Review of the Barry King 16oz Maul.

[vilePossum]

Ah sorry, bad wording on my part. I meant that on the drill bits there are lots of other grooves when use just one for a given task, thus creating "unused" rotating areas, some I generally don't like on hand tools, because things can get caught easily.
Whereas on the Dremel ones you only have 2 grooves max.
Then again, others might argue that the drill bit has the advantage of not having to be changed to switch width.

I'm just generally wary of lathes and other rotating objects

 

[druid189]

Very nice review. I have personally never had good luck with mauls because I could never quite "get" that straight-on strike. I always dealt a glancing blow. I got rid of it in favor of a poly mallet, which has serviced me very well.

I've always wondered the difference between my mallet and a Dead Blow and in reading this, I think I might just pick one up now that I can see a marketed difference in depth.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Very nice review. I have personally never had good luck with mauls because I could never quite "get" that straight-on strike. I always dealt a glancing blow. I got rid of it in favor of a poly mallet, which has serviced me very well.

I've always wondered the difference between my mallet and a Dead Blow and in reading this, I think I might just pick one up now that I can see a marketed difference in depth.

You know, I did a bigger sample today just because it seemed so unlikely that the maul would have such a pronounced difference over the mallet. The difference really is there. It's an obvious testament to the design and rigidity that a (technically) heavier tool makes for so much lighter a mark.

If you are happy with your mallet, I wouldn't bother with the DB. In my hands I'm holding a heavier, more awkward tool and getting less results. The face of the DB mallet has numerous marks from striking the steel tools. Clearly the face is absorbing a lot of energy. That doesn't make it bad, it's made to do that, but it's not the ideal attribute for the task.

If you were standing here I'd give you my mallet because I definitely won't be using it again for stamping. Actually, I guess it does have a place in my kit as it's ideal for tapping cemented joins. Can't really use a ribbed maul for that.

Paul, if you're reading this, I finally figured out how to use the speed beveler. I had a duh! moment and it clicked.

Dave, I used the pro-carv today for the first time. I hate to sound flakey by being dazzled by every new purchase, but I think I'm liking this stuff. I used it 1 part to 10 parts (capfulls) water and followed the directions. I didn't soak the piece, merely brushed on some of the mixture with a sponge, waited a couple of minutes and went for it. I didn't do a side by side with plain water or anything, but the stamping came out very nicely and I didn't fret about whether the surface was cool or not, if it had returned to the exact right shade, if I saw the correct number of bubbles while drowning the hide or anything else I'm normally concerned with. I need to find a suitable container to keep the pre-mixed product in. The jug mentions the option to use a spray bottle to apply it with. Maybe I'll just grab one of those and call it good.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Ah sorry, bad wording on my part. I meant that on the drill bits there are lots of other grooves when use just one for a given task, thus creating "unused" rotating areas, some I generally don't like on hand tools, because things can get caught easily.
Whereas on the Dremel ones you only have 2 grooves max.
Then again, others might argue that the drill bit has the advantage of not having to be changed to switch width.

I'm just generally wary of lathes and other rotating objects

Do you have long hair by chance? [emoji14]

 

[darkmatter35]

Anthony,
I got the BK common edger size#3 and the sharp curve edger size#2. I use the sharp curve edger for the curves on the 2" bag punch. Dave has a nice in use picture on his pancake sheath tutorial. I use the common edger on so many projects, I just did the edges on a long belt. It sure made that job easy, and it looks so nice. The cheap China one never really made a nice round edge and kept slipping off the edge. I'd have to restart and you can always tell where I had to start again.
John S.


Sorry, I missed your post. Which edger did ya get? I keep looking at the bisonette edgers, but I'm not sure about them. Something for tight turns, and one that would cut a rounded edge as opposed to a square edge would be nice too.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Is there any reason why you wouldn't want to use a tight curve edger all of the time? I haven't really looked at how they work.

I use a Keen Edge "Old #(whatever)" and it works well. I strop it before each use, and sharpen it occasionally. Good tool, but I know there's better.

 

[vilePossum]

Do you have long hair by chance? [emoji14]

Ha, I wish, then I could sport the "real" metal look. No, totally bald like kojak by choice because I was going bald with no choice.

Nope my wariness is probably due to my grandpa always preaching to me to be careful around powered tools. That and witnessing what happens when you leave a tightening tool in a lathe and turn it on(nobody got seriously hurt). Also worked some time with industrial robots, kind of teaches you not to be careless around moving parts.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Ha, I wish, then I could sport the "real" metal look. No, totally bald like kojak by choice because I was going bald with no choice.

