Mould mallets... What do you use and why?

[mattw]

I have been using this little jewel for years, it is lite, well balanced and the yellow end is just hard enough to work and does not damage the mould. I am about to wear out another end and thus I am looking at options. I have used small lead hammers, love them but they do not balance well at all. I have played with small dead blows and was not crazy about them. I have to have assistance opening a mould as I have avascular necrosis in both hands and need the extra umph to open the moulds, I also need to limit twisting in my wrists and palm of my hands. I cast mostly with 2 cavity Lyman, Saeco and RCBS moulds and have a small smattering of NOE 4C aluminum and Saeco 4C iron moulds as well.

240391

[415m3]

I use a length of shovel handle I trimmed down. Works fine

[Pigboat]

I use a rawhide mallet.
https://i.postimg.cc/pT2F4p2g/rawhide-mallet.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Beagle333]

I use a piece of pine furring. It's very soft and light, almost like a piece of balsa wood. I only use it to tap on the mold handle nut - never the mold, so I'm pretty sure there's no way to damage a mold using it this way.
https://oi613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/cast%20boolits/7590825D-D4DB-4F2D-ADC2-1846B91057D7_zpslcn5jnpv.jpg

[Conditor22]

+1 on the rawhide mallet, I have 3 different weights, usually, only need the 2 oz. one

[Walla2]

I use a broken off hickory hatchet handle. It is durable and does not damage anything

[poppy42]

I use a tire thumper That the truckers use to check air pressure via sound

[StuBach]

Made my own mold for a small lead mallet head that I attached to a piece of pine with a long heavy duty screw. Cheap and when it wears out I melt it down and cast another one.

Not great on balance but I’d rather let the mallet weight carry the force than be the one to exert the force myself (suffer from occasional carpal tunnel so this saves my hand from having to clamp down to heavily). Similar balance to my heavy ball peen hammer but smaller and lighter.

[cwlongshot]

Just a piece of hickory.

Eastwood once said nothing like a good piece of Hickory. He was tight. ;)

CW

[modified5]

I use a piece of closet rod. I think it’s pine. When my we built our clothing boutique I had some extra left over. Works great. It’s light, soft and cheap. It takes the abuse, not the mould.

[Bazoo]

I use a length of cherry wood 12" long and 1 3/4 diameter. I started using it for a lee loader but found the weight helps with sprue cutting and bullet release.

[RED BEAR]

I use sledge hammer handle bout $15 at the big box store and just cut off a lenght works great and as it gets used just cut off another piece. If you prefer a little more weight you can drill hole and pour lead in the end. All i have ever used.

[georgerkahn]

I use a Hensley & Gibbs moulded lead handle, purchased from a fellow on this site way back when :). (I understand, too, at one time there was one of these now-rare moulds freely circulated on this site from member to member to member as needed, but (???) it disappeared ?) Anyhoos, mine is on it's proverbial last leg, so to speak, so a couple of years ago I bought a similar from a seller on eBay. In both, a very soft alloy -- pure lead? -- is employed. Prior, I used hammer handles.

[JSnover]

A wooden hammer handle for two or four cavity molds, a gloved hand for single cavity molds.

[Burnt Fingers]

I've used a hickory hammer handle, a Lee mold mallet, and finally a rawhide mallet.

IMHO it's REALLY hard to beat the rawhide mallet.

[brass410]

weighted carvers mallet from lee valley tools zero vibration to wrist its soft face does no damage to sprue plate either

[MaLar]

240394

Harbor Freight Pittsburgh®- Item#66205
been using it for a few years. Before used an old hammer handle.

[gwpercle]

A hickory replacement handle intended for a claw hammer , 50+ years ago I needed something to open a Lyman mould with...it was on my Daddy's work bench , since he hadn't used it I borrowed it .
I picked it up and went to whacking sprue plates with the fat end ...worked great and have been using it ever since.
Still using one, don't remember if it's the original...but probably is...
Why ? It was available, it was free , it worked and Dad didn't mind that I "borrowed " it .

Gary

[farmerjim]

A scrap piece of Southern pine 2X4 ripped in half and cut to length. I have been using them for 60 years.

[rcslotcar]

I have several wood mallets that work well. The best has been a Sears Craftsman mallet like yours. The weight of the metal with the non marring head has been my favorite for years.

[pworley1]

I turned a small bat about a foot long. It has been working great for year.

