When you're building your jewellery making kit, it can be confusing to be faced with lots of different mallets! Each material serves its own purpose and is great for different tasks at the bench. Let's take a look at the most popular options and what each is used for.
Rawhide
A traditional option, this mallet is used for shaping and forming without marking or marring your metal. A new rawhide mallet will be hard like wood, but over time it will become softer. Rawhide mallets often last a lifetime.
Brass
Usually used for hitting tools rather than your work, brass mallets are ideal for disc cutting and stamping. This material has plenty of weight to it.
Nylon
This is a great alternative for those who'd rather not use rawhide, again suitable for shaping and forming. It's good for flattening warped pieces of metal.
Steel
The standard for most jewellers, steel hammers have polished surfaces and are used for shaping, texturing, forming, planishing and more. Lots of options are available for a variety of tasks.
A good combination of hammers and mallets can last you for years and allow you to perform dozens of different tasks at your bench. You can view our full range of Hammers & Mallets here.