Review of the Barry King 16oz Maul.

[Omega Leather Works]

I was anticipating that the maul would arrive tomorrow. Happily it arrived today.

I'll post usage thoughts after I've had time to actually use it, but I wanted to share a couple of pictures and thoughts in the meantime.

The maul arrived well packaged and with a catalog of their offerings including their newest tools. My first thought, picking up the box, was that it felt quite a bit heavier than I would have thought. I haven't weighed the tool, but it feels substantial given its compact size. The balance point is at the top of the leather stacked handle, just below the bottom brass disk.

The construction is (I assume) a threaded rod center, a polished brass nut, lock washer, stacked leather (very attractive), brass disk, urethane striking surface (2" at this weight. It goes up to 2.5" after the 20oz offering), an engraved brass top and a steel piece of hardware to keep it all together.

Some pics.

The stack of leather is very well done. Nicely compressed with no voids. Feels awesome in hand.

Plenty of real estate for my xl mitts.

Everything is nicely polished.

The pic below I took because I was slightly surprised by the striking surface.

Other mauls I've handled had a smooth head if I remember correctly. This one is ribbed. I'm not sure why they do this. Anyone know?

Again, the tool feels quite substantial. I have high expectations for it due to the weight, obvious quality and very solid feel. While my dead blow has served me well, this has an entirely different feel. The difference feels like plastic versus g10 if that makes sense. The weight distribution is very different and the size is obviously also very different. I've noticed that I choke up on the dead blow quite a bit, whereas this feels more like "the right tool for the job". I'll keep the rest of the review until I've used it.

So far, for the price, I'm digging what I'm seeing, but more so, what I'm feeling.

 

[darkmatter35]

Thanks Anthony for the review, I'll be interested in the usage review. I plan on getting the BK maul but haven't fingered out which weight. I recently purchased a BK edger (Dave's advice) and I really love it. Its performance makes the project so much more professional looking.
John S.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Don't mind the lousy strikes as I wasn't going for accuracy. What I was aiming for was using both the maul and DB hammer at the same strength and holding the tools as it comes naturally.

I promise that I tried my hardest to be as fair as possible without skewing the results. That said, I'm genuinely surprised at the difference in quality.

(DB impressions at top, BK maul at bottom)

Only thing that I didn't like was that I glanced off the side of the maul once. Even so, there wasn't any indication of this mistake in the impression. Keep in mind, I used my 24oz DB to make these impressions. I can now see why I kept going higher and higher in weight. I did have a feeling that this wasn't necessary given a better tool, but again, the results are better than I anticipated.

 

[sheathmaker]

Anthony, the mis-strikes will become less and less as your "muscle memory" starts to take hold. Also your 16oz is a little light for deep impressions without extra force for the more broad faced stamps, such as your basket weave. It will, however, be near perfect for the tooling on your carved projects, beveling, camouflage, small borders etc. and any other application of the smaller face, sharper stamps.

Paul

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Thanks Paul. Any idea why the maul face is ribbed? Have you seen this before?

I appreciate your input on the weight. I may buy another one eventually (maybe a 24oz), but I'm pretty happy that I started with this weight. This is one of the nicest tools I currently own and the price is absolutely excellent. I believe it was $73 to my door.

Edit- I should have pointed out that the light stamping at the top of the sample were from the dead blow. The deeper impressions at the bottom were from the maul.

 

[sheathmaker]

Anthony, I don't really know why the maul face is ribbed, but Barry may have thought it would be less likely to slip and mis-strike. My heaviest maul is a Barry King and the face is ever so lightly ribbed at even closer intervals than yours, and not as deeply ribbed. I hadn't really noticed it until this thread. At any rate I don't think the ribs will have any effect either pro or con. This is one of those "it is what it is" things.

Paul

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I was thinking the same about it possibly helping with slips, but I agree that it may not be effective. I would think they'd put them in a vertical orientation rather than horizontal if that were the goal. In any case, further musings are probably over thinking it.

 

[vilePossum]

cool maul, congrats, looks like a real quality piece of work. also thanks for the pictures and impressions!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Thanks Anthony for the review, I'll be interested in the usage review. I plan on getting the BK maul but haven't fingered out which weight. I recently purchased a BK edger (Dave's advice) and I really love it. Its performance makes the project so much more professional looking.
John S.

Sorry, I missed your post. Which edger did ya get? I keep looking at the bisonette edgers, but I'm not sure about them. Something for tight turns, and one that would cut a rounded edge as opposed to a square edge would be nice too.

cool maul, congrats, looks like a real quality piece of work. also thanks for the pictures and impressions!

