Made myself a maul for stamping leather!

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Aug 13, 2002
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I wanted to buy one at Tandy but when I saw the price I quickly changed my mind. I thought to myself “I can do that”. And I did. Not the prettiest yet but took me about an hour to make (and mostly because I had to look all around the shop to see what materials I had on hand). If it works good I'll pretty it up a bit with a nicer hardwood handle and better finish.

stamping_maul1.JPG


Maybe I am just cheap...err I mean frugal. ;)
 
Pat, I believe what you will find is that the weight/weights of individual mauls will become necessary to cover all the bases. I use a 12 oz. maul for carving and tooling the more intricate and delicate designs, and step up to a 25 oz. for the slightly larger faced geometrics and other larger area patterns, and finally a very large/heavy maul at 43 oz, for the 3D type larger faced stamps. The smaller the imprint of the tool the lighter weight maul used. I also find that the strike force used on any of the mauls is pretty nearly uniform and the extra weight translates into the depth of the stamp giving a very uniform appearance from maul to maul because of the consistent strike force.

Your maul is pretty well suited for my mid range use. My three mauls are near the center of the attached photo of my bench.

Paul
 
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I like it! No tool is more appreciated than one you make yourself. :)

The maul is such a versatile impact tool, so much more forgiving than a flat faced mallet when an off strike is made.

My introduction to the maul was in woodcarving, I still have the wooden, slightly coned, maul I got so far back I'll never admit it. :p Toward the handle its smaller because of the odd angles a wood carver is forced to use as he is required to change "his" position instead of the substrate. Its a slightly different world. Same for a stone carver now that I think about it.

Thanks for posting this Patrice! :)
 
Thanks for the advice and picture of your workbench Paul. This one is around 26oz so like you said, pretty close to your mid range one. They are relatively easy to make so when I get time I'll make a smaller and a bigger one as you suggested.
It's funny that you posted a pic of your bench cause I wanted to build something, not as elaborate of course, and was planing on going through your DVDs again to see what yours looked like. Great minds like they say. ;)

Leatherman, I realized early in my young knifemaker's career that I just could not build all the tools I needed and that it was sometimes a better idea, money and quality wise, to save my money and buy quality tools. That being said, for simple tools like this one, building it made sense and I agree, it's very rewarding to use something you've made yourself. :thumbup:
 
Very resourceful, I'm sure it will handle the job and gets plenty of use around the shop. Well done!
 
I wouldn't be pounding on my Tandy carving stamps with a metal hammer, mallet or maul.

Perhaps you could cover the top of your creation, with some leather or poly, to protect your tools.



RedHotPoker
 
The gray area on the maul pictured above is the striking surface and it is not metal. It will not damage the tools.

Paul
 
Saw this thread and thought holy cow hadn't heard from old Patrice in a long time...then saw the date. Holy cow again.
 
Paul has it right (thanks Paul), the plastic inserts will not mar the stamps.

Horsewright, I am still hanging around but not as much and not posting since I don't make knives anymore because of insurance problems (long boring story). I am making small metal sculptures though and having a blast doing it so no worry. Only thing I miss is you guys and the camaraderie of this community. :(
 
I wanted to buy one at Tandy but when I saw the price I quickly changed my mind. I thought to myself “I can do that”. And I did. Not the prettiest yet but took me about an hour to make (and mostly because I had to look all around the shop to see what materials I had on hand). If it works good I'll pretty it up a bit with a nicer hardwood handle and better finish.

stamping_maul1.JPG


Maybe I am just cheap...err I mean frugal. ;)
Are those hockey pucks that you used?
 
Are those hockey pucks that you used?

No Shane, I think you might get too much bounce from a hockey puck, unless you use frozen. ;)
I bought a large plastic step at the hardware store a while back. Cheap and you get a lot for different projects. No idea the type of plastic though, sorry.
 
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