LRod wrote:
I built mine out of a chunk of patternmakers stock (laminated oak). I
may have had to glue a couple of pieces together to get the size I
needed (can't remember now), but I cut the mortise in the whole block.
It's not that hard. Even the layout isn't particularly tricky. You can
waste away much of the material with drills (either auger bits with a
brace, or spade or Forstner bits in the driver of your choice), then
fine tune with sharp chisels. I tapered mine slightly and machined a
handle to fit. With such a taper, you actually have a fairly large
margin for error, as you can make the handle too long, and then cut
off the part not needed.

I made mine so that the handle fits the head like a pick rather than a
hammer or ax. In other words, the handle slips down through the top of
the head, rather than in from the bottom. By doing that, I eliminate
the need to wedge the handle, making replacement or interchanging
quite easy--just tap the handle of the mallet on the floor and the
head will slide right down. Also, you will be confident that it will
never fly off due to wedge failure or whatever.

The one thing I did wrong (fifteen years ago) was to make the handle
too short to stand proud of the head. If I had, it would have been
VERY easy to tighten it by just tapping the protruding shaft on the
floor or bench to tighten it to the head.

I made mine similar with the handle from the top of the head. The head
is laminated from 3 peices of oak, with the center lamination being the
same stock as the handle. The lamination was glued up with the handle
in place (I did remember to remove the handle after the head was
clamped), so the angled sides are identical to the angle on the handle,
and the mortise is perfectly sized to the handle.

Look at the jointers mallet on this page- http://www.shavings.net/