Dog bone mallet faces

schreiber · Post by **schreiber** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:10 pm

Here's a minor project I'm almost done with.
Making new rawhide faces from dog bones.

First, the package of 14 bones I got for $10 at BJ's (which is like Costco or Sam's).

Second, soaking a bone in a tub...

Then some bones unwound. They are "glued" together and need to be pulled pretty hard to get them apart sometimes. I think the collagens responsible for hide glue are at work here. I used hot water initially, but I don't know if that helped.

schreiber · Post by **schreiber** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:15 pm

Then, cutting strips and winding. Don't tell my wife I did this on the dryer. They were wound as tight as I could manage.

Lastly, a wound head installed in a mallet.

Rawhide shrinks when it dries. I was hoping it would shrink into a tight ball, but it also shrinks along the thickness. Thus this isn't a solid piece, but it should smash together well enough.

I don't know if I'm going to treat them with something; seems to me that the store-bought kind have something infused in them. I might try beeswax.

In any case, I'm going to cut this one in half before I install it, so I have two. Now I need to find a saw with a small kerf so I waste as little as possible.

All in all, I made three heads and used two bones, with scraps left over. Next project: hide glue!

arty dave · Post by **arty dave** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:02 pm

Nice one! I've always thought this could be DIY, but haven't used my hammer enough yet!
Coupla thoughts - it stretches a little when wet so that might help get a tighter winding if you clamp down one end when you start - something to pull against. Also I wonder if you would get a nicely consolidated 'block' if it was soaked in hot hide glue rather than wax? And maybe even bake it?
Let us know how it goes.
Cheers,
Dave.

Kindyr · Post by **Kindyr** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:13 pm

would a large hose clamp work better for getting the wind tight? I would think you could clamp one of them down pretty tight on rawhide. maybe wrap the rawhide to oversized, and use a sheet ove really thin flashing metal between the rawhide and the hose clamp to spread the force out.

it looks like a great project. I have a hammer I really need a new head for.

mattmaus · Post by **mattmaus** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:53 pm

Spiff.

Let us know how they hold up and perform.

I was very close to fabricating my own head, and then using dog bones for making faces, but then someone here had a lot of hammers come up for sale and I lazied out and bought one of them.

Uryen · Post by **Uryen** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:15 am

Kindyr wrote:would a large hose clamp work better for getting the wind tight?

Perhaps a piston ring compressor.

sha-ul · Post by **sha-ul** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:29 am

Eamonn MacCampbell · Post by **Eamonn MacCampbell** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:38 am

Uryen wrote:
Kindyr wrote:would a large hose clamp work better for getting the wind tight?

Perhaps a piston ring compressor.

Thats what a buddy and I did for making a rawhide mallet for woodworking...Soaked the piss out of it...Roll it up as tight as we could and then put it in a piston compressor...Came out pretty nice...A couple of small open spots from the drying....He didn't keep checking it and retightening it over night...But it worked great... We took and drilled a hole through it and installed a wooden handle(ash) and was happy....Unfortunately, his St Bernard thought it was still his chew toy a couple of weeks later.... :lol:

schreiber · Post by **schreiber** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:02 am

Kindyr wrote:would a large hose clamp work better for getting the wind tight?

Doh! should've thought of that. I think it would help a lot, yes. I just wrapped aluminum wire around them, and where the wire was tight, it's bound pretty tight.

I still have 11 bones to work with, so if it doesn't work as-is I'll give that a try. Thanks for the idea!

Johann Lederer · Post by **Johann Lederer** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:28 am

I made a set for a #1 Garland mallet. I used my maille winding jig with a small mandrel. I clamped them with hose clamps. They are o.k. and they hold up but there is a dead spot (hole) in the middle of mine.

Good Idea though Schreiber!

ruthardus · Post by **ruthardus** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:56 am

I too tried to come up with another option for heads for my Garland hammer. I had a few rawhine mallets laying armound the shop. Since Garland wants like $20 a piece for the mallet heads, and regular mallets are $8 each....hmmmm.
I cut out the handle, sawed the 2" head in half, and trimmed 1 layer off to fit in the hammer slots.
fits and locks up great...but...it does not seem to have the softer, form taking qualities of the origional weighted mallet heads. too hard.
its like the origional mallet heads are ( like he suggested) waxed or impegnated with a softener. I took the new hammer over to the belt sander and rounded the rawhide heads and thought with some pounding they would give up the fight and conform...but no dice.
I might soak them a while and take a few sample whacks while still wet to see it they take on a more workable posture.
even thought about oiling them, but quickly had an image of me, the immediate area around me, and select spots of my shop spattered and spotted with oil deflection.....nah!

Steerpike · Post by **Steerpike** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:46 pm

Since Garland wants like $20 a piece for the mallet heads,

For once, I'm glad to be British...
New 1 1/2 " face for my old Thor rawhide- Â£3.50; that's what,5 dollars US?
Garland takea da piss... :evil:

Kindyr · Post by **Kindyr** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:14 pm

I saw this on Ebay so I thought I'd share. the picture is poorly taken, but they look to be the split head style, and they have several.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chicago-Rawhide-3-J ... .m20.l1116

not a bad price, though more than I paid for mine. and being in Illinois, I'd get soaked on sales tax.