THE KODO BLOG

I bought this mallet years ago for 3 bucks (plus a 20 percent coupon) at harbor freight.  It came with this crappy, small rubber handle that, not only looked cheap, but had terrible ergonomics.  I cut it off, drilled out a piece of iron bamboo and attached the iron bamboo with regular wood glue as a new handle.  Wow! Completely different look, feel and performance!  I'm completely happy with it now and use it daily!  I highly recommend picking one up and modifying the handle.   For just a few dollars, you'll have an effective and efficient tool that will serve...

So, I was on reddit talking about my favorite hammer and someone asked how I attached the new handle.   I figured I might as well show some pics of it. It's basically a wedged mortise and tenon.  I didn't even use glue.  It hasn't budged even though I wail on stuff with it on a regular basis. 

Here's the original handle for comparison.   

This is a little 4 ounce hammer that I bought for $1.50 at my local Daiso.  Daiso is like a Japanese dollar store where everything is a buck fifty.  I changed out the dinky little handle for a fat piece of iron bamboo.   It now hits like a 16 ounce carpenter's hammer with a fraction of the effort.  I learned that just changing the handle has a dramatic effect on performance.