Instructions on how to make a mallet out of a log. This type of mallet was preferred because the head would not slip off the handle as it would when mallets were made of two separate parts.
Make a Round Face Mallet
Here is a chance for the “Handy Boy” to make a tool for himself which will be quite as efficient as any he can buy for the same purpose. The round face mallet is preferred by many workmen and in some trades, wood carving and stone cutting, no other mallet is used, because the head does not become loose from the handle, and what is quite as important, it always strikes a fair blow which is not always true of a flat face mallet.
Select a piece of maple, white ash, beech, hickory, white oak or any other kind of hardwood from a pile of dry cord wood. The piece should be large enough to clear six inches if a heavy mallet is desired, though three of four inches will make a mallet heavy enough for ordinary work. This size refers to the diameter of the piece after the sap wood and bark has been cut off. Cut the billet off 12” long of wood which is free from knots with the ends as nearly square as possible, for a knotty piece will wear unevenly and will soon be out of balance.
After trimming off the sap wood, make a line around the piece as at a, four lines as at b and corresponding lines down the sides to line a as at c.
Now we will find out how much stick-to-it-ive-ness the “Handy Boy” has, for it will take muscle and stamina and a sharp saw to cut beside, but outside of the lines c, down to line a, and leave a square in the middle as at d. After this is done, saw carefully beside line a to cut out pieces e, leaving the rough form of the handle as at g; make it eight sided as at h for this is necessary if the handle is to be made round most efficiently. The head of the mallet should now be trimmed as at k, after which the handle may be given its permanent shape as at l.
A most efficient potato or vegetable masher may be made by the same method.
Source: Perth Amboy evening news. (Perth Amboy, N.J.), 25 Jan. 1924.
