WOODEN MALLET FOR WORKING METAL?

[wlwhittier]

I caught scottg's post about Hammer Obsessive...Here's a Me, Too! I've got dozens of 'em, from real sluggers to watchmaker's...and even a carnival Side-Show High Striker slammer!  Pics on demand, of course...but today I need y'alls opinion about this odd-ball, picked up yesterday at a local junk store fer next to nothin'.

The form of the head tells me it may have been used for shaping sheet metal (copper, brass, tin, zinc?) against a sand or leather anvil...but I'm guessing.  It's been abused, but not severely...the basic form is intact, both ends.

Another curiosity is the color, which is applied not natural.  It's a very heavy & dark oxblood, pretty uniform. WHY?

No wedge on the hidden end of the haft, nor any indication of pin or peg or nail to secure the head...but it is a good tight twist-fit, so would suffice for the task under gentle usage.

Any ideas, fellows?  Thanks fer lookin'!  wlw

AGAIN! No joy posting attachments (pics). This is really frustrating, folks. I tried to add them in MODIFY...after long wait, got 500 Server Error.

What does it take?  Yes, only five of them, total under 800KB.  HELP!

SUCCESS! Thanks, all...I have no off-site (photobucket, inkfrog, etc.) storage.

[Papaw]

Can't help with the pictures, even I, the owner and administrator have the same problem.It is a server problem brought on by the site being hosted on servers along with other sites due to using free forum software.

Wooden "hammers" are usually mallets for striking certain types of chisels and such.

[john k]

I have a very old Blue-Point body hammer that is a very dark red, the script is very faintly stamped.   Try the photos one at a time. 

[Papaw]

If you have the pictures hosted somewhere like Flickr, Photobucket, or similar- just post the url of the picture using the img tag provided by the hosting service.

[oldgoaly]

flat face mallets are used around the sheet metal brake for hammering flanges over, convex are used to stretch the metal into a shot bag or hollowed stump. Here is a link to my shoppe facebook page have a bunch of hammers and mallets in that album. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.686310894752920.1073741832.187845251266156&type=1

[Nolatoolguy]

I would say your correct about it being used to shape sheet metal against a bag.

[oldgoaly]

looks to be made from ligthum vitae. (sp?)

[wlwhittier]

looks to be made from ligthum vitae. (sp?)

Naw...it weighs (with handle) just under 16 oz.

And Lignum Vitae (sp?) is very dark in color, as well as being dense.

I suppose I could scrub the heavy stain off one end, exposing the grain...but I think we all pretty much agree that it's for metal bashing (sheet copper, brass, tin/zinc or aluminum, vs. steel), so I'm content with it.

Thank you all for your seasoned comments!  wlw

[scottg]

 16 ounces is quite heavy for a wooden mallet. Unless its a whole lot bigger than it looks in the picture.

 Lignum vitae is usually about 1/2 sapwood and 1/2 heartwood. The heartwood is med greasy brown looking and the sapwood is kind of a greasy greeny cream color. (It gets darker with time)
 There doesn't seem to be a lot of difference in the density of the stuff between heart and sap. Either will hurt your toe if it falls on it (heavy). An egg shaped hammer head though? That is not a lot of wood and lignum was favored for such things.

  These jaws are lignum. Kind of greasy looking huh? The stuff works like cooled linoleum, not much like wood. Doesn't seem or fell like wood when you work it, and you can forget sandpaper. Its greasy.

 Does the inside of your handle socket look like this?
 yours Scott

 PS This is my Wilton Power Arm. It spins and twists in almost any direction or angle, and then locks tight with a flip of the lever. These come with nothing on them so I had to find a small vise and make the bracket/base.

[oldgoaly]

plumbers and lineman use a small lightweight mallet like that for lead pipe work along a assortment of wooden peg like tools.

[Chillylulu]

Heres one of mine. And the sandbag. And a piece of copper I have sunk in preparation to start raising a vessel.



Your mallet is used in silversmithing.  I started  drooling when I saw it. Now I'll  start sharing some of my hammers - I have a couple of thousand dollars in Fretz hammers alone, plus all the vintage hammers, mallets, and other beaters I can get my hands on.  On top of those are the stakes, anvils, and hardies.

Here is a vise with a hardee hole and a hardee in it.  I have often wondered if this is like the one Scott has mentioned a few times...





Chilly

[Chillylulu]

Before you unload it - let me know.  I'd trade you whatever your into. (Unless you are into  hammers)

Larry aka Chilly

[scottg]

Chili
 Its really similar to the one I had. About the same size too.
 Mine was a Columbian. I had cleaned it up and painted it emerald green metal flake.
I broke it doing something stupid, I am ashamed to report.
 It was a bad day and nothing else was working, and I just put too much pressure on.
 
Still have the little hardy hanging around though.
   yours Scott

[Branson]

Your mallet is used in silversmithing.
Chilly

Also for leather work.  I came across one along with a wooden hollow.  Used for forming leather -- think of molding the leather for a shoe.

[Chillylulu]

Your mallet is used in silversmithing.
Chilly

Also for leather work.  I came across one along with a wooden hollow.  Used for forming leather -- think of molding the leather for a shoe.

One with a hollow would work for leather, but a convex curve wouldn't work except at the point.

I do a fair bit of leatherwork, also.  I have 10 or 12 mallets that are about the same that I use when teaching scouts.  Usually leather is formed damp and stretched around a mold, tacked down, and dried.  Leather for forming has to be vegetable tanned to take the tooling.  If you hit leather into shape it won't stay but a slow firm push over time does the trick.  Tooling marks impressions into leather, with different tools for different effects. 

Its too bad, I have often wished I could use a leather punch on silver, or a silver punch on leather.  They don't interchange very often my silver punches stain the leather and most leather punches are made from metal that is too weak for metalwork.  A lot of similar looking tools cannot cross to other disciplines.

As an aside, I can't use the files I use for silver, gold, and copper on steel or tin. If i were accidently to grab a silverwork file and use it on steel I'd be out $30 to $50.  Platinum has its own files too.