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Wood carver mallets

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Back in the 1970's I needed a wood chisel mallet for m/l stock inletting. Was visiting a souviner shop at Pigeon Forge , Tn.. and they had a number of home made wooden mallets under the sign , "Hillbilly Hammers". I think I paid about $2 for one. Used it for ten years or more ,still have it , somewhere.
 
Nice post. Language interests me.

The word "maul" is derived from the Latin malleus, meaning a hammer. The affix "-et" or "-ette" is usually a diminutive. I always figured a "mallet" (maul-ette, as a "cigarette" is a "little cigar") was a "little hammer".

When I was a kid, my dad kept a maul made of hickory. It was probably 3-1/2 feet long, with a head 7" or 8" in diameter. We used it for driving wedges for splitting firewood. I called those crude, smaller creations of mine (post #28) "hand mauls" to distinguish them from the big mauls I remember seeing long ago. I guess a "mallet" would be somewhat smaller yet. Language evolves, and it appears to me that we generally now use the term "mallet" to mean a tool with a non-metallic head, or at least a head that is not iron or steel, to distinguish it from a hammer, with a steel or iron head. Just conjecture on my part.

That Saddler's Manual sounds like an nice reference. I think words are artifacts, just as surely as guns, knives and powder horns are artifacts. If we are interested in making and using the old-style guns and tools, I think we should take an interest in the words that were applied to them. It gives us a window into the past.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

I've never had a need to check out carpenter tool terminology, as both grandfathers were master carpenters/cabinet makers and I worked with one during the Summer as a kid. I found that many of the same tools are used in both wood and the leather trades, especially in saddle making/repair. I was fortunate to have inherited my father's wood working shop (darn good carpenter as well), and both of my grandfathers carpentry tools. As to the Mallet/Maul subject, I found in poking around the net, outfits like Woodcraft and Garrett Wade, along with many others, call any tool with a wood, rawhide, or synthetic face designed to strike a wood chisel, punch, or metal stamp a mallet. Maybe referring to a maul as a maul has fallen by the wayside over the years and is now classed as a mallet. As for flintlocks, I always enjoy watching the hornets descend when someone refers to a cock as a hammer.

By the way, I enjoy reading your post.

Regards,

Richard
 
I have used a piece of sledgehammer handle or a mold tapping mallet so long that both have flat spots beat into them.
 
The green sweetgum cracked as it dried, could be because the handle is spalted, the dried mallet is as light as a feather, I used it for detail carving yesterday.
mallet sweetgum crack.JPG
 
Not exactly the type of mallets your discussing but Paul Sellers has a video series on building a english style joiners mallet, large square head. Been meaning to build myself one but I just use a rubber soft faced hammer for my chisel hammer.
 
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