No problem. I know the review is a bit over the top (it IS just a maul), but they are things I'd have liked to see myself.

 

[vilePossum]

na, i totally agree with you man. it might be a no brainer for those with already established tastes, but i am constantly on the lookout for things like this.

 

[harronek]

I have Zero knowledge of Mauls , never used one , probably never will , but what has interested me is the stacked leather handle on it .
How do you think the shape and contour was made ?
Was it spun in a lathe and shaped and sanded ?

Great looking tool , it has given me a couple of ideas to pursue .

Ken

 

[Horsewright]

Congrats buddy. The right tool really does make a difference. I checked Nicholes and it has the same ribbing as does my really old BK. The one I have from Weaver has a crossthatched pattern. My first guess would be slippage, my second would be durability and my third would be production but quien sabe? I don't think the review is over the top. Very cool.

 

[leatherman]

I checked my poly maul and its checkered. My Stohlman flat faced maul is somewhat smooth, very light circles in the face.

Anthony, are you still going to get one of those cheaper models off Amazon? I believe it had a wooden handle?

Ken, I'd bet on a lathe to shape the handle. The shape is just too perfect to be hand shaped. I dont know if you saw those two less expensive mauls we talked about in the Maul thread, would be a lot easier on the pocket book. Under 20 bucks

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Ken, I too would bet on a lathe. The thing I like most about the stack is that they left it untreated as far as I can tell. Some are polished and feel totally homogeneous, where on this one, you can feel the leather. It's very hard, but "warm" if that makes sense. I wouldn't plan on never owning one. To me it's like a round knife. Not totally necessary, but it has a real functional value, at least as I see it.

Congrats buddy. The right tool really does make a difference. I checked Nicholes and it has the same ribbing as does my really old BK. The one I have from Weaver has a crossthatched pattern. My first guess would be slippage, my second would be durability and my third would be production but quien sabe? I don't think the review is over the top. Very cool.

Thanks Dave. I appreciate your jogging my memory, I may have made a different purchase by accident, but I'm very happy to have the BK.

I checked my poly maul and its checkered. My Stohlman flat faced maul is somewhat smooth, very light circles in the face.

Anthony, are you still going to get one of those cheaper models off Amazon? I believe it had a wooden handle?

Ken, I'd bet on a lathe to shape the handle. The shape is just too perfect to be hand shaped. I dont know if you saw those two less expensive mauls we talked about in the Maul thread, would be a lot easier on the pocket book. Under 20 bucks

Dwayne, I do plan to try an inexpensive one. Now that I have something decent to compare to. I will do a thorough side by side. The only problem is that most of them come in one weight and I think they are mostly about the same weight as my current one. If I can find one around 24oz I'll definitely try one.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I figure someone would have mentioned it by now if they had one, but has anyone tried or handled a Bearman maul? The price for these seem pretty reasonable and I've not seen anything that looks as fancy. I like that you can get all manner of customization. Just curious if anyone has tried one.

He does a standard model for around the price of a BK or Stohlman. Not sure what exotic woods and other customization runs. I would love to have one with my logo on the cap, I think that's about $20 extra.

I'm taking Christmas gifts early just in case someone has some ching burning a hole in their pocket.

 

[Horsewright]

No experience but those kinda top out the cool meter. My birthday is in Aug. Won't be a speed limit no more.

 

[vilePossum]

those dremel burnishers look nice as well

 

[Omega Leather Works]

No experience but those kinda top out the cool meter. My birthday is in Aug. Won't be a speed limit no more.

Yeah, for sure. The military insignia options are super cool too. I prefer the idea of leather handles over wood, but people do seem to like them.

Sounds like we need to start getting our wish lists ready for our better halves.

those dremel burnishers look nice as well [emoji14]

I agree. For those of us without a power burnisher, or lathe, these seem like a good idea. I would probably go with the drill press models instead of the dremel bits, but they all get great marks from owners.

 

[vilePossum]

Yeah, I can understand the appeal, however I don't like the large unused rotating area on the drill bits. If they would make the same 6 different bits they have for the dremel for drills I would pick the drill ones as well.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Yeah, I can understand the appeal, however I don't like the large unused rotating area on the drill bits. If they would make the same 6 different bits they have for the dremel for drills I would pick the drill ones as well.

I'm pretty sure that is just a wide groove for flats, no?