The Pallet Mallet

by ShaunM11 in Workshop > Pallets

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The Pallet Mallet

Making a Mallet from a Pallet

During a fairly standard session of pounding on some wood with my mallet, I managed to break the head in two. THus, I set out to make a new mallet; a better mallet.

Learning From the Past

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I had made my previous mallet by cutting a mortise. For this mallet, I would use a laminated head with an angled space in which to secure the handle.

The Head

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As the title of this instructable suggests, I will be making this mallet out of pallet wood. To be more specific, I will be using hardwood slats from these pallets. I cut three sections of equal length. These would make up the head.

A New Angle on Things

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Using a protractor, I cut a 10 degree angle on each side of the centre portion of the mallet. I cut out this shape carefully using a handsaw.

The Glue Up

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With all of the required pieces cut, I glued everything together, making it into a solid head.

Handle It!

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I shaped and cleaned up the handle using a jack plane as well as a rasp. The handle is made out of hardwood pallet wood also. At the top of the handle, I cut spaces where wedges could be driven in to expand the handle inside the head of the mallet.

I shaped the wedges by clamping my hand plane in a vice, then inserted the handle and drove the wedges in, with plenty of glue!

Trim Time

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With the glue dry, I trimmed off the edges and top of the mallet, making everything even and tidy.

Sanding Sanding Sanding

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I sanded all of the pallet wood with 60, 80, 120 and 240 grit, making it nice and smooth. Then, I applied a coat of boiled linseed oil to protect the wood and bring out the grain a little.

Done!

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With that, I have a solid, weighty and quite intimidating mallet!

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!