I wanted to make a simple carving mallet, to be used for controlled chisel action and maybe one day, engraving. This is a simple wood turning project on the lathe.
Usually these are made completely from wood, so they don't harm the chisel handles, but I don't carve that often and chisel handles are easy to make on the lathe anyway.
The metal head allows it to have a nice weight in a small frame. A brass mallet could be made to have the same effect, and also be more gentile on the stuff you hammer on with it.