A Wood Mallet made from Wood Scraps

I've made a few wrenches from wood scraps.  Time now to see if I can make a wood version of a heavy steel mallet I have. Basically a small sledge hammer. 

I had a nice block of dense white oak for the head, and a section of hex shaped oak that was going to be the handle for a tool chest that made a good handle for the mallet. 

Using the CNC to cut the top details took some contemplation and experimentation. The hardest part was the chamfer around the edges. The easy parts were the top curved surface and the center hole for the handle. That hole was first drilled out at my drill press,  The CNC widened the top of the hole anticipating the wedge that will flare the tenon and trap the handle in place. 

White Oak Mallet Head

The old steel mallet is blessed with a nice patina and grace from being used and cared for over 5 decades since I inherited it from an Uncle. I'm sure he got good use of it over the time he had it. 

Old and New

Wood sealed

For a finish I applied tung oil on the red oak handle, and Danish oil on the white oak head.

Perhaps with time and use this wood version will acquire similar qualities. Time will tell.

4D 
 

T-Slot Wood Clamps for my CNC

Four clamps conspiring

This is not a new design of mine.  I've been using these wood clamps for several years.  They are sacrificial though and many have encountered spinning router bits during their lives. 

A few of the scrap wood blocks in my collection have hinted that they'd like to be clamps. As such this post is about granting that desire and replacing some previous clamps that are near death. 

My previous clamps were cut from larger boards,  A few were cut as two halves that I glued together.  A few were cut from thicker boards, then turned 90 degrees so I could cut the slot for the bolt in them.  

The length of these clamps is not critical to their usefulness and can vary. 

The first one (upper right)  I made from a dense white oak scrap.  It suffered a few broke out chips when the bottom edge was flush cut after the CNC was done. It works despite those missing bits. 

The second clamp I cut from a scrap of birch (lower left).  It also gave me some grief as I made a mistake when clamping the scrap block down. I stopped the CNC after the first pass when I realized that mistake.  It works but has a few scars from my bandsaw, drum, sand disk sanders.

The last two clamps were cut from a 5/8" thick scrap of walnut. Room enough for 4 halves that when glued together made two clamps. I added an alignment hole for a 3/4" long section of 1/4"diameter wood dowel to make it easier to clamp the halves together and aligned. 

One Scrap, Four clamp halves

Making them in halves is the most reliable method. Especially if you don't have an easy way to cut the slot after cutting out the clamp profile from the side. 

Here are two made from one block of white ash.  Both cut out as one piece, then turned sideways to cut the slots in them. 

Short Ash Clamp

Long Ash Clamp

These clamps hold the work down and also prevent it from moving sideways.  Made from wood you don't have to worry if a router bit accidently encounters one. Should one or more  be ruined from such an encounters making replacements is easy. 

4D 

Updated Wrench Handle for my Bench Vise

New handle.  Teak Oil Finish.

While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the plywood handle I made for my garage bench vise, there are a couple of changes that could make it more useful. 

Plywood Handle

The first issue it that the handle extends above the top of the vise when vertical, and has occasionally been limited in use by objects I wants to clamp down that hang over the edge. The second issue is that it doesn't slip off easily.  If it did I could easily overcome the first issue by sliding it off and rotating it 60 or 120 degrees before slipping it back on.   I do this with the wrench handle I made for my CNC low profile vise. 

First thing needed was a CNC file and a piece of wood to make the new handle from.

Render from my Aspire software.

The wood used was a heavy and dense block of white oak.  The nut pocket, shaft hole, end hole, rounded off edges, and perimeter outline were all cut using my CNC.  The bottom side details were finished on my trim router table.  Holes for the pivot pin were drilled out on my drill press. 

When flat the new handle is the same length as the old one. The hinge allows folding the new one out to clear anything hanging over the edge of the vise.

Handle folds out.

This handle was eventually sealed with teak oil to protect the wood. It slides on and slips off easily but stays in place otherwise. 

Iteration is always a worthwhile endeavor.  The initial wrench handle worked, but use of it revealed the flaws that needed fixing.  Should the new handle reveal any new insufficiency a 3rd iteration may be needed.   Time will tell. 

4D