Froe Mallet

I agree it looks too good to use. Does it have a nice heft to it?

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

It “feels” good. I would estimate the total weight somewhere around 6-8 pounds.

-- Dragonsrite, Minnesota

That’s one good looking mallet. You should certainly use it. If it gets beat up you’ll just have to make a new one and try to top this one.

What kind of joinery did you use?

-- -Andrew

Andrew – no special joinery used here. Just simply glued together 3/4” Walnut stock and then glue one piece of Oak at a time about 3/4 proud on one side to cover the next piece of Oak. When the head was more or less done I brought it and the handle (made the same way basically) over to my brothers who has a mortising machine. He punched the through hole for the handle. The handle is simply glue and a LOT of friction.

-- Dragonsrite, Minnesota

Great looking mantle piece. Good luck on the next one.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Evidently you need some training in making ugly stuff. I’d be happy to help you out. :-)

Very nice mallet you’ve made there. Perhaps that one could be the display version. Could you make a froe to match and hang it with the mallet on the wall like crossed pikes or something.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

Just made a mallet myself, gotta wait to post it. Don’t want it too close to this one!

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Great job on the mallet!

I recently bought a froe, but I haven’t used it yet.

I’m waiting for warmer weather

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

I wouldn’t even think to make a real honest to god mallet for my froe, because froes literally destroy mallets within 100 uses, depending on how much you’re doing. I had intended to turn some out of the plentiful fallen wood that comes down from overladen trees here in northern IL each spring (our wet springs and late falls make for great tree growth, great spinach harvests, and lots of fallen trees!)...but my lathe never came to be, thanks to our failing economy lately….so I ran across this piece of firewood from who knows where, beautiful brown/wine colored thing, flexible and hard, heavy…so I carefully sliced a few facets off the bottom 6 inches or so til I had a somewhat octagonal handle, and now I beat the living snot out of my froe with this ugly beast.

Misc froe tips for those getting one: #1: twist handle up or down HARD. Really, you should start it with the mallet, then just work it with twisting, not beating on it… #2: Ha, right. Really, you’re going to take some log you know is too large to froe, and something that’s amazingly hard (like red mulberry) and you’ll lodge your froe in that sucker like Excalibur. Then, you’ll beat that froe like it stole your flapjacks that morning. Try to get the log in the middle of the froe, that way you can beat on the blade on both handle and tip sides to get it out again. #3: it’s ok…it’s not supposed to be sharp. #4: it takes a little practice to the get feel to be able to split off a shingle like piece, and the type of wood makes a big difference, keep working at it.

Just get two sticks, then put the froe on the pretty one, and bring down country justice with the ugly one.

My first few times were LOUD, jarring, painful times. My neighbors probably thought all kinds of things watching me wacking the bejeebus out of a stick on my driveway last spring. But after having FIVE decent sized trees back-to-back-to-back, they hated me and the saws already.

But now I have a huge amount of hard maple and mulberry stacked in the back!

-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - Unknown Shaker

Your right, to nice to use. You can see my oak fro mallet here. It is firewood after wearing out and is made with the hard part of a forked branch, knot or burl section of limb wood.

-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3 http://www.portablesawmill.biz/concrete/