Project Information
With about a foot of a very old hickory sledge hammer handle I went to the wood pile and found a small elm log. I cut off 8" of it and stripped the bark off. I then worked it on the belt sander until it was just about round. Using a 7/8" forester bit I bored the handle hole about ¾ of the way through it. With the old hickory handle it was back to the belt sander to remove the surface splinters and to shape the end to fit the hole in the elm log that would be the hammer head, (a lot of sanding and fitting). The handle was glued in with two part epoxy. After drying the 12 degree angles were cut for the impact surfaces then some finish sanding. Two coats of wipe on varnish were applied. When all was dry a test whacking of a wood chisel showed that the center of the elm hammer face, the pith, was too soft and dented quick. So with a ¾" forester bit I bored out the pith on both ends to about 2 1/2 " and epoxy glued red oak dowels in the holes. Dang nice little mallet now!