Mallets

A mallet is a striking tool with a fairly large head, often of rubber or wood. A mallet's striking face is usually softer than steel.

People use different mallets for different work, from a joiner's bench to a croquet lawn.

In the workshop

Woodworkers use a wooden mallet to knock pieces together, drive dowels and strike chisels. A wooden mallet leaves the end of a metal tool in shape, where a metal hammer would often deform it. It also softens the force on a chisel's cutting edge, which gives the worker better control.

A carver's mallet has a round head that lines up with the handle. The striking face is round all the way round, so the carver can hit a chisel from any angle.

On machinery

Engineers use copper, brass or lead mallets on machinery. They move a part with less risk of damaging it. These metals are softer than steel, so the mallet gives way under too much force before the steel part does.

A dead blow mallet has a hollow head partly filled with steel shot, lead shot or sand. The filling lets the user strike harder without marking the work.

In the kitchen

A meat mallet flattens or tenderises meat. It is made of wood or metal, usually with two faces, one flat and one with raised points.

In music

Players strike the marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel and vibraphone with mallets. Heavier heads give a louder sound, and harder heads give a sharper one.

On the croquet lawn

Croquet England explains the aim of the game. Players advance the balls around the lawn by hitting them with a mallet, scoring a point for each hoop made in the correct order and direction.

Croquet England suggests garden croquet as a way to try the game at home or in a local park. It also says there are over 200 croquet clubs in England, and its site has a club finder.

Mallets at work

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) counts equipment such as hammers as work equipment under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. An employer has to make sure that equipment is suitable for the job and the conditions it is used in. It must also be kept in a safe condition. HSE adds that tools employees bring in for themselves are covered too.

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