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  #11  
Old 04-23-2010, 03:26 PM
Crew Chief Crew Chief is offline
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Being more of a "metal abuser" as opposed to "metal shaper", I too give high marks for Mr.C's hammers. I have medium to large hands and they felt very natural. The knurling on the handle provided sufficient grip so I never felt the hammer try to rotate in use. Also, the balance is perfect. The head weight will do all the work if one will let it. If I were more involved in this art, I would certainly have to add at least a couple to my tool chest. Perhaps one day.

Carey - Thanks for providing them. They were a big "hit". (Pun intended)
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  #12  
Old 04-23-2010, 07:34 PM
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The head of the mallets is tubing of about 16 gage. My decision to build my mallets this way was conditioned by the large quantity of materials that I have. I made the mallets that we had been using at Sun-n-Fun (after Pat Groover moved) on my old Model A South Bend lathe using a special chuck that I made years ago to machine racing pistons. Those heads were cut with wood lathe style cutters. My CNC lathe doesn't have a large enough through hole to properly grasp the slippery 2.6" UHMW. I have had more than one TuckPuck find it's way out of the chuck and smack me in the chest. In fact While turning a head for my new mallets, a strand caught the chuck and reeled in several hundred feet of chip and collected the swarf still on the machine and reached out and grabbed the cord to a flourescent light that was on top of the plexiglas cover over the lathe and snatched it off and broke it against my chest. UHMW can be hateful stuff to turn because of it'd slipperyness and the long endless chip. I program in moves that take the cutter off of the billet but it never seems to break the strand. If it catches the chuck I just try to get out of the way and it generally spoils the part because it leaves a tiny little line on the finish surface. I will not sell those. Anyway making mallets of solid UHMW requires a special really long jaw chuck and I haven't built one to fit my CNC lathe. I had even bought a morticing machine to cut the rectangular holes but decided to go this other path and am glad that I did. I felt the difference immediately the weight and balance is perfect. They are just very labor intensive to make. I am on the lookout for some 2 1/2" stainless to make a couple of personal mallets. I just love the look of stainless. I briefly looked on McMaster Carr and sort of gagged when I saw the price.
I will weigh one of the mallets as soon as I can and post my findings.
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  #13  
Old 04-23-2010, 09:24 PM
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Mr. C, that is a very nice looking hammer. Are the UHMW head replaceable and are you going to have one with a wedge shape? Thanks for showing us your new product. Hope it sells well for you.
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  #14  
Old 04-23-2010, 09:48 PM
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Joe: Yes, the heads are replaceable. I will have a selection of optional heads. In the photo there are 3 different sets of heads. The standard heads will be 1.3" radius and 2" radius. There is a flat face and a 1" radius. There will be a TPOS (TuckPuck On a Stick) which can be used on a post dolly such as a round top hitch ball. I could make a wedge style as well that would require extra machining on the Bridgeport and would cost a bit more.
The heads are a slip fit into the body of the mallet. The mallet head is drilled for a screw but testing at Sun-n-Fun proved that they are not needed. To remove a head, tap the handle with a softface mallet or piece of wood and the head will start to move out where it can be removed. Hammering keeps both heads in place. Even though the UHMW is hateful to machine, it does hold a good tolerance. Probably a half thousandth. They all showed the same diameter with my digital calipers. I tried freezing the plastic before machining but that had negative results.
The heads have a groove .060 deep that would allow a ring of epoxy if that had been needed. It wasn't but I will continue to put the groove in. It is now in the g-code and it only takes a couple of extra seconds.
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  #15  
Old 04-24-2010, 01:26 AM
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I kinda like John's "cheap" approach. I'm not sure if you could make ends to fit an existing hammer or not (don't own one with replaceable heads), but maybe offer the sale of your heads with plans to make your own hammer

You make your hammers with materials you had laying around. Many of us have an abundance of materials too, just not the machines to make accurate, precision hammer heads.

