man this video is pretty relatable. i remember all the attempts i made at making rawhide mallets early on. i've made around a hundred or so now. a couple thoughts based on my experience: - most cured epoxy is quite hard, harder than the rawhide, which can leave marks on your work if you are working something delicate. i've left marks on silver with an epoxied mallet head as an example. - dog bones are usually made from the belly of the hide, which is the weakest and least dense part of the hide. it makes a softer, but faster wearing mallet. the rawhide near the spine makes the toughest mallets in my experience. - if you want a harder mallet, you can saturate the rawhide in either a very thin, slow curing epoxy like deep pour, cactus juice, or shellac. - stretch the rawhide on a board and nail down the edges. - put it into an oven at around 150-215°f until it becomes very dry. temperature takes some experimenting to get the exact effect you're after and see how the specific hide responds. - let the hide cool still stretched on the board - trim the dry hide to 20% oversized of what you want for final dimensions, it will move a fair bit as it soaks up whatever you are soaking it in. - submerge the rawhide in a container of liquid of choice. the very dry rawhide will readily soak up most things here and soften. as soon as it is softened enough, roll the head and wrap it in aluminum flashing or something similar with either parchment paper or a silicone release agent applied. - epoxy should cure on it's own without further intervention, but be wary of the leftover mix as it can heat up and cause a fire. the container for the epoxy should be a shallow container. deeper containers can cause the heat from catalyzation to run away and start a nasty fire. i don't like epoxy because it is usually too hard for my needs and is dangerous. - cactus juice is better than epoxy in my opinion. easier to work with and safer, you have to cure it in a toaster oven or something at around 200°f after it is saturated, but you aren't risking epoxy fires and cactus juice is meant for stabilizing wood so it works well. you can go the whole vacuum chamber route if you want to form the heads first and then impregnate them, but i've had good results with soaking the oven dried rawhide in cactus juice directly. it isn't as thick or difficult to penetrate as wood but ymmv. the downsides to cactus juice are how hard it is, and it only serves one purpose and can't really be reused. - shellac can be mixed in a 1lb cut or 2lb cut depending on how hard you want the final mallet. soak the oven dried and trimmed rawhide in a bucket of shellac for a few hours. i've forgotten and left mine a couple days once and it turned out fine. then remove it and roll and form the head on the aluminum flashing as usual. i like using a bunch of hoze clamps to make the final result more uniform. leave the head for a few days so the alcohol can evaporate letting the shellac resin harden. shellac makes the softest of the impregnation liquids i've tested, but you can get some shellac flakes when you are first using the mallet. i usually trim the head with a saw, sand it down and them beat on on something for a bit to break up the fibres at the face and around edges. that gets rid of any flaking and softens the face quite a bit. hope some of that was useful to someone.
I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience! Your detailed tips about rawhide and epoxy will definitely help others avoid the same pitfalls. I may have to give it another try with shellac maybe? Thanks again. Joe
After you trim the strip for the mallet you could cut the scraps into small pieces and boil them down to make a rawhide (collagen) glue that could be applied like wood glue before you roll the mallet head.
@@ThePhilohobbyist my pleasure, it is something that I just came across lately. I have developed an interest in survival skills and life skills of early American times.
I was thinking that he could have smeared some water based glue like Titebond 2 on it before rolling it up and then clamp it up. Bobs your uncle after that because se when it dried the job is done without all of the messing around with epoxy.
Take the strips that you cut off and add to both sides. Paper towels both sides to absorb moisture. Staple one end to board. Stretch as much as possible and staple opposite end same deal with sides. Paper, board, weight. Time. A couple of days later the medium will still be flexible but yielding. Roll as tightly as possible and use automotive hose clamps to further compress. Low temperature oven……. When it bounces back when dropped, probably ready for a coat of varnish to seal. Drill, handle, screw or dowel or brass rod or nail………😊
Why in the world didn’t I think of that, I have to get my mind outside the box a little more often. Nice job of fabricating, looks awesome, I will be trying that soon. I subscribed and liked, I too am interested in building my own tools as well as refurbishing and restoring old hand tools. Thanks for the video, enjoyed watching.
That's THE best use for that rawhide crap as it's known to cause huge health issues for dogs due to the chemicals used to make it... Lots of dogs being killed from investing them. Will keep an eye out for the rawhide chews in order to make up some mallets. Great video!!
You could tack it out flat on the board, as well....rawhide an be soaked repeatedly, to work it. Many of the Spanish Missions in California are built out of timbers lashed down with wet rawhide, that tightens up as it dries, and has lasted 100's of years....cured in part I'm sure by the candle smoke over the centuries.
@@ThePhilohobbyist I am really impressed with your profile and the post you share here. I don't normally write here, but I think you deserve this compliment. I've tired sending you a friend request but it wasn't processed. Can you send me a friend request if you don't mind? I would love to be friend with you here.🌺🌺
I always associate rawhide mallet to jewellery making, but i had to do a second take to realise that that wasn't a jewelers bench, really interesting to find who uses different tools and how Edit: if i remember correctly, the raw hide is tacked in place and bound with hoops
thanks for the comment, I'm not a jeweler but a hobbyist who gets his fingers wet with some jewelry making sometimes (still learning), it's just a generic bench i put together, i have a video up on how i made it. As for the tacks, even though the hide is adhered together i added the tacks for show.
