallet is made of rawhide, the smell was similar to what I remember.  A kind of sweet and sickening stench that you can almost taste.  But I digress... )

The mallet came out just fine.

 

After:

and Before:

Both ends were deformed similarly.

 

[battlemunky]

Pretty cool. Glad I could help! Word of caution though, those facets created from the grinder may contribute to miss striking when using leaving you with an unclean hit. If you find you are having some inconsistency you may want to try and sand it more evenly.

Good luck and keep posting!

[Rockoboy]

On ‎8‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 10:58 PM, battlemunky said:

those facets created from the grinder may contribute to miss striking when using

What about covering the face of the mallet with a disc of fairly hard stiff leather to fix any problems with an uneven surface?

Somebody gave me a wooden mallet recently, that had a piece of leather stuck to the face. Granted, it was worn out and I had to replace the leather, but it works just fine.

[battlemunky]

Yeah @Rockoboy that'd do it I suppose. I think that maybe hitting some hard surfaces would even it out too.

[Clintock]

That smell is probably the same smell I grew up smelling when my dad made fox horns from cow horns. You could hear those horns for miles on a cool night listening to dogs.