Sometimes, without any thought or planning, circumstances are ripe for a very favorable outcome. That’s what happened here. It began at a yard sale a week ago where I exchanged one American dollar for a steel mallet head (no handle). Propitious enough. Surely I could fashion a handle.
Briefly I went in the wrong direction, using a draw knife to try to shape a foot long mahogany scrap into the oval eye of mallet head. A lot of material to remove, small benefit for the effort, handle already rounded and too skinny to wield satisfactorily. 10 minutes lost. Instead I took a foot long oak scrap and dimensioned width and height to be the largest rectangle that would fit through the eye. To give the handle sufficient thickness I applied 2 quarter inch strips of scrap leopardwood to each side. Fortunate that these were lying around.
Flying off the handle is poor form, especially for sledge heads. Therefore I notched the part of the handle that had come through the eye, cut a stout little crossbar of Australian beefwood, and black walnut pinned it in place.
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Once the glue had dried I tapered the handle to the eye and sanded 60/80/180. Tung oil and limonene
The final inspiration came in a flash while sanding. While hardly Thor’s hammer, the tool seemed to call for some inscription.
There you have it. A certain brand of dinosaur will get why it had to be this way.
As ever all the best to you dear reader.