I began making the head out of some hickory I purchased. I made the head in 3 pieces to facilitate a tapered inner mortise, as well as placing some BBs within to give it a dead-blow effect. (swipe between pictures)
For the handle I took an old piece of oak, cut down and air-dried by my grandfather in 2007 (as per his writing in the picture), and milled it square. I then cut the shoulder for the mallet head to rest on, as well as some relief cuts for the splines to go in later. (swipe between pictures)
I added shape to the handle, trimmed it down, shaped the head, and dry-assembled it. (swipe between pictures)
To finish, I glued in the splines, trimmed the excess, rounded corners, branded it with my logo, and threw some stain and oil on it. (swipe between pictures)