Mold Mallets

[30yrcaster]

Hello,

What is the favorite type of mallet to use for your molds? 2 or 4 cavity

Using a wooden one doesn't last long when making alot of bullets.

Hensley & Gibb recommended using a lead hammer but we were talking 8 & 10 cavity gang molds at the time.

Thanks!!

[David R]

I use a 16" piece of hardwood sledgehammer handle. Used it for 15 years, still holding up. It does have an hourglass look on the end I use.

David

[nighthunter]

I agree with David R. I use a piece of an old shovel handle and it lasts a long long time. I think shovel handles make better sprue knockers than they do digging implements.
Nighthunter

[waksupi]

I found a set of crochet( Crokey? crochay? That game with wire loops stuck in the ground) mallets at the dumpsters. A bit of judicious work with a hand saw, and I have a fine set of sprue plate whackers.

[Shepherd2]

A section of shovel handle usually lasts me about 10 years.

[357tex]

I use a oak stick about 12in long they cheap, here in east Tx. :redneck:

[Johnch]

I grab a piece of hardwood branch off the wood pile .
I use it till I fined another that suites me better or the first one gets use to start the wood furnace .

I am currently using a leg off a broken stool .
I cut the legs off and saved them , the rest is ashes .

Johnch

[powderburnerr]

I got a piece of ldpe plastic 1&1/4 in dia and have been totally happy ith it it dont leave sawdust all over and it is impervious to the heat of the pot and has a bit more give to it than wood................. Dean

[NVcurmudgeon]

Small English rawhide mallet is the best I have found so far.

[XBT]

This board is a constant source of amazement for me.

I would have never guessed that anyone other than me was using sawed-off shovel handles for mold mallets. I used a hammer handle too, until I wore it out.

[MT Gianni]

I cut most of my sprues with a gloved hand but have 4 broken utility pins [hardwood pins that hold electric lines up from crossarms] and have yet to wear the first one out. If you know a lineman, the're usually tossed as junk. Gianni.

[C1PNR]

Well, I feel blessed in a way. My prowess with hand tools, both mine and those belonging to my Brother, leaves me with a goodly supply of broken Hickory axe and sledge hammer handles.:wink:

I've even been known to drill holes in the end and pour lead into those holes. A very light tap with the weighted "persuader" and the sprue is cut and I'm ready to further persuade the sticky boolits to drop with another light tap on the hinge.

While casting I normally don't like wearing a glove on my right hand, thus the use of the "persuader." But I'm going to try using a gloved hand to open the sprue. It's really when the boolits wont drop on their own that I need something to tap on the hinge.

[imashooter2]

I've been using a broken handle from a 3 pound maul. It still has a lot of life left in it. Like C1PNR, should be no problem replacing it when the time comes. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/smilies/icon_redface.gif

[Poygan]

I cut off about 12" from an old oar. Don't know what type of wood it is but I think it will out last me.

[versifier]

I use the handle of an old ball peen hammer, upside down. The head was ruined, so I cut it off. It's a decent piece of hickory and I have been using it for more than twenty years. If it gets a little splintery, I just touch it to the 1" belt sander I use for knifemaking.

[Rick N Bama]

I use the handle of a drilling/chipping hammer upside down.

Rick

[357tex]

Versifier
How did you manage to ruin a ball peen hammer? :lol:
My daddy alwas told me I could , but I never managed it.You guys up north got to be tough.

[RayinNH]

My brother made a mallet for me. It's made from 1.75" diameter delrin. For the handle he used .5" diameter aluminum and press fit a thin, knurled, brass sleeve at the grabbing end. It's really too damn nice to use for this purpose but needless to say I do. A fine tool indeed...Ray

[rbwillnj]

I use a small rawhide mallet with a lead core. Picked it up at a gun show for $3.00.

[trk]

I stopped using a mallet when I found I could judge the cooling closely enough to pop the sprue plate/cutter open with gloves. Too hot and it smears on the bottom side, too cold and one needs the mallet. In that case I use a soft-faced mallet.

[Frank46]

I use a pair of welder's gloves. You can pickup a set at home depot for about $13 bucks. I have an ancient pair that I use when melting down wheelweights. But occasionally I get a bullet that won't come out and use a 1" piece of dowel that I got from home depot. Frank

[versifier]

Tex,
I weren't me. Yard sale special in a box of other old tools. There were a couple of wood lathe chisels in there I wanted. I think someone tried to use it outside when it was well below zero as there were pieces missing from the peen and the flat side. When it's that cold and machinery gets frozen up it's a bitch to work on and many frustrated farmers and plow truck drivers reach for their trusty "Ford Wrenches" when things get down and dirty. MY own personal "Ford Wrench" is a ten pound sledge, but I can't do that kind of work anymore so I just lend it out, stand by the woodstove, and watch out the window. :cool:

[shooter2]

Get yourself a rawhide mallet with a head that's about 1.5" X 3.0". Not sure what mine weighs. I've been using it for years and have not found the need to even reshape the head. No marks on the moulds either. Much better than wood.