[frkelly74]

Ove gloves. Cut the sprue with my gloved hand, tip the cut off into my gloved hand to return to the pot. Open the mold and eject the boolits. Close the mold , check that it is all lined up and repeat.

[John Boy]

A wooden hickory hammer handle ...
Ditto

[Paper Puncher]

Ove gloves. Cut the sprue with my gloved hand, tip the cut off into my gloved hand to return to the pot. Open the mold and eject the boolits. Close the mold , check that it is all lined up and repeat.

Once I get the mold up to temperature.

I use a broken rung off an old maple chair when I can't cut the plate with just my hand.

[Green Frog]

Back about 1974 My Dad and I started casting together. We found a tack hammer whose head had broken off right at the throat, so we turned the leftover piece of hickory over and started using it. I think it is still usable but it's been replaced by a similar one from a finishing hammer. They work well and were free. :D

Froggie

[Wheelguns 1961]

I use one of those small souvenir baseball bats that they sell at ballparks. Works great, although it is getting a little beat up.

[labdwakin]

I've used pieces of doweling, broken hammer handles, rawhide mallets... doesn't matter what, long as it doesn't damage your mould and doesn't cost a lot, lol.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Pieces of old hammer or shovel handles.

[Ozark mike]

I just smack it against a piece of wood

[Rick Hodges]

Another Hickory Hammer Handle

[hollywood63]

Another Hickory Hammer Handle

Make it three

[megasupermagnum]

I cut sprue's by hand. My deerskin gloves are plenty to keep the heat out. Early on I played around with different mallets to open the sprue plate. All are clumsy, or at least I'm too clumsy to not hit the mold once in a while by accident. Even if you are more accurate than I, it can't be good for the spure plate or mold top. Opening by hand is so easy and gentle.

I do use a mallet to tap bullets out, very similar to the OP picture, a nice rubber/plastic soft end mallet by Estwing. It looked too big at first, but boy the thing is a joy to use. IME bullets that fall out of the mold are too hot. YMMV. I tried wood mallets and different things, but none work like this soft mallet. A nice rap or two is all it takes, even on sticking bullets. It's hard to get a mold to proper temp when bullets are sticking, and you are smacking away with a tiny wood mallet.

[Leadmad]

Large Philips head Screwdriver, the shaft sits easy in my gloved hand and plastic head doesn't damage the bolt head on the handles.

[MrHarmless]

I use a 2x2 piece of pine I shaped to have a handle-esque lookin' part. It's soft, but has enough weight to pop the sprue plate easily. It's taken quite a whacking so far, but it is breaking down over time. I consider it disposable.

[SciFiJim]

A hammer handle turned end for end and whack with the gripping end.

[Littlewolf]

i work in a concrete products plant and the guys are always breaking shovel and scraper handles so i snag em and cut em to 12" long, ive been using the first one for 2 years now one grain layer has slightly peeled but as "Preacher"(Clint Eestwood" said "Nothin Like A Nice Piece of Hickory"

[JM7.7x58]

There is a bush that grows around here. It has two names, the first is ocean spray, the other is ironwood. I make arrows with the two year old shoots. The larger sticks make good tool handles. The natives made digging sticks with it. We don’t have great hardwoods here in the Pacific Northwest, this bush doesn’t ever grow much bigger than my wrist, but pound for pound it is great hardwood. It also makes a great mold mallet.

[tinsnips]

Hammer handle . But I just bought one of those nylon hammers for Harbor Frieght.

[Iowa Fox]

I just use some odd shaped pieces of hickory I made when I was trimming up my hickory trees. Those branches really have some strange bends & curves.

[MDC]

Foot long piece of 1" oak dowel

[coloraydo]

I use a cut off piece from the fat end of an old pool cue, about 10" long.

[Duckiller]

Have used a hammer handle for many years. It is starting to ravel a bit. Got a 2" square piece of hard exotic wood from Rockler. Turned a smaller diameter handle and a larger hitting nd. Will use it the next time I cast. Rockler and other wood working stores have shorter lengths of hard exotic woods. They can be turned into real good whackers. Heavy enough to move sprue and hard enough to take the abuse without showing damage.

[Burnt Fingers]

As I said I use a rawhide mallet. On 2 cavity molds I open the sprue plate by hand. I use the mallet to encourage the boolits to leave the mold.

Most of my casting is done with multiple cavity molds and I can't open those sprue plates by hand.

