I recently got a mini lathe. Previously unused woodscraps now seem far more interesting and useful. So far, I've turned elm, dogwood, black locust, end even spruce and willow. :-)

I turned these timber framing mallets from American Elm. The weight and feel of the mallets is perfect, but I've found that elm is too soft. It deforms easily when being hit against a hardwood mallet handle.


Here are two of the elm mallets:



The mallet on the left on the bottom pictures was turned by Peter's father. It is made out of hornbeam, and I used it as a prototype for my mallets.





I've also recently turned another mallet from Black Locust. It is both hard enough and easily heavy enough for a timber framing mallet. It sanded to a perfectly smooth finish, unlike the elm.

I think black locust is quickly becoming my favorite hardwood. I'll post pictures of the finished locust mallet soon.