Nope my wariness is probably due to my grandpa always preaching to me to be careful around powered tools. That and witnessing what happens when you leave a tightening tool in a lathe and turn it on(nobody got seriously hurt). Also worked some time with industrial robots, kind of teaches you not to be careless around moving parts.

Yeah man, I get ya. Seen a few accidents at the factory over the years. One gal had both legs broken simultaneously by some very heavy steel stripper plates. High speed or high capacity, either way you gotta have your head on straight.

 

[David Bates]

Anthony
The maker I learned under used a BK 20 if I remember correctly. Great maul and I could tell a difference like Paul mentioned with larger spreading stamps. I'm still looking and using an old leather wrapped maul that he gave me. I can clearly see a big difference in the two.

Those Bearman look really nice with the handle combination.

 

[darkmatter35]

Is there any reason why you wouldn't want to use a tight curve edger all of the time? I haven't really looked at how they work.

I use a Keen Edge "Old #(whatever)" and it works well. I strop it before each use, and sharpen it occasionally. Good tool, but I know there's better.

I had that same question when I was purchasing mine so I sent an e-mail to Barry King tools and here is the quote from them,"I had Brad test this question out. A sharp curve edger would work as a
go-to tool but he said you would be a lot happier if you also ordered a
common edger for the straight lines"
So I guess a tight edge edger would work for both. I had ordered one of each because my common edger is a #3 and my sharp curve edger is a #2
One nice thing about BK tools is that they are heat treated.
John S.

 

[Horsewright]

Buddy its kind of the mallet maul deal. Two different tools designed for different things. You can use em for other things but they do their deal better. I have used my sharp curved edger for regular work, it works but it doesn't work as well. Before I had it I used a regular edger on sharp curves..... you guessed it, doesn't work as well. I use my sharp curve for the bevelling of the slots cut with my bag punch. Thats really about it, I don't use it for anyting else. John, yes they are heat treated. In fact recently I had my BK #2 roll off the bench, fall on the concrete floor and break off its prongs. I said lots of !@#$%^&!@#$%^!@@#$% when that happened! In fact, I'm still saying that in my head. But thats why they cut so well, good steel and good heat treat, Just don't drop em on concrete. I have gone to grinding flats on my handles so they don't roll off the bench cause this happened to my straight line groover too. Of course the replacement blades made now for the groover don't fit my older tool.

 

[darkmatter35]

I had always worried about things falling off the bench onto concrete. More so if dropped someones knife. I recently put a rubber mat,(two truck mud flaps) down.
John S.

 

[jdk1]

...I know the review is a bit over the top (it IS just a maul), but they are things I'd have liked to see myself.

This is BladeForums. We are here to discuss the minutiae which would put most people to sleep Thanks for the review:thumbup: I'm learning a ton here and have discovered that some very subtle things can have a big impact on our leather work. Keep the reviews coming!

 

[Ebbtide]

this is bladeforums. We are here to discuss the minutiae which would put most people to sleep:d thanks for the review:thumbup: I'm learning a ton here and have discovered that some very subtle things can have a big impact on our leather work. Keep the reviews coming!

This!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I had that same question when I was purchasing mine so I sent an e-mail to Barry King tools and here is the quote from them,"I had Brad test this question out. A sharp curve edger would work as a
go-to tool but he said you would be a lot happier if you also ordered a
common edger for the straight lines"
So I guess a tight edge edger would work for both. I had ordered one of each because my common edger is a #3 and my sharp curve edger is a #2
One nice thing about BK tools is that they are heat treated.
John S.

Haha, sounds like a pretty smart reply from the vendor. Honestly, I used to be suspicious of replies like that (I guess I've bought one too many used cars in my time), but the leather working world is full of honest folks that don't mince words. I like that. I've learned to trust you guys especially. There are tons of tools and products I'd have never bought into at first, but my work keeps getting faster and better as I acquire better supplies. [emoji106]

Buddy its kind of the mallet maul deal. Two different tools designed for different things. You can use em for other things but they do their deal better. I have used my sharp curved edger for regular work, it works but it doesn't work as well. Before I had it I used a regular edger on sharp curves..... you guessed it, doesn't work as well. I use my sharp curve for the bevelling of the slots cut with my bag punch. Thats really about it, I don't use it for anyting else. John, yes they are heat treated. In fact recently I had my BK #2 roll off the bench, fall on the concrete floor and break off its prongs. I said lots of !@#$%^&!@#$%^!@@#$% when that happened! In fact, I'm still saying that in my head. But thats why they cut so well, good steel and good heat treat, Just don't drop em on concrete. I have gone to grinding flats on my handles so they don't roll off the bench cause this happened to my straight line groover too. Of course the replacement blades made now for the groover don't fit my older tool.

