During a fairly standard session of pounding on some wood with my mallet, I managed to break the head in two. THus, I set out to make a new mallet; a better mallet.

Step 1: Learning From the Past

I had made my previous mallet by cutting a mortise. For this mallet, I would use a laminated head with an angled space in which to secure the handle.

Step 2: The Head

As the title of this instructable suggests, I will be making this mallet out of pallet wood. To be more specific, I will be using hardwood slats from these pallets. I cut three sections of equal length. These would make up the head.

Step 3: A New Angle on Things

Using a protractor, I cut a 10 degree angle on each side of the centre portion of the mallet. I cut out this shape carefully using a handsaw.

Step 4: The Glue Up

With all of the required pieces cut, I glued everything together, making it into a solid head.

Step 5: Handle It!

I shaped and cleaned up the handle using a jack plane as well as a rasp. The handle is made out of hardwood pallet wood also. At the top of the handle, I cut spaces where wedges could be driven in to expand the handle inside the head of the mallet.

I shaped the wedges by clamping my hand plane in a vice, then inserted the handle and drove the wedges in, with plenty of glue!

Step 6: Trim Time

With the glue dry, I trimmed off the edges and top of the mallet, making everything even and tidy.

Step 7: Sanding Sanding Sanding

I sanded all of the pallet wood with 60, 80, 120 and 240 grit, making it nice and smooth. Then, I applied a coat of boiled linseed oil to protect the wood and bring out the grain a little.