Over the past ten or so years, my 40-year old lignum vitae mallet has seemed to dry out and is becoming increasingly brittle,
Doesn't look like lignum vitae to me. Maybe that is the problem?
-j
No. It's totally impossible.
Pull the other one, it plays Jingle Bells...
That's not lignum vitae.
It's a drum mallet. They're a consumable item - just turn yourself a new one. If you want a mallet to last, put the head on at right angles, so that you're hammering on the end grain.
Suck it up and turn another one. I have made a couple of these from Maple and Walnut. It is hard to take that first strike knowing the result. But they are, at the end of the day, a tool and they end up looking kinda beat up.
40 years isn't bad.RonB
PEG 1000.
In a vat for a few months in summer heat and you'll be better'n new, because you'll also have a softened surface to eat up the vibration before it gets to your elbow. I make all mine that way, and appreciate it after carving two or three days in a row.
That's exactly what I thought first thing, if it's LV, throw it in water for quite a while. That don't look like LV though.
er --- will YOU last another 40 years? If not, don't worry about it.
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