At last, a proper Caulking Mallet

[Jay Greer]

Normally I would refrain from comercial comment. But this is too good to not mention! Although I have an origional Drew mallet that has kept me happy when driving cotton for over forty years, I have always longed for a small light mallet for deck work. Believe me I have searched and even made several of my own that proved to be duds due to the use of wood that gave no ringing sound.
This year, at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, shows up one Stepen Kessler who, is making copies of Drew Mallets in two sizes out of genuine Black Misquite! Steve really knows his stuff cause, he has come up with the answer to a boat builders prayer: Oh God please give me a proper caulking mallet!
Here is his web address.
skessler 1 @mac.com
Trust me on this one. The copies are as good as the origionals!
Jay

[RGM]

I'll have to check that out. Jay, did you ever see the small deck mallet that Robert D'Archy on the MARTHA owns? I believe it is a Drew. IIRC it's a beauty.

[Jay Greer]

Yes, it is a Drew. As mentioned the new mallets are exactly the same. The handles and balance are superb!
Jay

[Clyderigged]

A great bit of news, Jay. My small Drew mallet was stolen many years ago and i have been hoping to replace it. Any photos or idea of what the cost is???

[Jay Greer]

The small copy of the Drew mallet with case hardened rings runs $230.
Photo later.
Jay

[Dave Fleming]

Steve Kessler, a fine fellow, put a lot of thought and time in coming up with his mallets.

We did some research using my Drew mallets as examples of what he was after, ie: weight, length, ring shape etc..

He was so thorough he found the small Drew stamp on one of my mallets that I had never found!

[StevenBauer]

How do these Black Mesquite mallets from our host's Store compare with the Kessler ones?

http://www.woodenboatstore.com/images/835039.jpg


"If you want a beautiful tool for banging that cotton between the planks, this is it. The head is black mesquite with stainless steel rings and a maple handle.

Head is 12" long, handle is about 13".

LIMITED SUPPLY. "

"Head is 16" long, handle is about 13".

VERY LIMITED SUPPLY. "

Price is the same, $230

Steven

[Bob Cleek]

$230 for a wooden mallet? Maybe I ought to go into the mallet makin' business myself! A man's work is worth what somebody will pay for it, though, so I can't badmouth the guy. It looks like he's done a good job.

[Tom Jackson]

I believe the mallets carried in the WoodenBoat Store are by Steve Kessler.

[Evan Showell]

Tom and Jay -- Clearly a case of great minds thinking alike.

[Bob Smalser]

$230 for a wooden mallet? Maybe I ought to go into the mallet making' business myself!

Hmmmmm. Have at it, Bob. ;) You won't replicate a real Drew very easily. I haven't tried making them for a good reason, and will buy Steve's instead. The mallet part is easy....the problem is getting the right wood....and gents who caulk often demand mesquite Drews and not Ebony, Cocobolo, Ipe and other heavy woods that seem to be harder on their elbows.

Buying the "Black Mesquite" stock Drew used is a significant financial risk because all producers mix groups of species for sale just like when you buy "white pine" at your local lumberyard. Middlemen are unreliable, and producers hauling out wood from deep in the hinterlands of Mexico and points south on mules are difficult to talk to directly. How'd you like to pay bf and freight on a 500lb pallet of expensive, clear turning squares only to have 80% culls? That's the ratio of dark-colored mesquite species too light, to those species of an acceptable weight for a Drew replica.

Any of the several old-catalog reprints out there will show you that Drew's mesquite mallets were considerably heavier than their Live Oak (SG .88) mallets. A check of your wood handbook will show only a couple hard-to-find species of mesquite that heavy, and the more common species of "Black Mesquite", Prosopis nigra, ain't one of them with a SG of .80-.85. The heavier species are Prosopis juliflora (SG .94) and Prosopis kunzei (SG 1.2), neither one very common.

Instead of sending slices away to a lab for species identification, the way Steve insures an accurate Drew replica is to measure the specific gravity of each blank before he turns them, and has made some with an SG as high as .98. No fancy wood science will beat that method....but I'm too polite to ask him what his cull rate is. So I'll happily plunk down my dough, smile, and shake his hand for taking the risks I wouldn't.