Rawhide from a chew toy-genius. To prevent the leather from starting to decompose, I'd change the water every day. Maybe hot water would soften it quicker? I would not add bleach-it can weaken fabric and bone so I'm sure it'd weaken leather. Probably dry it in a stove lowest setting once flattened. And I have no idea about this, just what iffing here-instead of epoxy, woodworking glue. Some types might be thin enough to pour. Hide glue you'd have to frost it like a cake then roll it up. Anything that helps hold furniture together should be tough! I'd be afraid the epoxy would make the hammer too hard, or would start to crack with extended use. Again-I could be wrong! The diy handles were great, and using the hose clamps. Vegan leather can be made from natural plant materials, but often it's just plastic, polyurethane, so be sure what you got. How about picking up a cheap leather purse from the thrift store and using that? Not rawhide, but would it make a hammer? Thanks for a great video!
Thanks for sharing your insights! Changing the water daily and experimenting with different adhesives are great ideas. It’s always fun to brainstorm new methods!
Check this out .. I restored two Garland number three one. number five split face hammers.. I wish I would have found your channel before I did that. I paid up hard for those faces.. but the hammers turned out really nice.. thanks for sharing that trick man. Much appreciated stay safe out there man. . Very cool hack.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad it all worked out for you. Your support means a lot, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience!
Sometimes you just need to embrace the chaos and hope for a happy ending (or a craft that doesn’t fall apart)! Unlike 99% of the videos out there I show the process, and I don't put up highly edited, perfect outcome builds.
man this video is pretty relatable. i remember all the attempts i made at making rawhide mallets early on. i've made around a hundred or so now. a couple thoughts based on my experience:
- most cured epoxy is quite hard, harder than the rawhide, which can leave marks on your work if you are working something delicate. i've left marks on silver with an epoxied mallet head as an example.
- dog bones are usually made from the belly of the hide, which is the weakest and least dense part of the hide. it makes a softer, but faster wearing mallet. the rawhide near the spine makes the toughest mallets in my experience.
- if you want a harder mallet, you can saturate the rawhide in either a very thin, slow curing epoxy like deep pour, cactus juice, or shellac.
- stretch the rawhide on a board and nail down the edges.
- put it into an oven at around 150-215°f until it becomes very dry. temperature takes some experimenting to get the exact effect you're after and see how the specific hide responds.
- let the hide cool still stretched on the board
- trim the dry hide to 20% oversized of what you want for final dimensions, it will move a fair bit as it soaks up whatever you are soaking it in.
- submerge the rawhide in a container of liquid of choice. the very dry rawhide will readily soak up most things here and soften. as soon as it is softened enough, roll the head and wrap it in aluminum flashing or something similar with either parchment paper or a silicone release agent applied.
- epoxy should cure on it's own without further intervention, but be wary of the leftover mix as it can heat up and cause a fire. the container for the epoxy should be a shallow container. deeper containers can cause the heat from catalyzation to run away and start a nasty fire. i don't like epoxy because it is usually too hard for my needs and is dangerous.
- cactus juice is better than epoxy in my opinion. easier to work with and safer, you have to cure it in a toaster oven or something at around 200°f after it is saturated, but you aren't risking epoxy fires and cactus juice is meant for stabilizing wood so it works well. you can go the whole vacuum chamber route if you want to form the heads first and then impregnate them, but i've had good results with soaking the oven dried rawhide in cactus juice directly. it isn't as thick or difficult to penetrate as wood but ymmv. the downsides to cactus juice are how hard it is, and it only serves one purpose and can't really be reused.
- shellac can be mixed in a 1lb cut or 2lb cut depending on how hard you want the final mallet. soak the oven dried and trimmed rawhide in a bucket of shellac for a few hours. i've forgotten and left mine a couple days once and it turned out fine. then remove it and roll and form the head on the aluminum flashing as usual. i like using a bunch of hoze clamps to make the final result more uniform. leave the head for a few days so the alcohol can evaporate letting the shellac resin harden. shellac makes the softest of the impregnation liquids i've tested, but you can get some shellac flakes when you are first using the mallet. i usually trim the head with a saw, sand it down and them beat on on something for a bit to break up the fibres at the face and around edges. that gets rid of any flaking and softens the face quite a bit.
hope some of that was useful to someone.
I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience! Your detailed tips about rawhide and epoxy will definitely help others avoid the same pitfalls. I may have to give it another try with shellac maybe? Thanks again.
Joe
Fold the wide parts inward to produce a heavier mallet?
After you trim the strip for the mallet you could cut the scraps into small pieces and boil them down to make a rawhide (collagen) glue that could be applied like wood glue before you roll the mallet head.
Thank you for sharing such a thoughtful tip! Interesting, never thought of that.
