Quick Overview:

A common sight in the carving section of any woodworking store, the Wood Is Good Co urethane mallet catches most woodworker’s eyes — possibly for it’s elegance, but most likely because of the catchy company name burnt into the top of each mallet.  For years I passed this by as a “gimmick” that I could live without … until it was recommended by a friend and fellow artisan.

Wood is Good Co has done the craftsman a favor by combining a simple, elegant design along with a superior advancement in technology (the urethane) to create a friendly product that can take a beating in the shop.  This mallet scores well in my book.

What’s Included:

No box, no bag … well, nothing more than the mallet and a little label to identify it.

Wood Is Good Co, the company (link):

Straight from their website:

The  “Wood is Good Company”  has been manufacturing quality products for 20 years.  It is a division of Midwest Woodworkers, a retail store stocking large supplies of quality hardwoods, machines, hand tools, and other fine products for woodworkers, carvers, and turners.

Design & Use:

A urethane mallet is primarily used for pounding on tools that work on wood — it itself doesn’t actually do the work.  However, the user of the mallet can be (and in my shop is) used to actually do some mallet-to-wood work driving in wooden plugs and snugging together joints.

This mallet has a presumably Birch handle, though the manufacturer only claims it to be a “New England Hardwoods” handle (I assume this means whatever wood they have on hand).  It’s smooth to the touch and extremely comfortable in your hand.  The mallet reviewed is the 20oz model and is a bit larger in size, but for me seemingly a perfect fit.  The urethane is dense and handles the abuse — so well in fact, I started to think where else I could use that stuff.  My one complaint is a ridge that runs the perimeter of the urethane, probably from the molding process to create the mallet.  The entire mallet head is smooth, then this abrupt ridge lines the top.  If you try to use this in direct contact with wood it will mar the surface as if it were metal — not pretty.  However, that’s can be removed with some sandpaper (or a quick turn on the lathe, if you have one).

Overall this mallet performed better than expected.  My ol’ rubber mallet is probably going to be put to bed for a while, as I’m converting to this style.  It’s more comfortable to hold, comes in a variety of weights, and has a cool burned-in “Wood is Good” name on the end which always stirs up conversation in the shop.

Purchasing Advice:

Not sure that this is a “run out and get it” necessity for the general woodworker or DIYer, but I assume it’s a near must for a carver.  For those of use that are not carvers, I think this should be on the wish list though.  It’s an easy tool to pass by, and one you could do without … but why?  After a little shopping online you’ll probably find one for about $25-$30 — and at that price I’d recommend putting one on the workbench of most wood shops.

Other images:

Wood is Good Urethane Mallet (top view)

Wood is Good Urethane Mallet (bottom view)

The Ridge (top)