If you lost your self-respect you were not looked upon in a respectful and proper manner. So in order to maintain my self-respect I put on a dinner jacket and dressed for dinner and I said to my servants, who were quite likely to get a bit slack just looking after a man by himself in the middle of the jungle, “Now this is a dinner party and you will serve me my dinner as though there are other people at the dinner table.”
— Kenneth Warren, a British officer serving in a tea garden in Assam from 1906-1913
One of my favorite English tools is the traditional infill joiner’s mallet. It has a brass head that is “infilled” with a dense wood and equipped with a nice chamfered handle.
These mallets were made in a variety of sizes and use for everything from driving chisels and carving tools to heavy-duty assembly chores. They have all the punch of a deadblow mallet without looking like a plastic clown hammer.
The bad news is that these joiner’s mallets are difficult to find in North America – I bought mine from English tool dealers. And when you do find them, they are pricey – too pricey for a working tool.
But now Glen D. Huey of the WoodworkersEdge.com has resurrected this awesome tool after years of making and testing prototypes. I’ve been testing one of those prototypes for more than a month now, and I can report that it is fantastic.
The head is 16 oz. of brass that is milled out of a solid billet (by a U.S. company, by the way). It’s a complex shape with some important details. The brass shell has a coffin shape, and this curve lets you drive tools with some delicacy. See Glen’s video that shows this in action here.
The ends of the mallet head are properly angled to match the angles on the striking surface. These angles ensure your mallet blows will be properly directed straight down when you hit the head of a tool.
The infilled wood on these mallets is quartersawn white oak, a tough wood and a very American touch. The corners of the infill are chamfered to prevent the infill from splintering when you strike a glancing blow.
The 11-3/4”-long handle on the Woodworkers Edge mallet is actually nicer than the ones on the originals. Huey gave the handle a nice silhouette and added stop-chamfers so the corners don’t bite into your hand. The handle is available in maple, cherry, walnut or a custom wood for a slight upcharge.
In other words, he got all the details right.
An original mallet (with a larger head) and the new one from the Woodworkers Edge.
Though Glen is known mainly as a custom furniture-maker, author and teacher, he has long been interested in making tools such as this mallet and (I hope someday) a nice folding rule.
In the interests of full disclosure: I’ve known Glen for a long time and worked with him for many years at Popular Woodworking Magazine. I also think the world of his work, and I know you will too once you see this mallet and put it to use. Glen loaned me this prototype to test, but he ain’t getting it back. Instead, I’m sending him a check.
The mallets are available for $185 for one of the stock woods from Glen’s store. Click here to check them out. Highly, highly recommended.
When I built the tool chest for “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” my goals were both selfish and hereditary. My chest is an ark, a way to carry my tools forward in time to protect them for my kids or – barring that – my grandchildren.
People ask me all the time if they should buy either new tools or vintage ones. The answer is: neither. If you can acquire tools that have been properly set up and cared for, you will have acquired one of the greatest treasures of the craft.
So this morning I was heartened by a blog post by Joshua Klein, a Maine furniture restorer and excellent photographer. He and his 3-year-old son, Eden, have just finished building a tool chest for the young one.
I had a tool chest when I was young – the folding plywood sort filled with tools with blue plastic handles. I loved that chest, and I know that Eden will love his even more.
“1. Never encourage the manufacture of any article not strictly necessary, in the production of which Invention has no share.
2. Never demand exact finish for its own sake, but only for a practical or noble end.
3. Never encourage copying or imitation of any kind, except for the preserving of great works.”
Before Charles F. Hummel published “With Hammer in Hand” in 1968, he was obviously spending a lot of time researching the Dominy family and their tools.
In 1965, he published a great 19-page article in the “Winterthur Portfolio” about the Dominy’s tools that were made in England. This piece is in the same pattern as “With Hammer in Hand” – very interesting narrative followed cool photos of the Dominy’s tools and a discussion of each one.
The “Winterthur Portfolio” is a hardbound book that was published annually by Winterthur Museum. Hummel’s article appears in this second annual edition, which also includes articles about the portraiture of John Singleton Copley, and two articles by Nancy A. Goyne (a familiar name!) on a desk and the metal called “Britannia.” Plus much, much more content that I am too lazy to type here.
If you are a book nerd, an old tool nerd or a double nerd like myself, you will enjoy reading Hummel’s article on the Dominys and will want it to sit next to your copy of “With Hammer in Hand.” It’s like having a copy of the movie “The Searchers” next to “Star Wars.”
All proceeds from this auction go to benefit The Wood Whisperer to defend against a nasty and expensive DDoS attack. We will ship this book anywhere. To participate, simply state your bid in a comment below. The bidding starts at $10. The highest bid as of midnight Sunday, March 18, wins the book.
Thanks to everyone who has been helping out this last week. You are making a difference.