[Jay Greer]

The proof of the product is not in the cosmetic appearance, although the mallets by Kessler are A Plus in appearance balance and feel. The real proof is in the sound and Kessler's mallets talk so loud, the user must stuff his ears with caulking cotton.
Jay

[Lew Barrett]

One of the many things I don't know:
Jay, Bob....
What does the ring tell you? I mean when you get the ring, is that audible confirmation that the cotton is struck to the proper depth? Do you know from the ring that you haven't blown through the seam? Will it blow through even if it rings, or will it not seat to full depth even if it rings? I ain't no caulker, that's for sure!

[PeterSibley]

Bob, Jay is it just the s.g ? I'm very interested as while it's unlikely I'll ever shell US$230 plus freight (about A$300 ) for a caulking mallet I do need one and have a very large collection of dry Aust .hardwood most of which exceeds a s.g of 1.What are the desirable characteristics ?

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Something just triggered my interest - looking at the mallet in the photo - how does the head stay on the shaft?

I use a mallet that I bought from Davey & Co in 1984. It stows in the (biggish) roll with the irons because the shaft is tapered the other way round - you slide the head up the shaft from the handle end. You can dis-assemble it after work (a caulking mallet is an awkward blighter to stow!) by knocking the (mesquite? / lignum vitae?) head down the (ash) shaft.

I had assumed all caulking mallets were made that way. Evidently not!

[Bob Smalser]

Bob, Jay is it just the s.g ?

Here's some pics I've filched over the years of Drew mallets. One I know belongs to Rodger Morris and I believe one of these is one of Dave Fleming's. Handle mounting varies from just a tapered hole to thongs and tapered pegs.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277742605.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277742609.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277742610.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277742611.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277742612.jpg

This is hardly definitive at this stage of research, but I've come to believe that makes a Drew a Drew are the heavier mesquites, woods with a rare combination of high Specific Gravity (weight) and relatively low resistance to end grain crushing (Compression parallel to the grain). Heavy and hard wood produces a mallet that rings loud and hits with authority. Low crushing strength produces a mallet that eventually wears out, but is easy on the wrist and elbow over the long haul. Live Oak exhibits identical characteristics to mesquite although a bit lighter and less stable seasonally, making it Drew's second or economy choice because it's also more available than the heavier mesquite species and less expensive.

I think Drew primarily used Prosopis juliflora, a mesquite with an SG of .944 (wood with an SG of 1.0 sinks in water) but a crush strength of only 9000lbs. Prosopis nigra in turn, has an SG of .80-.85 and a crushing strength of 8700lbs. These SG's aren't entirely definitive either and are best expressed in a range, as the weight of individual sticks of the same species can vary considerably depending on mineral content and other soil factors. There isn't much engineering test data out there on these woods, so we are limited to the data we can find. Whatever Drew used had to be available in large quantities, and while today P. juliflora is a scraggly bush in S. Texas and N. Mexico, it can be a large timber tree in central S. America.

I mentioned that Ipe, Ebony and other hard, heavy tropicals have been used for mallets but users report they are hard on wrists and elbows. I think that's because while these woods equal or exceed mesquite in hardness and weight, they have very high crushing strengths with less "give" or cushioning effect in use. Examples of what I've collected are summarized in the table below:

Species / SG / End Grain Crush Strength

Q. virginiana (Live Oak) / .88 / 8900lbs

P. juliflora (Black Mesquite) / .94 / 9000lbs

P. nigra (Black Mesquite) / .85 / 8700lbs

P. grandulosa (Common Mesquite) / .81 / unk

O.radiaei (Greenheart) / .80 / 12,510lbs

A. grareoleus (Goncalo Aves) / .84 / 10,320lbs

M. hidentata (Bulletwood) / .85 / 11,400lbs

Tabebria sp. (Ipe) / .92 / 13,010lbs

All these mesquite species exhibit the same characteristics so far....so for an accurate Drew replica species may not be important providing the weight of the stock exceeds the range of Live Oak by a considerable margin. If I were looking for an Australian substitute, I'd be looking for a species with a combination of high SG with low Compression Parallel to Grain.

And here's an old Drew catalog to compare relative mallet weights...I still haven't figured out probable species for what Drew was calling "Redwood":

http://www.numismalink.com/drew.ency.34.81.html

[PeterSibley]

Thanks for the reply Bob ...if crushabilty with high density is a requirement ,I might be in trouble , I'll have to have a look in a mate's Bootle , Timber in Australia .But I think the average figure for Australian hardwood ,dry would be between 15000 and 18000 lbs .