[LenH]

I use a homemade lead hammer for molds 4 cavity and larger. For 2 & 3 cavity molds I use a gloved hand to open.
There are instructions on this site for making a lead hammer as shown in this picture. I use a piece of all thread for a handle.240425
One well used one new.

[lightman]

I use a plastic tipped hammer much like the one pictured in the original post. I think mine is smaller and is much older.

[bobthenailer]

Small rawhide mallet (brownells) or gloved hand and push sprue open, rawhide mallet to knock bullets loose.
Been using the same mallet for 30 years and over 400 K bullets

[Froogal]

I started out using a wooden dowel but it didn't last very long. Found my old, homemade brass hammer and now it lives right next to the casting pot.

[David2011]

A friend started me out using a rawhide mallet. I've also tried a dead blow hammer and it works well but it's large and heavy. Most of the time I use a replacement hickory hammer handle but I still like the rawhide mallet because it's light.

[JBinMN]

I don't use a mallet. I have a short chunk of SYP 2X4, or something like that laid across a #10 coffee can and I take the sprue cutter on the mold & smack it on the 2X4 & the sprue drops into the can so I can add them back to the pot as I go.

In the picture below, look to about the 8:30 - 9 o'clock position and you will see the can & the chunk on top( I grabbed a triangle shaped chunk of wood since I seem to have used the short 2X4 chunk for something else a while back. A similar length of 2X4 is up around the 1 o'clock position in the pic, but that one is used under the spout to slide molds across when I fill them. It is just setting off to the side at the time of the pic being taken.) But it is the same process done with the triangle chunk as with a short chunk of 2X4.
240497

I don't need to pick up anything to cut the sprues.

I wear leather gloves to put the sprue cutter closed again after I drop the boolits into a tray with a damp towel, and refill the mold again then repeat.

Works for me anyway.

[RedlegEd]

Hi all. I use a 1" Oak dowel with 1" PVC pegged in on one end, and paracord wrapped handle on the other. The PVC keeps the dowel from getting chewed up. Ed

240503

[Nodakjohns]

I use a NOE mould mallet. Since I am a new caster I did get a good discount so I figured I might as well. it works fine for me.

[NoZombies]

Rawhide mallet. I've never damaged a mold with it. I've seen plenty of molds beat to death by bad casters using hickory.

[alamogunr]

I use a lead hammer made with that mold that made the rounds a few years ago. I made 4 while I had it and am still using the first one. I only use it when I can't move the sprue plate with my gloved hand. That's mostly 4 cavity molds. Two cavity molds usually only take a good push with the hand. The lead hammer only weighs about a pound. When it gets beat up a bit, I tap everything back smooth with a small ball pein hammer.

It still galls me that the hammer mold disappeared shortly after I passed it on. I hope whoever kept it made a lot of hammers.

[Blammer]

I use the one NOE makes, lasts forever and good too!

[Walks]

Beagle333,

I have never understood why Folks don't put an ingot mold underneath the spout on their bottom pour pots, Everytime I see this it just drives me crazy.

I've seen a few bad accidents because there was nothing to catch overflow.

Don't quite understand your set up withe two small cups.

Bur I guess I'll just over curious.

[Butler Ford]

I use a sawn piece of tobacco stick, when it breaks or wears out, I don't mind. There is probably another 200 thousand left In the barns.

[sigep1764]

I use my Lyman kinetic bullet puller. Its plastic, cant hurt the mold. When it wears out, ill buy another. Its served for 7 years.

[AllanD]

Like many here I use chunk of a hickory hammer handle

Actually the sawed-off the 12" handle end of a broken sledge hammer handle I needed to replace anyway...

[Wag]

8" long piece of pine 1x2.

--Wag--

[15meter]

I turn my own mallets, one of my hobbies is woodturning. Last one was white oak, lasted ~10 years. Current one appears to be white ash, piece came from blocking on a steel truck. I Don't think this one is going to last as long as the white oak, but it has a very nice feel in the hand. Probably could have gone smaller, but it works. Down the road if I decide it's too big I'll either re-turn it or make a new one.

240809

[ascast]

I NEVER use a mallet on singles or doubles , except as a last resort. Then I have an old hammer handle handy.

