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2026/09/24 - Guild Meeting - Making a Two Part Mallet Using a Skew with Alan Leland

Making a Two Part Mallet Using a Skew with Alan Leland

• Thursday September 24^th
• Hybrid: Live at NCSU Crafts Center and by IRD Broadcast via Zoom
• Zoom call opens a 6:15 for socializing
• Meeting begins at 6:45 PM
• Demonstration begins at 7 PM
  

Please join us September 24th for returning demonstrator and WGNC long time member Alan Leland.

Alan will be demonstrating how he makes a two part Wooden Mallet.  This demo will be followed by a workshop on Saturday September 26th where members can actually make this skill building project.

Both the demo and the workshop will focus on using the skew and a spindle roughing gouge, two essential tools in your woodturning arsenal.

Alan will begin by discussing types of wood that can be used to turn a mallet and then spend some time talking about design and form.  Following these two discussions, Alan will demonstrate how he actually turns the mallet and mallet handle.

This will be a great demo that provides the opportunity to get a feel for turning with a skew. Those of you who like a challenge can experiment with using a skew to also turn a cove and bead, which can be an interesting addition to the mallet design. It appears to be a simple project but if you are not familiar with the use of a Skew it can be a tad frustrating. But with Alan's instruction and your own practice the skew can and should become one of your go to tools. 

Alan notes that there are a number of ways to express the mallet form.  From a plain purely funtional design to others with some artistic detail like beads and coves added to make the mallet more interesting and challenging.  Additional embellishments can be added, such as burned or carved designs, as desired by the maker.

Alan has prepared several handouts for this demonstration.  The documents can be downloaded from the documents section of our website by following this link Two Part Mallet Handouts

Alan Leland Instructor Bio

Alan Leland is an internationally known woodturning instructor and demonstrator and has been an AAW member since 1994. He has demonstrated and taught workshops for many woodturning clubs across the United States and Canada, such as John C. Campbell Folk school, and often hosts workshops highlighting internationally known woodturners in his studio. 

Alan started working with wood at This End Up Furniture Company in 1976. After 19 years making crate style furniture, he started his own woodworking business in 1996. Initially Alan’s main focus was on making custom furniture and some woodturnings for craft shows. Eventually his interest and enjoyment of woodturning took over and he began to do more architectural turning and turning for craft shows. Alan’s work is primarily functional in nature due to his furniture background, but with an artistic flair due to his keen eye for shape and form.

Alan is known for his three legged 24” tall stools with their crisp turnings and his Hollow Globe ornaments with their elegant delicate icicles. A few of Alan’s ornaments are included in Dale Nish’s latest book titled “Woodturning Ornaments.”

To learn more about Alan visit his website here.