Sounds like a sore elbow to me .:D

If any Australians read this and happen own a copy of Bootle , could look it up and post it ?

[Vince Brennan]

Thanks to all for a most enlightening thread! Never knew that there was a hierarchy for caulkers or that one would be preferred over another.

You never know what you don't know until...

You sign onto the Woodenboat Forum!

[Jim Ledger]

What is it about caulking mallets?

If anyone advocated spending over two hundred dollars for a bench plane or lathe tool, I could guarantee a fifty post arguement against it.

Some guy makes a repro boutique mallet and we should all be thankful.

Most folks building a boat are better served with a chisel mallet for all the caulking they do. Those caulking mallets look pretty clumsy. I'll bet mastery demands a lot more practice than most of us will ever get the chance to do.

[Bob Smalser]

Most folks building a boat are better served with a chisel mallet for all the caulking they do. Those caulking mallets look pretty clumsy. I'll bet mastery demands a lot more practice than most of us will ever get the chance to do.

Not really. Watch a corker for a while and you'll see there's nothing about the tool that's not entirely functional, well-balanced and graceful....and the range of power it provides is much greater than a fatter, shorter joiners mallet could provide.

But you're correct that for someone caulking the occasional small boat or only a couple days a year, a proper caulking mallet isn't required. But for the once-in-20-years recaulking of a larger boat....say a 60' hollow-bow Herreschoff....you'll benefit from borrowing the real thing. NOS WWII Live Oak lifeboat mallets work fine and are still being sold today. More reach into hollows, more power, more range of power, and easier on the elbow.

Caulking mallets were developed over several millennia of trial and error for use by guys who caulked 260 days a year, not one or two, and depended on a healthy swinging arm for their living. Like a number of late-18th Century hand tools, the Drew is the highest evolution of the form, with mysteries we are only just now relearning. That challenge in itself holds my interest.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3955069/274870844.jpg

I can rebuild a Stanley plane to equal the performance of a Norris. But I'd still kinda like to have a Norris to use. And if original Norris' are too rare and expensive because their owners were mostly pros who used them hard and wore them out, then an accurate replica without any wear or collector competition is even better.

[Jim Ledger]

[quote=Bob Smalser;1653720]Not really. Watch a corker for a while and you'll see there's nothing about the tool that's not entirely functional, well-balanced and graceful....and the range of power it provides is much greater than a fatter, shorter joiners mallet could provide.

use by guys who caulked 260 days a year, not one or two, and depended on a healthy swinging arm for their living. Like a number of late-18th Century hand tools,


quote]

I'm not entirely unfamiliar with 19th Century hand tools, having spent a number of years tonging clams for a living. A fishery that's limited by law to 19th century harvesting methods.

Like the caulking mallet, the tongs are also the product of an evolutionary refinement and in the hands of a practiced user were an efficient means of removing shellfish from the bottom and depositing them on the deck of an anchored boat.

In the hands of a beginner tongs are fairly useless as the requisite strength and skill are only aquired through long practice.

Which leads me to believe that although a proper mallet in the hands of a practiced user might be a wonderfully versatile and efficient tool, to a less skilled individual it might end up being a nice desk ornament.

And if your 60 footer needs re-caulking then you might be better off hiring someone familiar with the mysteries rather than borrowing a mallet and trying it yourself.

[Bob Smalser]

[And if your 60 footer needs re-caulking then you might be better off hiring someone familiar with the mysteries rather than borrowing a mallet and trying it yourself.

And therein lies another of today's problems. In many areas, finding someone who knows as much about caulking as a well-read owner is difficult. Finding one who knows how and is willing to provide you two weeks of grunt work doing it is harder still. And as fewer carvel boats are built as time progresses, even fewer will know how to care for them. Money notwithstanding, a better job often comes from learning how to do it yourself.

[Jim Ledger]

Money notwithstanding, a better job often comes from learning how to do it yourself.

Well, you know, Bob, money's always withstanding around here and I'm a big fan of picking up the tools and trying it myself. It usually takes a couple of goes to get it right, tho.

One of these days I'm going to have to try out one of them thar hammers and see what all the fuss is all about.