@@ThePhilohobbyist my pleasure, it is something that I just came across lately. I have developed an interest in survival skills and life skills of early American times.
I was thinking that he could have smeared some water based glue like Titebond 2 on it before rolling it up and then clamp it up. Bobs your uncle after that because se when it dried the job is done without all of the messing around with epoxy.
I have always wanted to try this. Im going to now. Thanks for taking us along 👍.
I'm so glad you're inspired to give it a shot! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you!
Take the strips that you cut off and add to both sides. Paper towels both sides to absorb moisture. Staple one end to board. Stretch as much as possible and staple opposite end same deal with sides. Paper, board, weight. Time. A couple of days later the medium will still be flexible but yielding. Roll as tightly as possible and use automotive hose clamps to further compress. Low temperature oven……. When it bounces back when dropped, probably ready for a coat of varnish to seal. Drill, handle, screw or dowel or brass rod or nail………😊
P.S. double glove when messing with epoxy or something like that 😅
Thank you for sharing your detailed breakdown! Your insights are appreciated! And, I may just be trying another in the near future.
Why in the world didn’t I think of that, I have to get my mind outside the box a little more often. Nice job of fabricating, looks awesome, I will be trying that soon. I subscribed and liked, I too am interested in building my own tools as well as refurbishing and restoring old hand tools. Thanks for the video, enjoyed watching.
Thank you so much for subscribing and leaving such a kind comment! It means a lot.
26:16 omg he gonna monch the handle
Haha
That's THE best use for that rawhide crap as it's known to cause huge health issues for dogs due to the chemicals used to make it... Lots of dogs being killed from investing them.
Will keep an eye out for the rawhide chews in order to make up some mallets.
Great video!!
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on rawhide. It’s crucial that we keep our pets safe and informed!
You could tack it out flat on the board, as well....rawhide an be soaked repeatedly, to work it. Many of the Spanish Missions in California are built out of timbers lashed down with wet rawhide, that tightens up as it dries, and has lasted 100's of years....cured in part I'm sure by the candle smoke over the centuries.
Thanks for the comment and I appreciate that bit of knowledge, always good to learn about the materials we work with.
@@ThePhilohobbyist I am really impressed with your profile and the post you share here. I don't normally write here, but I think you deserve this compliment. I've tired sending you a friend request but it wasn't processed. Can you send me a friend request if you don't mind? I would love to be friend with you here.🌺🌺
I always associate rawhide mallet to jewellery making, but i had to do a second take to realise that that wasn't a jewelers bench, really interesting to find who uses different tools and how
Edit: if i remember correctly, the raw hide is tacked in place and bound with hoops
thanks for the comment, I'm not a jeweler but a hobbyist who gets his fingers wet with some jewelry making sometimes (still learning), it's just a generic bench i put together, i have a video up on how i made it. As for the tacks, even though the hide is adhered together i added the tacks for show.
Rawhide from a chew toy-genius. To prevent the leather from starting to decompose, I'd change the water every day. Maybe hot water would soften it quicker? I would not add bleach-it can weaken fabric and bone so I'm sure it'd weaken leather. Probably dry it in a stove lowest setting once flattened.
And I have no idea about this, just what iffing here-instead of epoxy, woodworking glue. Some types might be thin enough to pour. Hide glue you'd have to frost it like a cake then roll it up. Anything that helps hold furniture together should be tough!
I'd be afraid the epoxy would make the hammer too hard, or would start to crack with extended use. Again-I could be wrong!
The diy handles were great, and using the hose clamps.
Vegan leather can be made from natural plant materials, but often it's just plastic, polyurethane, so be sure what you got.
How about picking up a cheap leather purse from the thrift store and using that? Not rawhide, but would it make a hammer? Thanks for a great video!
Thanks for sharing your insights! Changing the water daily and experimenting with different adhesives are great ideas. It’s always fun to brainstorm new methods!
The ones buy in the store are covered some how with bees wax but I love the video
I really appreciate your support! It’s great to hear that you loved the video.
Check this out .. I restored two Garland number three one. number five split face hammers.. I wish I would have found your channel before I did that. I paid up hard for those faces.. but the hammers turned out really nice.. thanks for sharing that trick man. Much appreciated stay safe out there man. . Very cool hack.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad it all worked out for you. Your support means a lot, and I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience!
This is the first 'craft' video I have seen that was based on a Shakespearean play "A Comedy Of Errors". :
Sometimes you just need to embrace the chaos and hope for a happy ending (or a craft that doesn’t fall apart)! Unlike 99% of the videos out there I show the process, and I don't put up highly edited, perfect outcome builds.
@@ThePhilohobbyist And that is what makes your videos unique.
Thank you so much for noticing, and it’s great to see it resonating with viewers like you!
can bearly hear you but your intro nearly deafened me. GREAT IDEA
I really appreciate your input! I’ll make sure to adjust the volume levels in future videos. So glad you liked the idea!
like a fool, I bought a like new used one on Fleabay for $15 and free shipping, think of all the time and money I could have saved doing this
Buying a hammer is easy, where's the adventure in that?