Howdy all,
I just finished my first attempt at a wooden mallet (round head) to occasionally use around my shop. Its nothing fancy, mainly for utility - I'm thinking I'll use it mostly for assembly and some light work with my wooden handled bench chisels when needed.
I suppose I could just leave it unfinished, but I remember reading somewhere about a mallet maker who dipped their mallets for upwards of a month in Linseed oil to penetrate the wood and ad some heft. I'm contemplating doing this, but I'm looking for a few other opinions and ones which wont transfer the finish to the wood I'm tapping.
I'm not overly interested in how it ultimately looks, rather I'd like something that might increase the mallets resistance to drying out over time and help it hold up to use.
I could just rub the linseed oil in as that's what I'm use to on the handles of my other tools, but I'm wondering if soaking it for an extended period of time would penetrate a bit deeper.
Also, can anyone suggest other options to Linseed oil that would give a "harder" finish to the wood? Would tung oil or polyurethane better increase its resilience to impacts? Can you recommend a brand name I can ask for?
-thanks in advance