For years, I’ve been looking for a heavy assembly mallet that won’t mar a wooden surface. When I couldn’t find what I needed, I invented it myself.

A deadblow mallet is the best choice for the job, but it can leave black marks and the face is occasionally too hard. My solution is to take two leather caps and stitch them in place over the two faces of the deadblow mallet.

Here’s how to make each cap. On a piece of leather, scribe a circle with a diameter about 1-1/2 in. larger than the mallet-head diameter. Make six equidistant marks along the circumference of the pattern diameter. The idea is to make a wavy pattern with these marks as the crests of a wave. Then, punch or drill holes in the two pieces of leather and lace them together as shown.

Drawing: Jim Richey

Drawings by Jim Richey

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