Copper Faced Mallet Referb

[lauver]

Gang,

Several months back I picked up an old heavily used copper faced mallet with no handle.  Got it for pocket change and thought I would make a project out of it.

I refaced the copper ends, painted the cast iron center, and found and old handle from a drill hammer to use on the project mallet.  Long story short, the project is complete and ready to rock and roll.  Here's a snap shot of the finished 2lb x 10" mallet:



BTW-- If you ever run across an abused copper mallet, they are very easy to reface with nothing more than about 20 minutes with a coarse file and about 10 minutes with some sandpaper.  Power tools are not required.

My plans for this mallet are as a light, non-marring, tapper to use when driving or seating plated, polished, or machined parts.  I think it will be perfect for these kind of tasks.

[lbgradwell]

It looks great, Gary, but we need to see the turd before you got to work!

[lauver]

LG,

I have a bunch of turd photo's but for some reason they won't upload from my camera to my HD.  I'll try again later, maybe my camera was having a bad morning.

Edit: Here's a couple of intermediate photos.  I had already wire wheeled the center cast iron section but had not started on the copper faces yet.





There were absolutely no markings on this mallet head, so I have no clue who might have made this mallet or when.  It's a keeper just the same.

Edit 2: I found a picture of the mallet head (i.e. the turd) as it appeared when I bought it and some other tools at the "Dirt Market".

[Papaw]

Another great job, Gary!

[scottg]

Excellent work!!
 Way to go
 I remember the corpse when you started. :)
 
 What did you paint it with?
  yours Scott
 

[lbgradwell]

Very nice. I can't believe you could bring that back in 30 minutes!

[Dakota Woodworker]

Well done!  Looks like a great addition to the shop. 

[lauver]

Excellent work!!
 Way to go
 I remember the corpse when you started. :)
 
 What did you paint it with?
  yours Scott

Scott,

The cast iron center was done with 1 coat Rustoleum primer, 2 coats Rustoleum satin black enamel, 3 hours in a 300 degree oven, then left in the oven over night to cool.

Handle finished with the patented Galoot Mix.  Now who gave me the formula for the Galoot Mix?  O yeh, you did.

[lauver]

Very nice. I can't believe you could bring that back in 30 minutes!

LG,

To be honest, by the time the mallet head was painted and the handle was cut down, fitted, refinished, and mounted, I probably had 6 - 8 hours in the project.  These projects have a way of growing.  And for me, the hardest part of the project is finding an appropriate donor handle that can be made to fit the head and my hand.

[Branson]

A thing of beauty now, as well as a useful tool.  Glad to see the results of your work.