I wonder if my current tool is properly heat treated. No real way to know I guess. Out of a number of cheap Tandy tools I've tried the edger is one of the better ones, but I'll be trying the tight radii tool asap.

My biggest area of use would be at the tight curve where the mouth of the sheath turns into the belt loop.

The Keen Edge does somewhat okay there, but I do end up sanding by hand quite a bit.

I had always worried about things falling off the bench onto concrete. More so if dropped someones knife. I recently put a rubber mat,(two truck mud flaps) down.
John S.

Dropping/rusting/dulling/whatever a customers knife is a cringe worthy prospect. Having a customer get their knives back in anything other than exactly the way I received them was one of my main concerns when I first started taking custom orders. That's the reason why I never offered tinkering services even though I'm very interested in doing it. I'll sharpen a blade for a customer if they request it (edge pro sharpener), but only if I'm comfortable that it'll come out perfectly. For sheath work I use lots of tape and cling wrap. There's a lot of trust sending your property to someone you don't know, best to overkill it than have an unhappy paying customer!

This is BladeForums. We are here to discuss the minutiae which would put most people to sleep Thanks for the review[emoji106] I'm learning a ton here and have discovered that some very subtle things can have a big impact on our leather work. Keep the reviews coming!

Thanks brother. I think you're spot on. I could read all day about the tools and supplies used in our work. At some point it gets old buying tools that aren't the best you can afford. It's nice to be able to sample the opinions of those that have experience using or doing whatever the topic is. I rely on the opinions of all of you and I've rarely been let down from a little extra research.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Anyone have a guess as to what the brown material is on the Bearmaul tools? I have no interest in selling mauls, but I'm not opposed to trying my hand at making my own.

Head materials that I'm aware of, pro and used by diy'ers.

Yellow poly- too hard and loud.

Urethane- not sure about this.

Delrin- seems like it would dent too much.

Uhmw- awesome stuff, but I know it would dent.

If anyone has a guess about the brown stuff I'd love to hear it. I can get industrial pricing on materials and there are a couple of plastics vendors in town that I can order from.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Here's the second sample I mentioned. Again, the focus was just to see what kind of difference there might be, not trying to line up the stamps perfectly (they are far from perfect).

The DB is on the left, maul on the right. It's odd how the striking tool makes the stamp look totally different. One side looks like a cheap tool, the other looks like you used a quality stamp.

This was done using pro-carv. I'm liking how easy it was to case the leather. I wish I knew what was in the solution, but it's priced very fairly and a jug will make a lot of casing solution mixed with water. Dries quickly enough since you aren't thoroughly wetting the leather as well.

 

[sheathmaker]

Yes sir, a visible difference and I imagine it's even more noticeable in hand.

Paul

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Yes sir, a visible difference and I imagine it's even more noticeable in hand.

Paul

Indeed. I'm not sure if this makes sense, but the differences, as I see them, are where the legs impress and how the blank sections look more pronounced (they seem to rise higher, more 3d) between the stamping.

 

[druid189]

I've often thought about drilling out my poly mallet and weighting it. There are two possible ways of doing this...

1. Think about "re-hanging" a hatchet.......pull the handle out and drill it out. Find and use a heavy tube of brass [say something 3" long and in the 3/8"-thick wall type] and run it straight through the mallet head. Sink the handle back into the brass tube.
2. Drill out the center of one mallet face and cement in a brass rod....say something in the 1" diameter x 3" long line.

I'm not all that keen on #2 because I use both sides of my mallet. I'd have to plug the drilled side with poly that I'd have to find somewhere [or buy another mallet to scavenge it from].

It wouldn't be a "pound" of metal, probably something in the addition of 6 -12 ounce range.....but that could mean all the difference in a "light looking" strike when in fact, I actually pounded the Hell out of it LOL.

Dropping/rusting/dulling/whatever a customers knife is a cringe worthy prospect. Having a customer get their knives back in anything other than exactly the way I received them was one of my main concerns when I first started taking custom orders. That's the reason why I never offered tinkering services even though I'm very interested in doing it. I'll sharpen a blade for a customer if they request it (edge pro sharpener), but only if I'm comfortable that it'll come out perfectly. For sheath work I use lots of tape and cling wrap. There's a lot of trust sending your property to someone you don't know, best to overkill it than have an unhappy paying customer!

...and ^^that^^ is exactly why I don't do custom work for sale. I am too much of a klutz and I know it. Also, my work schedule doesn't let me work on something for all that long. I can't dedicate 2-3 days to produce a finished product for shipping within a week's time. I couldn't [in good conscience] make any customer wait more than a week...not only for the sheath but the blade they might have spend a thousand dollars on....