New Mold Whacker

[Tonto]

The Firewood Poem

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

[William Yanda]

Well said Tonto.
I only had heard; Ash dry or ash green, makes a fire fit for a queen.
The older generation had a lot of wisdom that is being lost through disuse.

[Chill Wills]

My mold mallet is a piece of a broken pool stick that I found in an alley behind a bar in Golden Colorado. I wish it could talk.

Yeah, The Ace High Bar.

I just use a gloved hand. Even on the four and six cavity molds. For what ever reason, I am able to just twist them off while pushing down the plate so I get a flat base and not a bump.
I buy a lot of used molds and pass of a lot that have been beat to death!

[Gliden07]

Very nice!! I have an old cut off Orr handle and a piece of Maple stick I kept from a trip out to the wood pile.

[Dragonheart]

I used the ends of old oak shovel handles also. I drill a hole in the top a few inches deep then bell bottom the hole somewhat. Then I fill the hole with lead. It adds the necessary weight to gently tap the mold open with less effort. A wrap or two of duct tape around the top extends the life of the tapper and cushions the blow. Or you can dip the top in some of the liquid plastic products. Slipping on some rubber HVAC insulation and taping it down makes for a cushioned handle.

[Sur-shot]

Started out years ago using a round ball paean hammer handle, the carpenter's hammer handle has too many edges for my taste. Then one day discovered that my shop leather mallet makes a dandy sprue plate mover and I have use the same leather mallet now for well over 40 years.
Ed

[jhalcott]

When I was younger I would break the stories off by a gloved hand. These arthritic old hands have trouble just holding the mold!

[Dragonheart]

When I was younger I would break the stories off by a gloved hand. These arthritic old hands have trouble just holding the mold!

Believe me, I know what you mean.

[Drm50]

I have used a old handle off a two man cross cut saw for 40 yrs.

[3006guns]

I picked up a box full of new hickory hammer handles years ago.......for free! I've been using one for a sprue plate tapper for over ten years now and have yet to pull another one out of the box. As mentioned, a couple of moderate taps is all that's necessary......just the way I learned over 40 years ago.

[dikman]

I made a small mallet from laminated Australian Oak (pretty hard wood), turned on the lathe. I faced it with a piece of very hard leather - drive belt from an overhead system, maybe? - to absorb a bit of impact. Works well for me.

[slug]

In the winter, there are lots of broken hockey sticks around. When one gets too beat up, it goes in the trash and I dig up another one from my stash.

[Blue2]

Nice. You don't see ash with figure very often.

You know what they say--It's hard to beat a nice piece of ash !

[Zthomps]

Nice thumper I gotta get me one of those

[jcwit]

I bought a bundle of hammer handles at the flea market 20/30 years ago, still using the first one.

Have used a few to replace hammer handles over the years.

Wasn't a bad buy for 2 or 3 bucks.