Help me make my polo mallet

i've moved to dowel inside. pole mounted slightly into base of pipe inside, screw counter sunk into bottom to make it flush with angled down screw trough pipe into dowel for extra strenth.

im lovin it. (preemptive fuck you to anyone who post a picture of me as ronald mc donald in the look alike thread)

Bad Dinos in a backstreet near you soon...

dowel is ok, but doesn't last long (if it's softwood).

I'm making up some HDPE rod to go inside, instead of dowel, which will be threaded for M4 bolts, so you can use countersinks like the ones on MO mallets.

If i could like that picture i would.

dowel is ok, but doesn't last long (if it's softwood).

I'm making up some HDPE rod to go inside, instead of dowel, which will be threaded for M4 bolts, so you can use countersinks like the ones on MO mallets.

Are you making a job lot and any time soon G?

Off to look up m4 bolts countersunk on MO mallets...

EDIT:

Nice.

http://www.cycles-for-heroes.com/bikes/polo/mos-mallet

Would perspex be better than wood then?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/15mm-Clear-Acrylic-ROUND-Rod-Plastic-Rigid-Perspex-1m-/300404645028?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item45f1831ca4

Perspex is REALLY hard, quite brittle, I'm using PVC or HDPE rod.

That's what I thought. Where on earth do you get them from though? Got a couple o spares duder?

ebay, but you need to turn it to the right size for the shaft, rod is 15mm, i made two today, one for alejandro pole, one for milwaukee pole, first was 13.5mm, other was 11.5mm.

Building my 2 perro mallets has turned me to drink.
If 5mm bolts = a wobbly head, what can I use instead?

Why is it wobbly? Which holes are drilled too large/not in line?

In the pole. Screwed a m6 in a few times and now there's room to move. m8 obviously too big and they don't make m7. Meh.

Obviously a dowling would make it more stable but I can't find any suitable material and have no capacity to be able to turn it to make it fit.

m7 does exist but it's not ideal, does the bolt currently go all the way through the hdpe and out the otherside?

When I used bolts to make mallets I would drill the entrance hole push fit for the bolt then on the opposite side of the head drill a hole big enough for a socket set head to fit. The bolt only goes halfway across the diameter of the hdpe with the nut tightening against the shaft rather than the outside of the head. Should help to stop things wobbling (and there are less bits of metal sticking out).

Hopefully that made sense.

Also if you don't have dowel just drill the holes for the shaft all the way through head and file the shaft flush with the base of the head.

Cheers Ed. But if the hole is bigger than the bolt, surely it will move regardless of where the bolt is?
Too late for the latter point if I've already put the shaft holes in I guess.

Cheers Ed, makes sense.

wicksie i just made a perros mallet up today, i got 15mm dowel from wickes and it fit perfectly, doesnt weigh anything and if you stick 30 - 40 cm down the tube its stiff enough to drill into without it moving down the inside of the pole. I countersunk one screw into the bottom of the head and along the inside of the dowel and then another screw countersunk going horizontally into the pole through the mallet to stop any movement.

i haz spare dowel if you need?

Ha, could have had a building session.

Is it wooden? They brake easily apparently.

The nut pulling against the shaft helps to hold it in place, it's a slightly more forgiving design than the bolt all the way through in terms of hole tolerance/alignment.

Or you could just forget the bolt and stick 2 wood screws in at approx 45 degrees to the pole right near the top of the head where the pole enters it.

forget the bolts. they stress the alu too much. Just bang a screw in

The fixie inc shaft is pretty "soft/weak", only nice for tournaments but not for everyday use. Their mount is acctually pretty nice, made the same on several mallets and they were really strong.

With the extra bolt in bottom.

What's all this chat about dowel? Does it go up the pole? What's the benefit?

I need to make 2 mallets by tomorrow and can't understand half of this thread, I think I'll just have to bodge them up like I always do

don't worry about dowl.

Pilot a small hole (maybe 3mm), through mallet head and ski pole, and sink a screw in. Easy peasy.

Or you could just forget the bolt and stick 2 wood screws in at approx 45 degrees to the pole right near the top of the head where the pole enters it.

I do this too, suprisingly strong and keeps the weight down. When you tighten the screws the head gets pulled off the end if the pole so be sure to leave about 1cm of pole on the end to account for this.

I found that screws snap too easy. It could be that I'm just too brutal.

it's cos the screws are crap, or the head is loose fit to the shaft.