Thanks for the info.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

My caulking mallet certainly isn't a Drew (I do own a Drew marlinespike, though, and a copy, which is almost as good but not quite) but I do find the very occasional caulking that I do much easier with the caulking mallet. It's an easy tool to use.

[Jim Ledger]

but I do find the very occasional caulking that I do much easier with the caulking mallet. It's an easy tool to use.

This is encouraging. If you can do it, Andrew, maybe there's hope for me, yet.

[Bob Cleek]

Very interesting information on the various properties of the mesquite subspecies! I was completely unaware that there was that much difference among them. I have a live oak "lifeboat mallet" myself. I've been told they were stowed as gear on wooden lifeboats so leaks could be patched by the occupants awaiting rescue. I suspect it's real use was to keep the occupants busy and their minds off the inevitable! My mallet works just fine for occasional use. I'd love to find an old Drew, but I couldn't justify the cost of "retail." I just don't use one enough. For a pro, though, finestkind is the only way to go.

I was lucky enough to score a fairly complete set of about thirty irons and other caulking tools, most all Drews, for less than the price of one of those repro mallets. I'd say put your money into good irons before you blow it on a fancy mallet. Unless you find an artisan blacksmith that is making them to order (one fella in England still does, I think) you will have to scrounge the used tool market for a real iron. The irons sold in the catalogs (sigh, including WB) don't even come close. My old Drews all ring like a silver dollar!

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

This is encouraging. If you can do it, Andrew, maybe there's hope for me, yet.

Most of the textbooks are very discouraging about caulking, and, having been discouraged for the first few years of my sailing career, until I bought that mallet in 1984 because if I did not re-caulk Mirelle's topsides no-one else was going to, I conclude that this is mainly because there is no way to describe in writing what the correct degree of force should be.

Since they's now done 22 years with a hardening up in 2002, I cannot have got things too badly wrong.

An ordinary carpenter's mallet is much too light, and the head gets smashed up in no time. A hammer is just awful, and does not bear thinking about.

But I reckon an amateur can do good enough work with a cheaper mallet and a basic set of irons.

[Bob Smalser]

Glad I didn't make them. These are nicer:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277998735.jpg

Tapered rings nice and tight. Polished stainless steel yet too hard to touch with a file.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277998718.jpg

The mesquite heads are at 12-14% EMC, which is a perfect starting point for most everywhere boats are built. The heads make a nice ring when striking steel. Like any mallet, the rings should move back as the striking head wears without planing wood with them as they move. If the rings move around in use, simply soak the head in water a while and make a more permanent adjustment for too tight or too loose in how you store the mallet, whether outdoors in an open shed or indoors in the heat.

The handle mortise is tapered and the handles appear to be maple...which is light yet strong. They are dead straight-grained and a shade-grown 16rpi. A ring was turned to fit the tapered mortise and shaved on one side so the handles fit with the flatgrain surface aligned with the striking head (the opposite of how you hold a wooden baseball bat) for a little more "give" in use.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/278002582.jpg

Cleaner slot than an original:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277998724.jpg

Steve's large mallet is a 1 3/4" and the small a 1 1/2". The large is quite beefy and probably a better choice than a 1 7/8", as they are intended for yachts and not minesweepers.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277998731.jpg

My wormy old oak 1 1/2" boat mallet is definitely outclassed. ;)

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/5313557/277998728.jpg

[Hollingsworth]

My mallet (see my other post in this thread "Good Old Tool Find") is due to arrive today / tomorrow. Perhaps I should forward it along to Mr. Smaiser for evaluation...

After a winter of tinkering, I should be on track to caulk the Escapade come spring time.

[Dave Fleming]

Sorry to say, I lost the photo Steve sent me of his rig/jig for cutting the slots in mallet heads!:mad:

Quite a clever setup.

Maybe I can get him to send me another copy and I will be happy to post it.

As far as setting back the end rings, on my "Drew's", minor gloat there.;)

When I got the mallets the rings were just about flush with the Mesquite. In fact one had started to mushroom over ever so slightly.

Rather than try removing them, I had a machinist make a piece of seamless double wall tubing that was the same diameter as the ring face.
Had him turn a rim on the tubing so that it would meet the ring and not the wood.

