does anyone know of where I could purchase unwrapped mallets for mallet wrapping? mallets on the cheaper side would be optimum (with quality still in mind), because one of my main objectives in wrapping my own mallets is saving some money...

thanks in advance

they are easy to make. jsut grab some dowel from home depot or a better craft store... (you can even find cherry or birch if you dig around a bit)... get some high quality wood glue (maybe not elmers) and some wooden beads with the same size hole. use some rubber tape or latex or whatever to wrap around the beads for your preference of hardness and wrap. if you have ever broken or worn out a "professional" mallet... just study the materials they used to get even better results. i am no expert, but i have made some good mallets. really, really soft yarn is key. not to mention a very consistent wrap even counting the number of wraps and length ofyarn per mallet. this is jsut beginning advice, as i never really persued it to an art or anything, but i was pleased the few times i did it. smith mallets are cheap and surprisingly good, some even made with hemp that will last quite a while... for practice mallets
jsb

as i am currently schooling, i personally use mallets which have unwrapped themselves due to prolonged use. the most important part of a mallet is the rubber core, as it determines the type of sound you'll get, so it needs to be properly taken care of if you're getting it from an old mallet. the wooden dowels are replacable, and i've chanced upon some resources for rattan dowels in the internet. as a general guide, the harder the core, the tighter the wraps should be.