[Char-Gar]

In 1965 I bought a 16" hammer handle at Sears. It is still in service, although a mite smaller on the whacking end.

[Lloyd Smale]

I buy a hardwood shovel handle at the store and cut it into 12 inch lengths. They usually last about 6 months to a year each.

[30yrcaster]

I'm surprised nobody has used the lead hammer I mentioned. Maybe it never caught on or maybe it's only necessary for gang molds. I haven't used one myself. Brownells has a lead hammer mold.

The first mallet I bought was an RCBS for $6 in the 70's. It lasted about 2 weeks. I couldn't believe how fast $6 went. I've bought 1.5" wooden poles from the home center and the chips fly with them but they're cheap. Like the others said, the shovel handles lasted about the longest.

I just thought after all these years there was something more high tech out there everyone was using. I saw a poly mallet on Buffalo Arms that describes as follows:

"Made from high density poly for longest possible life, 1 1/4" x 12". This is probably the last mould mallet you'll ever need."
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1972.htm

[imashooter2]

I'm surprised nobody has used the lead hammer I mentioned. Maybe it never caught on or maybe it's only necessary for gang molds. I haven't used one myself. Brownells has a lead hammer mold.
-snip-

I've got a lead hammer. Forkin' thing is heavy. Can't see why you'd need anything like that to cut sprues or shake out stuck bullets.

[D.Mack]

Along with the standard shovel handle. I also use a flat piece of aluminum stock with pins, that go around the sprue plate to make a long handle, so I dont have to beat some of my more stubborn molds, DM

[30yrcaster]

Can't see why you'd need anything like that to cut sprues or shake out stuck bullets.

The reason for the lead hammer was several as explained to me from Hensley & Gibb back in the 80's.

The weight of the hammer required no effort to cut the spru especially with an 8-10 cavity gang mold.
It didn't damage the spru plate.
Finally, after it gets beat up, you just dunk it into the pot and cast a new one of the same alloy of course. You never need to buy another mallet.

Also, if I remember correctly around the same time, Brownells came out with their lead hammer mold which they still sell today.

I don't get to talk to high volume casters at the range and recently found this site just for casters. I figured I'd get a chance to see what type of equipment others are using. All my stuff is quite old but still works. It looks like not much has changed over the years.

Thanks for all the responses.

[hopper_64]

I use a hickory hammer handle. It looks rather funny in the end but has lasted for 3 years so far.

Hopper

[Sixgun Symphony]

I cut a stick from an old broomstick. It gets the job done without damaging the aluminum moulds.

I once cut a stick from a broken pick handle and it damaged one of my two cavity LEE moulds. Too dense and too heavy!

[Mk42gunner]

I use a small dead blow hammer when needed. I tried the rawhide mallet, it just seemed to bulky. Most of the time I just use a leather glove on my right hand.


Robert

[Greg5278]

You can make a lead head deadblow hammer from WW alloy. Just use a pipe nipple stuck in a pot of masonry sand for the head mold. Then you can drive it out, and drill a hole for a wood dowel handle. When it gets battered, make bullets from it. If the nipple isn't preheated, it shrinks enough to drive out easily with a punch.
Greg S

[felix]

Get the Sears hammer. I like it the best of all utensils that I have tried over the years. Picture enclosed.

[Tonto]

use a hickory hammer handle and I think it is over 12 years old.....knocker end is "weathered" but still works fine....any handle wood will work, ash, hickory...I bet elm would be sweet as it is difficult to split...would never buy a mallet

[45 2.1]

I make my own casting mallets. I turn aged hickory to 2 1/4" diameter about 3 1/2 " long and add a 10" handle. I've wore out three of them so far and will have to make another in the next year or so.

[jcunclejoe]

I use a hammer handle with the whacker end wrapped in about 1/4" of electrical tape. When the wood starts to show through, I re-wrap it. That has only happened once in 10+ years.
Joe

[slughammer]

I started out with several 4 cavity molds and I quickly beat a hammer handle into splinters. Didn't even comprehend how they used hammer handles in the books. (I knew NO other casters). I then stepped up to a big plastic hammer. My hammer is much like the one Felix gave the link to, it's just that mine has got to be at least 3lbs. The 6 oz one would be great for 1-2 cavity molds.

Also when cutting the sprues on the gang molds, I rest the mold on the work bench. Trying to hold a 5lb mold and then whacking it with a 3lb hammer would surely lead to damage in the wrist over the long term.

[BABore]

I use a 12-14" length of hockey stick. My partner collects the broken ones where he plays. Usually get 3-4 pcs from one. It's not as hard as hickory, but it's laminated hardwood. They also make excellent shooting sticks. I attach two pcs together with a shoulder bolt and put a thin derlin washer between them.

