Home turned mould mallet

[Tonto]

I saw Menards now carries Hickory lumber so I bought a 1x2, cut two piece 10 inches long and glued them together and tonight turned a mallet on the mini-lathe to replace a hammer handle I've been using for ten years. Will test drive soon but this was a fun, quick project that I had to show off....$2.50 invested and enough to make another.

[JesterGrin_1]

I have made a few. But I have used Aluminum for the handle and HDPE for the part that hits the sprue plate. It is bolted on so if needed I can replace it. I sent this one to 45Nut ( Ken ) It is a little more heavy duty than needed but a good whacker lol.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/SHAKERATTLEROLL/IMAG0041-1.jpg

[Fugowii]

I got a piece of 1.5" Ash, about 16" long, and it has served me well. I can use either end for work
and when/if it breaks, I'll just go cut another. I strip the bark before I put it into service. Don't
know what I would do without it. Excellent wood for this use.

BTW, both of those are very nice.

[Fishman]

Now you guys are just showing off.

[JesterGrin_1]

Who us showing off never lol. :)

When I first started I did try wood but did not like the splintering that did happen now and then and made a rough surface. So I figured what would be better than High Density Polyethylene. :)

[deltaenterprizes]

Nice work guys!

[btroj]

I am using a spare hawk handle I had kicking around. After 20 years or so it is still going strong.

Brsd

[MtGun44]

No offense, but you should not beat on your molds. Consider using Bull Plate lube and
cutting by easy pressure with a gloved hand when the metal is still soft. The lube will
prevent any smearing on the sprue plate. Much easier on the mold.

NICE work, by the way!

Bill

[Von Gruff]

I had a piece of inch dia brass tube about 10 in long and drove a dowel down the full length of it. Trimmed the ends and it has done and continues to serve the purpose. To tap, not to beat on things.

Von Gruff.

[JesterGrin_1]

Well the one pictured that I sent to Ken is a bit heavy since it is a solid piece of Aluminum lol. But it can be used for lots of other things than just for a mold lol. :)

[Dale53]

A machinist friend gave me a piece of Delrin Rod. It makes the best mould mallet I have ever used. It is heavy, but non-marring and works really well.

I twist the sprues off with my hands but a mould mallet is needed to tap the hinge bolt when bullets don't want to fall from the mould.

Dale53

[bobthenailer]

IN my opinion you should get a small rawhide mallet from brownells . Ive been useing the same mallet for 30 years , and could not imagen anything better.
I know for sure ive made well over 350,000 + cast bullets useing the same raw hide mallet

[fourarmed]

I like a rawhide mallet, too, but they are not cheap, and I am. What I did was take a well-seasoned osage orange ("hedge" around here) limb about 2.5" in diameter, and cut a piece of it about 4" long. I drilled a hole in it to take a 5/8" dowel, and made my own mallet.

[onondaga]

I have used a rawhide mallet for many decades. My latest replacement was $4 at the giant flee market last summer. It was well used, but the belt sander prettied it right up.

Gary

[Swede44mag]

I bought a rawhide mallet for leather working never thought to use it for boolit casting.
Thanks for the great idea.

[fryboy]

i use an old hawk handle that cracked , i have thought about the lathe aspect but since i haft heads for a hobby i have alot of misc broken handles , i used one broken sledge handle to turn out some nice hickory mold handles tho , i also found that even tho i tap with the lee two bangers it's best to also deburr the front - that stamped steel part seems to be rough on a few sprue plates , i've done the gloved way a few times but my two most used molds actually need that rap on the pivot to drop a couple out of the four ( mite as well call them soup cans :P )

[troy_mclure]

i have a 7/8" dowel i drilled out 1/2" of and filled with lead. works great for taping out stubborn boolits.

[Longwood]

I wore out my stick that I made from a piece of cherry about 2 inches in diameter and while I was looking for an old busted handle, I found my leather working mallet that I had pretty much forgot about since it had been so long since I did any tooling. i have cast about 3000 bullets with it and can't even tell I have been using it. i especially like how it hits with a less punishing blow.
Today I cast about 200 bullets to try out a new die and used some mold release I got in the order. It is made by Frankford Arsenal and I will never cast without it again. Tried it in a mold I always hate casting with and it worked great. Sure cuts down on the frustration of sticking bullets plus it speeds things up quite a bit so it is well worth the money.

[x101airborne]

I slipped on ice the first winter I was splitting wood and snapped the head off of my axe. The handle was cut down to 10" and I could not be hapier. I would buy a new axe handle if I didn't have a broken one for this.

If the stick isn't for beating a mold, I must be doing something wrong with my lee's. My Miha molds just get "the eye" and the boolits jump out. Never a problem.

[clintsfolly]

I turn them from scrap when i am making chairs. turn a few to get my hands/eye retrained. when i sell lead if it a new caster and i have some i ship one for free. the ones i make are like Tonto,s.Clint

[RangerRick1955]

I use a broken wooden hockey stick handle, cut, trimmed and taped at 10". Got it and a few others from the local arena for free, should last me well into the next century.
Rick

[masscaster]

Hi folks,
I use Rawhide Mallets.
A smaller one for single and DC, and a larger for my 4 + Cavs.
For the money, the longevity with no breaking and splintering make them worth the investment.
You can, if you so desired, beat the hell out of the mould with no ill effects. Atleast from the Mallet on the mould!! :roll:

Here's a link:
http://www.votawtool.com/zcom.asp?pg=products&specific=jniqhsfse

Jeff