New Leather Mallet made in USA who-hoo

[BrutalAB]

Sounds like a good idea, im tired of picking wood chips out of my freshly cast boolits.

When the wooden wackers that ive been using get too bad, they get reduced to stirring the wax for fluxing, figure its just as good as the ever popular sawdust.

[Traffer]

Good on ya.

I'm a little surprised some of these guys here don't make their own from deer & other hides.
Ya wouldn't think there's all that much to them.

I thought the same thing so I looked on youtube. Here is what I found:

[kevin c]

Need a mini version of that.

My aluminum eight cavity bevel base molds sometimes need more than just a bit of gentile persuasion. I was using the side of a pair of pliers, but steel on steel was scarring the handle bolt. A brass hammer occasionally slipped and dinged the blocks (thankfully not the mold faces) and a plastic hammer bounced back. I tried a small dead blow hammer, but it wasn't heavy enough (I want the boolits to drop with one firm rap, not two or three), and anyway the plastic is getting chewed up. I have high hopes for the lead weighted Garland.

[Drew P]

My theory is that whatever the #1 can do,,,,, the #4 can do better.

Unless you have to hold it in your hand full time. I love my #1 size for casting. When the mold is cold it sometimes seems a little light, but when you’re up and running it’s just perfect. I always chuckle when I see people on here who seem to be super stubbornly tied to using that old chair leg or fence post or whatever and just refuse to spend a single penny on something as expensive as a 30$ mallet, but I on the other hand lobe using quality tools and to me, these are better than a piece of fire wood.

[redhawk0]

I bought the size #2 about a year also. I used to use an ash "club"...but it doesn't take too long before it starts to splinter out. Best $20 I ever spent.

redhawk

[Leoparddog]

I've got a number 2 that I like a lot for inletting

[Freightman]

I have had a leather mallet for the past 20 years and I bought it used from an estate no telling how long he had it they are tough and handy

[alamogunr]

I have a mallet that I bought from Bill Ferguson many years ago. It has the same green label as the OP's picture. I would guess that it is a #2 based on the chart in Post #12.

These days I am more likely to use a small lead hammer.

[Leoparddog]

I was thinking about buying a new mallet after reading the thread and then I remembered that I had bought some heavy leather that I made a Possible bag out of last year, so I took some scrap leather and wrapped it around a piece of scrap 1" wood dowel and nailed it in place. Viola! a leather wrapped sprue mallet. Works nice.

[kens]

I had one of those, until, the dog got hold of it and thought it was a chew toy !!!
of all the things a dog has ever tore up, that one upsets me the most.

[David2011]

Nope, they don't.

I'm not really smacking the handle bolts hard anyway but the leather mallet doesn't harm anything. I doubt a small deadblow hammer could do any damage either. It's all about what your hand gets used to...

Don’t hit the handle bolts; only the hinge pin.

I have a well worn but still usable rawhide mallet and a new one in the hammer drawer just in case. I got a dead blow hammer on a Mike Venturino suggestion but don’t think it’s better than the rawhide hammer.

Another “mallet” I use is a hickory hammer handle. It’s a little chewed up but it’s also at least 15 years old. It works pretty well but hammer handles are getting pricey.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Got the #2 for my single/double cavities and couldn't be happier. What a difference from the old smallish hickory hammer handle.

I look forward to wearing it out....

[kevin c]

Don’t hit the handle bolts; only the hinge pin...

Maybe I don't have the terminology down, or I'm hitting in the wrong place.

At the end of each arm of the handles is the connection to one of the mold halves, and the arms themselves have a crossed connection. I thought the first were the hinge pins and the second was the handle bolt? I've only ever seen pics and vids of casters tapping the bolt head where the arms cross; never where the arms hold the mold blocks.

[Gtek]

Also remember if your not going to sell it you can legally tear the tags off. Where are the pictures of the homemade lead hammers?