A Little Friendly Persuasion
I am very excited to announce our new Joiner's Mallet!!
During my younger years I worked alongside my father on any number of projects, mostly involving metal, mechanical components and lots of grease. I can remember times when a particular piece of mechanism needed to be driven together using a ball-pein hammer. If the piece in question resisted, my father would slowly say, "what we need here is a little friendly persuasion" as he reached for the 3 lb mini-sledge hammer. I do not know how many times I heard that phrase but I probably passed it on to my son. Tradition.
Sometimes woodworkers need to use a little friendly persuasion also. An example would be chopping mortises, especially wide ones or when working with harder woods. Another example is assembling/dis-assembling larger scale joinery. Our 16 oz round mallet is an excellent choice for general chisel tasks such as chopping dovetails or carving. However, we received many requests for a larger, traditional joiner's mallet. After several iterations I sent a prototype to a customer for some valuable field testing and feedback. Our new 24 once Joiner's Mallet is the final result.
It uses a figured maple head that has been infused with acrylic resin the same as our round mallets. This results in an incredibly tough and durable material that has just the right amount of impact dampening. One face of the head is thick leather for assembling joinery without marring the wood and also for softer hitting of chisels. The head is secured to the hickory handle with a permanent wedged mortise and tenon joint. The handle shape is designed for holding in two positions. One traditional grip for heavier swings and the other is choked-up on the handle for lighter, more controlled hits. The wide chamfers give a comfortable grip along with maximum positional feedback. I believe it is now the finest joiner's mallet on the market and will quickly become a favorite for those tasks that need a little "friendly persuasion". The new mallet will be ready to ship by the end of November but you can place an immediate order on the website here: Joiner's Mallet.
Mortising Chisels
I have also received numerous requests for mortising chisels. I do not have any immediate plans for mortise chisels, however, while at WIA I noticed a bin in Patrick Leaches booth that was chock full of them. If you are looking for a "pig-sticker" style, antique mortising chisel you may want to give him a call at Superior Tools. Also give Lee Richmond from The Best Things a call. If he doesn't have what you are looking for, he will find it. New mortising chisels include Lie-Nielsen and Ray Isles.