[brstevns]

I have been using this little jewel for years, it is lite, well balanced and the yellow end is just hard enough to work and does not damage the mould. I am about to wear out another end and thus I am looking at options. I have used small lead hammers, love them but they do not balance well at all. I have played with small dead blows and was not crazy about them. I have to have assistance opening a mould as I have avascular necrosis in both hands and need the extra umph to open the moulds, I also need to limit twisting in my wrists and palm of my hands. I cast mostly with 2 cavity Lyman, Saeco and RCBS moulds and have a small smattering of NOE 4C aluminum and Saeco 4C iron moulds as well.

240391

Same I have used for over 45 years

[Shopdog]

40 or so years ago.....

Took a drop of beech 6011 LJSmith handrail and bored a hole in the same orientation as a baluster except,all the way through. Took a hickory handle dad had made years before that,ball pein style and fitted it in. The profile of the rail is spot on perfect for tapping sprue plate open..... both ends get equal wear....still using it.

[trapper9260]

I have use a cut of pine for the shape of a mallet then I worn that down Now I use a cut maple limb that is dry out and bark off and put a handle on it and works ok for me. I do put a ingot mold under the bottom pour to catch the dripping from it .

[The Old Salt]

A piece of Nylon dowel 1” dia about 12” long. Light wt works very well. Best part was I just happenned to have it in my scrap pile. From what project? Who knows 😁

[sniper]

I used an old hammer handle...cheap, and it worked just fine! I like your idea of a hammer.

[wmitty]

Broke a kinetic bullet puller several years ago between the handle and the opening end. I like it better than the hammer handle or the rubber/plastic end mallet I’d used previously.

[samari46]

Go to Lowe's or Home depot and buy a couple pair of welders gloves. Use one and always keep a spare. striking the sprue plate does the screws that hold the mold to the handles no good. Have an old pair that I use when melting wheel weights as well. Frank

[rcslotcar]

I just found a short Police baton and it works great.

[Traffer]

I have been using a piece of very soft white pine 5/8"x 1 5/8" about 14" long. It works very well. However someday I wanna make me a small baseball bat type mallet. After reading some of the posts here I may wrap it with rawhide to boot.

[Burnt Fingers]

Go to Lowe's or Home depot and buy a couple pair of welders gloves. Use one and always keep a spare. striking the sprue plate does the screws that hold the mold to the handles no good. Have an old pair that I use when melting wheel weights as well. Frank

I open all my single and double cavity molds by hand. However I can't do that with 4-8 cavity molds. If you can you're a very strong person.

[David2011]

I open all my single and double cavity molds by hand. However I can't do that with 4-8 cavity molds. If you can you're a very strong person.

If you lube the sprue plate with a high temp synthetic 2 stroke oil you can open it before the lead freezes. Takes very little pressure at that point and the lube eliminates lead smears.

[foesgth]

I use a belaying pin. You know the thing the pirates use in the movies. I have some from a topsail schooner I crewed on.

[kevin c]

+1 on the rawhide mallet, I have 3 different weights, usually, only need the 2 oz. one How many cavities are you using the two ounce mallet for? I have aluminum eight bangers, and a few sharp rap on the handle bolt is usually needed to get the casts (bevel based pistol boolits, with lube groove) to drop. So far the tools I've tried, which are all light, havent worked well. This includes leaded loaded wooden dowels and a small rubber coated dead blow hammer. The brass end of the hammer and rapping with the side of my steel needle nosed pliers works better, but have already scarred the molds with the occasional misaimed blow. Same with tapping on the side of the handles as was suggested to get some lateral displacement.

I think I need to hit harder or heavier with something non marring, and the right weight rawhide mallet may be a good choice.

[Echo]

I used a hammer handle, then a tape-wrapped 1" dowel, and now use a nice little plastic mallet.241649

[ranger391xt]

I started out using a 1 inch oak dowel. It became a splintered mess in a short amount of time. Now I use one of those orange plastic "dead blow" hammers. I think I saw a picture of someone using one, maybe in the Lyman 4th edition Cast Bullets book, but I cannot remember for sure.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[GregLaROCHE]

I use a broken shovel handle cut down to around 14 inches.

[Walter Laich]

240394

Harbor Freight Pittsburgh®- Item#66205
been using it for a few years. Before used an old hammer handle.

saw the above post and got one, too. works great and less filling :-P

now all I have to do it look at the mold with it in my hand and the sprue plate opens by itself

[Drew P]

The cheapness of our community is evident in this thread! I use a mini rawhide mallet, not easy to find, so I paid way too much. But it gives me some satisfaction to have a nice dedicated tool for the job which will last a lifetime on the casting bench.