(just a thought. I am cheap and like to tinker. If I really thought about it though, it would take me longer to make the hammer than what it would cost me to buy it from you.)
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  #16  
Old 04-24-2010, 07:56 AM
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Carey

I'm glad you are making them. What is the price?

I'm happy with my hammer but I have shown my Tom Lipton Hammer in a lot of my threads here and on other forums. I bet I have had 50 Pm's from people wanting to know where I got my hammer from.

If anymore ask I will send them your way. I emailed Tom and told him about all of the people that wanted the hammer and he told me he is no longer making them at this time.

I think there will be a huge market for them.

I think there needs to be different sizes, I use my big one to rough in a panel and then I smooth out most of the walnuts with a small hard plastic hammer that I have. I think a variety of rough in hammers would be useful.

When I first started I spent more time on the wheel then I did hammering, now it is the opposite I spend more time hammering then I do on the wheel.

I like to get the panel fitting the pattern pretty good before I even think about taking it to the wheel.

Can you put wooden handles on them? I'm kinda of fond of the wooden handles.
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  #17  
Old 04-24-2010, 09:29 AM
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I think that I am going to sell them for $100. It took me 5-6 days to tool up and make 23 of them. Plus materials. A lot going on to make them the way that I am. Cut and debur the stainless. Polish the stainless to a brushed finish on the lathe and knurl. Cut the head tubing and square the ends and debur. Cut the hole in the head for the handles. Tight fit required so they are done on the Bridgeport and a tool change is required for each head. Then install the handle and fusion TIG weld the handle to the head at the top only. Drill small hloes with a jig for lock screws if required. Clean mask and paint the heads with POR 15. Cut the UHMW into 2.5" lengths. Cut for slip fit into head. Cut the desired profile of the UHMW head. Anyway it took way longer than I had anticipated but I was extremely happy with how effective they were compared to what I had used before so decided to make a batch and see how they worked at Sun-n-Fun. I was not sure how they would hold up where the plastic mated with the steel head face. I didn't know whether they would stool at that small contact area. They did not so they are good to go.
The main reason that I have been dragging my feet on marketing mallets all this time comes down to shipping. A pair of TuckPucks will fit in the smallest USPS flat rate box including the instructional DVD (which I really wasn't pushing because it was too time intensive to do it right so I just posted the contents to YouTube for everyone to see free). I just got back from the post office and there are no flat rate boxes that will hold a mallet. So I am back to the question of how to calculate shipping from my web based "store". UPS or FedEx requires a lengthy drive into town (I live in the country).
I am going out to the shop and will weigh and find the balance point of a mallet and will post back here later today.
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  #18  
Old 04-24-2010, 11:06 AM
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I have weighed the new TuckPuck mallets and components and did a balance test to find the balance point. This is with the "standard" heads installed. Standard heads will be 1.3" radius and 2.0" radius and the mallet will be a model TP 1320 with those heads. The number will reflect the radius of the tips.
Weight of the TP 1320 mallet with tips is 42.5 oz.
Weight of the mallet with no tips is 30.67 oz.
Weight of the 1.30" radius tip is 5.26 oz.
Weight of the 2.0" radius tip is 5.9 oz.
The balance point of the TP 1320 is 1.375" down the handle from the head.
The handle length from tip to head is 13.5" (the prototype mallet had a handle 2" longer. I didn't like the feel of it. That is the one in the photo with the weird knurling.)


photo of bare mallet on the scales



photo showing balance point of the TP1320 mallet (balance point it 1.375" from the mallet head -note the blue line-)

Last edited by mr.c; 04-24-2010 at 11:23 AM. Reason: add photos
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  #19  
Old 04-24-2010, 06:36 PM
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Why don't I see any photos in this thread?



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  #20  
Old 04-24-2010, 06:44 PM
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Little: I am not sure. I hope someone will reply to that. In the mean time, all of the photos plus some more are in my album on this site. (mr.c's album)
Any problems viewing photos in other threads?
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