| Project by Damien Pollet | posted 727 days ago | 985 views | 4 times favorited | 5 comments |  |
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Since I’m starting to feel the need for cutting mortises for my workbench project, and also because it seems to be a mandatory exercise for beginner woodworkers, I’ve started making myself a mallet this weekend.
It’s cut from 20mm oak, the head is three layers laminated together, and the handle tenon has two wedges to keep it in place. Finish is tung oil. I thought of ebonizing the wedges to contrast them against the endgrain of the handle, but on this oak the color is very superficial, so it would have disappeared when cutting the wedges flush. I shaped the handle with my 60 1/2 block plane which was not ideal, but did the job. With a spokeshave I could probably have achieved a more pronounced sweep and with a smooth surface with very little sanding. So now I know I have another tool on my wish list :)
As usual, full-res creative commons photos are on my flickr.
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5 comments so far
llwynog
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231 posts in 775 days
#1 posted 727 days ago
Titebond III ? That’s not a glue you see everyday in France… Did you import it ?
-- Fabrice - "On est bien bête mais on sent bien quand on se fait mal" - my grandfather
Damien Pollet
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73 posts in 806 days
#2 posted 727 days ago
Titebond actually have a french store but I went through the german dealer Dictum. The sliding square and a few other of my tools come from there as well. In France, HM Diffusion is the dealer of choice for good tools, they have a store 10km from my place, but no Titebond unfortunately, and they are a bit more expensive than Dictum. You get to see what you buy first-hand, though.
llwynog
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231 posts in 775 days
#3 posted 727 days ago
Yes, I live 30 minutes from HM diffusion’s headquarters. Good quality tools but extremely pricey.
If you don’t know them, I can also recommend Gaignard & Millon which also sells very good quality tools and are sometimes cheaper than the same tool at HM Diffusion.
I have also bought from Workshop Heaven in the UK and they offer free shipment to anywhere in Europe for orders above 100 Pounds.
To come back to the glue question, did you really notice a difference between Titebond and regular PVA glue ?
I use regular waterproof PVA glue and never had any glue line failing or anything.
Funny how PVA glue has to be yellow in the USA because it is called “Yellow Glue” there, whereas it has to be white in France because we call it “White Glue”. Sometimes marketing creates funny quirks…
-- Fabrice - "On est bien bête mais on sent bien quand on se fait mal" - my grandfather
Damien Pollet
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73 posts in 806 days
#4 posted 727 days ago
Thanks for the links !
About the glues, no, I didn’t compare… this mallet and the dovetail exercise are my only uses of the titebond to date, and of any glue for wood joints, actually :)
mafe
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8084 posts in 1286 days
#5 posted 725 days ago
Not just another mallet, but your wonderful own mallet.
Looking nice.
Best thoughts,
Mads
-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.
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