[6bg6ga]

I don't use a mallet. No need to beat on my molds because the bullets fall out simply because of the action of the casting machine. I use a Ballisti-cast Mark IV bullet caster. I simply make sure the molds are clean and the lead is hot enough and its crank and go.

[jughead76]

I use a wood mallet made from ash. Seems to be very durable so far.

[mvozz]

I have been casting for a little over a year and wore out the Lee mallet that came with my used set up. I stopped by NOE a couple of months ago and picked up one of Al's mallets. What was left of the Lee went into the garbage! The NOE is a keeper! The PVC end is held in place with an "O" ring and is replaceable. I think this is the last mallet I will ever own:p

[stubshaft]

A small rawhide hammer. It doesn't mar anything.

[Conditor22]

I open all my single and double cavity molds by hand. However, I can't do that with 4-8 cavity molds. If you can you're a very strong person.

Some sprue plate holes could use a little "sharpening". IF you see a ridge/line at the bottom of the fill hole find a hone or countersink the same angle and deepen/sharpen the sprue-plate hole. Then smooth the back side before putting it back on the mold.

[Smoke4320]

Wooden Shovel handle wrapped with old leather belt

[Gamsek]

Wooden stick wrapped with 4 layers of soft red stag leather from Alps and covered with McNett CamoTape...soft https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190528/90caf9f917b943c86e8989a3844f7c3e.jpg
Because I do “beat” my sprue plate but I don’t wanna hurt it;)

[redhawk0]

I wore out an old Ash Shovel handle...splintered everywhere near the end of it's life. Switched to a rawhide mallet. I've never looked back.

redhawk

[Shawlerbrook]

A 10” handle section of a broken ash baseball bat.

[Mal Paso]

An 8 pound piece of broken jackhammer steel sits on the bench just to let the molds, pots and electronics know that a great deal of force can be brought to bare if they don't perform properly.

A 6oz rawhide mallet is used on sprue plates and handles ..... most of the time.

[DukeInFlorida]

Couple of thoughts::

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?373023-Mould-Tappers

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?280783-Hand-Turned-Mold-Tappers-for-Sale

BTW, back on the focus of this thread, I get the molds to the high end of heat, and easily open the sprue plate with my gloved hand. I put the corner of the mold down on a linen or cotton towel. I use my mold tapper to lightly tap on the pivot screw, only to facilitate the mold cavities to release the castings. That way, they drop lightly without damage. And, the mold tapper never gets damaged. I don't beat on anything with the tapper.

When I did the extensive research for the tappers, I quickly discarded the PVC covered dowels. The pvc kept breaking too easily. The solid wood versions were more durable, and the custom bullet shaped handles were a hit. Let me check raw materials.

242574

[rmark]

a very beat up piece of 1x2 pine.

[EMC45]

I use a chair leg cut down. I saw a busted up chair in the ditch out in the neighborhood when I lived in GA, and I drug the chair home. I cut a few pieces and parts off it and then threw it in my ditch. That was about 6 years ago. Works great.

I also turned a couple for friends out of Dogwood. They turn wonderfully and are rock hard.

[Spector]

For years l used a piece of osage orange l split, but now use heavy duty kevlar gloves. Light flexible and handles heat well.

Mike

[rrob692326]

I use a 1.5" diameter rod of solid teflon for the past 40 years.

[rubinschmidt]

+1 on a length of 1-1/4" soft pine curtain rod. The pine takes all the abuse, not your mold, and it will last for many many thousands of whacks.

[gwpercle]

It was 1967 and my Dad had a wood replacement hammer handle for a claw hammer lying on his work bench....
Looked like it would be just the right shape and size to open a mould, so I borrowed it.
I swear I always meant to return it... I'm still using it to this day .
When I told my Dad I had "borrowed" it , his reply was " Keep it , I bought two when I was at the hardware store . " My Dad always had a habit of buying a spare ... I find myself doing the same thing now...like father, like son !
Wow...Fathers Day is coming up... I sure do miss that old Guy .
If you still have your Dad , spend some time with him while you can .
Gary

[Tmaloy]

Been using a rawhide mallet since I started casting.

[uscra112]

Never used a club on a mould in my life. Never will. Wear leather welders' gloves, grab the sprue-plate handle and give it a twist. What's so hard about that?

[imashooter2]

I use sledge hammer handle bout $15 at the big box store and just cut off a lenght works great and as it gets used just cut off another piece. If you prefer a little more weight you can drill hole and pour lead in the end. All i have ever used.