[FISH4BUGS]

I just thought after all these years there was something more high tech out there everyone was using. I saw a poly mallet on Buffalo Arms that describes as follows:

"Made from high density poly for longest possible life, 1 1/4" x 12". This is probably the last mould mallet you'll ever need."
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,1972.htm

I bought one of those. It WILL be that last one I will ever buy. Over 3000 bullets cast and hardy a mark on it...this with 10 cavity H&G moulds, 4 cavity Lymans and a smattering of 2 cavity moulds.

[yammerschooner]

I have found welding gloves work best for me.

[redneckdan]

I usually use whatever I can find laying around the bench: sticks, PVC pipe, stool leg, rawhide mallet. I tried the leather welding glove method and now I have no fingger print marks on my right hand.

[Pfeifer]

Dogwood tree limb section... This was used back in the old days for such. Roy Underhill talked about this occasionally in his woodworking episodes. We bought our house and there was a dead dogwood on the side of the house. The piece I've been using is now over 15 yrs old and barely scathed.
jp

[Blackwater]

Pfeifer, never thought of it, but dogwood would be really good, as would persimmon and red bud. It's my understanding, though I've never done it, that back in my parents' day, if they cut a dogwood or persimmon tree, they'd whittle it down into a wedge, and set it up to dry for a year or so. When thoroughly dry, they'd use it to split wood, just like they'd use a steel one. Persimmon is used in golf club heads, for those who still don't like the steel heads, and so is dogwood, though I think dogwood is prettier, rarer and more expensive.

Judas wood is a relative, so I'm told, and its wood is sometimes called Judaswood. Maybe Judas is aleged to have hanged himself from a redbud, as it's said that Jesus was crucified on a cross of dogwood? Maybe some of you can expand on this story? I need to find a dogwood I can "borrow" a chunk from. Used a plastic mallet for a long time, but it finally wore plum darn out. Been using whatever was handy and light enough, and need something a little more appropriate and dedicated. Thanks for the ref. I think I'll try one.

[Broomstraw]

Hello All,

This is my first post. I had received my order from Midway which consisted of three new Lee Bullet molds. I had got out the Lyman lead pot and got my alloy to temperature. Pretty much wheel weights with a little bit of scrap pewter for some tin. Started casting my 230 gr LRN TL 452 mold. I had misplaced my sprue knocker and grabbed a replacement handle for a framing hammer. WOW. This works great. I hold the smaller end and use the large end for the mallet. The hickory handle takes the hit with no damage. This should last until I misplace it. 8-) I am sure this is not a new thing, but it is to me.

[Stephen Cohen]

Is it true you can tell a dog wood tree by its bark.

[rockrat]

I use a mallet with replaceable plastic (delryn?) heads (two of them). Been using it for 30 years or so, going strong.

[VHoward]

I use a rubber mallet.

[Frozone]

I stopped using a mallet when I found I could judge the cooling closely enough to pop the sprue plate/cutter open with gloves. .....

This!

Watch the sprue, as soon as it hardens count one and open the sprue plate with gloved hand.

[Frozone]

Is it true you can tell a dog wood tree by its bark.

Well, up here we have the "Silent Dogwoods". They were all killed in the '64 quake but are still standing.

We call em "Silent Dogwoods" because they've all lost their bark.

[tomme boy]

I use a old cheap **** Chinese screwdriver. Smack the hinge on the handles with the plastic end. The 10-12" ones.

[stocker]

I had a small mallet from Tandy, I think, for leather working. I glued heavy saddle skirt leather on the faces. It's only used if I have a sticky mould that hasn't been "fixed" yet. Have used it for 30 or 40 years and think I have replaced the leather twice. It's light, does no harm and does the job when needed.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Some of the wooden dowels, hammer handles and the likes of such are made out of hardwood and can last a very long time. They can become "old friends" at the bench for many casters. It is possible to prolong their lives to "indefinitely" by doing the following; Obtain a long section of leather or rawhide thong/strip. Coat the length of the mallet section with epoxy or gorilla glue and begin winding a layer of the thong around the circumference of the striking section up to the end of the mallet. You can let it dry/set up and use as is or wind a second layer on top of the first and then let that dry. You will then have an incredibly strong and long..like in forever lasting surface, that will take an uncountable number of hits and will not harm the sprue cutter; the wood of the original mallet will be protected for a very long time and will always be serviceable. LLS

[Mal Paso]

6 oz. Rawhide Mallet. While I don't condone mold abuse you can't mollycoddle the boolits. You have to show them who's boss if they're going to make it in the real world. If you don't, you'll wind up with a bunch of losers that don't want to fly strait or be part of a group.

[Von Gruff]

I tried a piece of 1 in dowel when I forst started casting and it shreded fairly quickly and so cut a 10 in length of brass pipe and drove a wooden dowel into it and it has given sterling service ever since. I cast without gloves so gloving the sprue plate is not an option.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/VonGruff/Cast%20bullets/001-1.jpg

[fatboy]

years ago i ran into a deal on 465 hammer handles for 20bucks. so thats what i use, should last me a while. im down to about 350 now. its a good thing they dont wear out or i would have to start rationing them.