I put the mallet on end in an arbor press, fitted the tubing over one end and gradually applied pressure on the ring via the tubing.
It worked real slick! I could set the ring back just that fat 3/16th's of an inch I was after with just a few strokes on the arbor press handle.

My Drews show all the wear and tear that you would expect from tools that has been around for some time.

I got them, one for free and the other with a big canvas shoulder sack of irons and deck stool for a very reasonable price from the last two full time corkers in the San Francisco Shipwrights Union on their retirement.

Set included a horsing mallet, which some years later I gave to Tugboat Dave

[Lew Barrett]

Great photos Bob. They look worth the money when you look closely, but as I've already demonstrated, I'm no caulking expert. Maybe I should try my hand......

[Jay Greer]

The slots serve two purposes. First they allow the wood to dissipate energy that would other wise result in rebound of the mallet. This essentially creates a form of dead blow which allows the cotton to be driven with less effort from the caulker. They also allow the tool to create the harmonic chirp that is characteristic of a well made mallet The chirp, itself, makes a suble change in sound as the cotton is driven home allowing the caulker to hear the end of the drive. Not all black misquite will make a proper mallet. I have built two that were duds. The best mallet I ever used was made of live oak.
Jay

[Dave Fleming]

http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL780/3097474/6292566/278309735.jpg

[PeterSibley]

Dave , having never seen a real caulking mallet ....are the rings on the ends tapered ? They appear to be in the photos .

[bezerk]

This thread is the reason i joined the forum! :) I have been looking for a new corking mallet so that i dont beat up the C.Drew that i have! I really like the mesquite mallets that Steve makes - I have plans to buy one of each.
Here is a link to a fellow named John who makes alot of traditional shipwright tools(in England), including mallets - but only makes the mallets in Lignum anymore, with tapered AB bronze rings.
http://tradboats.com/toolmallets.html
But after the conversion rate, overseas shipping, and stuff - resetting the rings would not be a straight forward thing as with Steves > C.Drew style mallets.
Since i am new here, a link to some photos of my boat are in order, and in so much also a link to a few pix of shipwright tools I have been collecting for a couple years now. so here is a link to both:
http://bezerk.org/modules/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=58
http://bezerk.org/TEMP/earlydays/seal.bmp
Her name is & she was built as the M/V Seal (and named Nunatak II as a territorial vessel for the park service http://www.nps.gov/archive/glba/adhi/adhi7.htm) (park service historical page) She was built for the Territory of Alaska in 1926 before statehood as a mail & supply boat, mostly serving Glacier Bay (before it was even a park) Her little sister ship was the "Yakobi" (now deceased)which dennis sperl has written a wonderful book about called "In the wake of an Alaskan Mail Boat" - So being a single guy here in Juneau Alaska, rebuilding this awesome old boat is the most constructive thing i could find to spend my time on (and money) :D :)
PS: I imported a few too many gallons of swedish pine tar, and am wondering where in this forum i may post stuff for sale or barter should i decide to part with a 5 gallon drum or two of it.

Back to the thread so its not a total hiJacking here! I am in the market for a mallet (or two) and would like to thank everyone here for re-plotting my course to Steves mallets. A friend had met him in Seattle i believe, and returned to Alaska here telling me about a nice mallet they saw - and honestly the contact info i wrote down certainly got measurements and/or a supply list written on the back...and its in my chronological pile of papers, under a couple projects or 2 here on the boat. :)

Has anyone used Lignum mallets before? I got a sweet little lignum cotton mallet i have been stress testing for a bit here in some seams. Also i am curious about the use of AB Bronze for the rings on mallets.

OH! But as far as mallets go, these are the sexiest mallets i have had the pleasure to ever find....nice meeting everyone, enjoy.......
http://www.righteouswoods.net/clients_page27.html
(I LOVE The Chair there- I have wanted to make one for YEARS now!)
Enjoy......
http://www.righteouswoods.net/Graphics/Clients_and_%20works/MPBilley_ChakteViga_Coco.jpg
http://www.righteouswoods.net/Graphics/Clients_and_%20works/MPBilley_Mesquite_Burl_Coco.jpg
http://www.righteouswoods.net/Graphics/Clients_and_%20works/MPBilley_Coco_Mallet.jpg

[Jim Ledger]

Good intro. Welcome to the Forum and I hope to see more of you and your very nice boat.