I use a splitting maul handle that had fewer than a dozen swings on it.:oops:

Divided the handle into 3 convenient lengths. Still using the first.

[imashooter2]

Never used a club on a mould in my life. Never will. Wear leather welders' gloves, grab the sprue-plate handle and give it a twist. What's so hard about that?

Amazing... never had a sticking boolit?

[Burnt Fingers]

Never used a club on a mould in my life. Never will. Wear leather welders' gloves, grab the sprue-plate handle and give it a twist. What's so hard about that?

Are you loading any 4-8 cavity molds? No meaning Lee 6 cavity either.

[uscra112]

Are you loading any 4-8 cavity molds? No meaning Lee 6 cavity either.

Touche. No, I'm casting for accuracy, not volume.

[Drew P]

Never used a club on a mould in my life. Never will. Wear leather welders' gloves, grab the sprue-plate handle and give it a twist. What's so hard about that?
How about when the mold is cold and you have a 6 cav sprue plate that won’t budge with your gloves hand?

[Hondo53]

It was 1967 and my Dad had a wood replacement hammer handle for a claw hammer lying on his work bench....
Looked like it would be just the right shape and size to open a mould, so I borrowed it.
I swear I always meant to return it... I'm still using it to this day .
When I told my Dad I had "borrowed" it , his reply was " Keep it , I bought two when I was at the hardware store . " My Dad always had a habit of buying a spare ... I find myself doing the same thing now...like father, like son !
Wow...Fathers Day is coming up... I sure do miss that old Guy .
If you still have your Dad , spend some time with him while you can .
GaryIt was the summer of 1967 when my Dad asked me if I wanted to start reloading. In 68 I started casting. Only thing that's changed is the size and capacity of the equipment and my Dad"s no longer here.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[tankgunner59]

Not too far from my home we have what is billed as the largest flea market in the midwest. While we were there once I bought an old beat up Louisville Slugger, I cut it down and I use one piece for my mold mallet. I've never needed to do more than tap the molds.

[Demeter’s_Workshop]

I have been known to use a tree branch, but these days a lead mallet made from copper fittings and a drop of rebar. Much less work than the branch :bigsmyl2:

[parkerhale1200]

piece of wood from a old tree, take the hits and blunts but leaves my mold in a good shape.
1,5 inch in dia, about 12-15 inch long, i used one side completely out, the other side is also starting to ware out.

247813

still goes strong

[uscra112]

Caveman boolit caster !! ^^^^

[popper]

Got a longer hinge bolt, Brass shoulder bushing to go under it and #8 screw and bolt with aluminum spacer for the plate hole. Cut Sprue with light wood stick, as a lever between the 2. No hot hand anymore and it will cut a cold Sprue no problem. No shock to the pivot bolt and aluminum mould. Sprue just drop into the bucket. 5$ for parts for 2 moulds at HW store. Haven't found the right shouldered bolt yet, if plate makers bent the 'finger' up, even simpler. 4x pistol mould is next. Got a large flat blade craftsman screw driver I can use as lever and handle bolt tapper.
247907

[Sean357]

Axe handle it got for $4 or $5 somewhere. Works great. Was looking for something really good and figured that would work till I got something better. After using it I haven't looked for anything else since.

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[smithnframe]

I use hickory hammer handles.

[kevin c]

piece of wood from a old tree, take the hits and blunts but leaves my mold in a good shape.
1,5 inch in dia, about 12-15 inch long, i used one side completely out, the other side is also starting to ware out.

247813

still goes strong If you hadn't said otherwise, I would have bet good money that your picture and uscra112's comments were about some old collar bone you found in the woods!

[GONRA]

GONRA uses a "handy lumber / scrap - cutoff". WEAR GLOVES / GOGGLES !!!

[Drm50]

I use a cut off from a kids ball bat. It's still going strong after at least 40yrs. Before that an assortment of chair legs and such.

[mdatlanta]

I use an old piece of hardwood dowel which is maybe 1" or 1 1/4" in diameter. I can't do too much damage if I miss the hinge bolt and hit the mold. ��

[Cheeto303]

I use a nightstick,billy club or whatever you want to call it. Works great. I've been using it since the late 1980's.

[Eddie Southgate]

A Bodock billet about 10" long and roughly hammer diameter . Why ? Because it's been in the family for years and that's good enough for me . I have several other things that I have used but this has always been my favorite .