Caulking mallet

[heimlaga]

I want to know if there is any specific trick of the trade when making a caulking mallet.
It is to be used for caulking log houses and not for boats. It is not going to be the perfectly tuned tool for a full time caulker but more of a tool to get the odd caulking job done now and then.

I have an old rotten house caulking mallet to take measurements from but I want to check if there is anything I should know before I start. I have for instance no clue about how the hoops are held in place.

[Peerie Maa]

The hoops are a tight driving fit.
Is it the pattern I am used to:

Or the ones that seem to be more popular in the States:

If you have an old one are you re-using the hoops?
Those iin the middle of the american pattern will be put on hot and allowed to contract, those on the striking face are usualy slightly tapered so as the mallet shortens with use they continue to drive on.

[P-man]

see this thread:

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...elf&highlight=

[peter radclyffe]

i have many caulking mallets,rubber,copper,hide,woods i do and dont know,plastic engineers,i use some for feeding, some heavier for hardening,i gave some mallets away, use anything that feels ok and does not tire you out, it doesnt matter what it is, same with irons.bla bla

[Bob Cleek]

i have many caulking mallets,rubber,copper,hide,woods i do and dont know,plastic engineers,i use some for feeding, some heavier for hardening,i gave some mallets away, use anything that feels ok and does not tire you out, it doesnt matter what it is, same with irons.bla bla

Heh, heh, heh.... Ya know, Peter, you're absolutely right. There's a lot of "tool envy" wrapped up in the "romance" of caulking. Collecting old tools is fun. Caulking isn't. I'd agree with you completely, save for the quality of the irons. That does make a little bit of difference, but nothing to drive yourself crazy over. The old hand forged Drews, properly polished, are nicer in the hand. As for "whackers," one other warning: Don't go whacking tempered irons with a tempered iron hammer!

[Hugh Paterson]

I use whats comfortable, weapon of choice is normally a lump hammer with a short shaft!! aint got round to buying a decent caulking mallet. I also use my carving mallet now and again, its expendable. When its chipped beyond repair I get my mate to turn out another one on his wood lathe. If I find a "real" mallet cheap at a car boot sale or a boat jumble I might get round to owning one before they shove me in a casket??
Shugster

[heimlaga]

Thanks.
Normally house caulking mallets have hoops only at the ends and none of those slits in the head. I will make the hoops a bit conical and drive them on.

[peter radclyffe]

those slits were originally designed to play The Sound of Music while you caulked,
to impart a musical presence to the terminal boredom of caulking before ipods,
but it would only work with mallets made from swiss pine harvested on a full moon on the shores of Lake Geneva, by cowgirls and cowboys dressed in traditional garb,
when there was an r in the month,
but i never believed the story and it was told to me by a swiss shipwright i worked with on soren larsen

[heimlaga]

Surely.....when they built those 74 gun ships of the line for the Swiss navy

[peter radclyffe]

the swiss pine mallets are highly prized by English caulkers,
who when there not swearing about everything else,
swear they will use nothing else,
since the invention of Tupperware, s s, 5200,Kevlar, g flex , biaxial weave, vynilester ,
associated polymers, loominum, composite honeycomb honeydoolists,
nomex,polycarbonates, corecell,
we,el row the keelrow prepreg peelply, polyether Doppler polypropylene,

aulgrupp,and a thousand other poisonous chemicals,
unemployed caulkers the length of England perform their quaint pattern jigs,
it is stated in the magna carta that all men by the name of morris can ply their trade as caulkers,
after several near fatal collisions involving 28 pound horsing mallets it was decided to henceforth use only the the mallets handles, bells and whistles to signify their intent to get off the dole,
when their not rolling granite cheeses down glorster hillsides or swimming in manure in zummerzet ditches
the quaint and halfcut English caulkers will be found
from Berwick to dahn sarf driving in gangs around county fairs in morris travellers
the discreet tap tap translates roughly in northern soul tudor English as gisajob

[peter radclyffe]

[Peerie Maa]

Peter that first team were pathetic, no capering to speak of and going at it like pansies.

These are better