Rawhide mallet. What would they have been used for.

[BobZ]

In my youth I tooled leather for a while and always used rawhide mallets.

 

[Cooper]

When I first taught, rawhide mallets were standard kit is school metalwork shops. In those days they raised and dished copper, also used egg shaped wooden mallets and leather cushions as well as beautiful planishing hammers.
I was only a woodwork teacher and watched my skilled colleagues with awe and wonder.

 

[G S Haydon]

I'm not questioning the use of a metal hammer per se but a Claw Hammer has a specific target use and has essentially too small a 'face' for use on chisels leading to the potential for personal injury. A Lump Hammer would certainly be a better choice - even a large faced Planishing Hammer might be acceptable.

It's all about the size of the hammer face compared to the target - a nail is very much smaller than the Claw Hammer face, just as a 'Mallet' - or Lump Hammer - is that much larger than a chisle handle.

Th only reason for the was because it is the only negative emoji available and I didn't realy want to get into this discussion - I would have thought that the 'issue' was obvious.

So you want me to use a lump hammer!? I don't fancy swinging one of those all day or carrying more tools than needed . Just to clarify, have you done this as a job or are you a keyboard warrior?

Thing is, if you can actually use a hammer you don't to miss! Did you actually see the handle design on the Irwin? It's broad and pretty flat.

A Genno is often small, a carvers mallet is round. These could all slip and miss. I'll do a quick video for you later, it'll explain various approaches. I hope you'll find it informative.

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Rawhide mallets were & are often used in sheet metal work, When new they are varnished & are quite hard, this softens up with use eventually!

Quite hard is an understatement for the mallet I bought: it dented white oak, without an overly aggressive swing!

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Back to lump hammers? Dayam, next thing you know everyone on this site will be getting tattoos, dressing like chair bodgers from the 19th century and telling jokes about bodily functions.

Lump hammers (popularized by a current personality that makes them), have a polished 2-1/2 pound head, made from 4140 steel, with a Rc hardness of 28 to 32. Perfect from driving a dull 12mm firmer chisel all the way through a 3” thick timber with a single swing.

 

[J-G]

... Just to clarify, have you done this as a job or are you a keyboard warrior?

I still have the engineer's Ball Pein hammer that I was given on starting my apprenticeship as a toolmaker in 1956. I've also made a number of hammers for use in making jewellery and have a Lump Hammer that has been used for two performances of the Anvil Chorus !!

I've never (to my knowledge) used a Lump or Claw hammer on a chisel though. About 2 years ago I broke the head of the Beech Mallet that used to be my father's - I considered that a sad day!

 

[Jameshow]

They are used by trades and professions doing fine metal work such as jewellery and musical instruments.

I'll have to get one then!

 

[G S Haydon]

I still have the engineer's Ball Pein hammer that I was given on starting my apprenticeship as a toolmaker in 1956. I've also made a number of hammers for use in making jewellery and have a Lump Hammer that has been used for two performances of the Anvil Chorus !!

I've never (to my knowledge) used a Lump or Claw hammer on a chisel though. About 2 years ago I broke the head of the Beech Mallet that used to be my father's - I considered that a sad day!

So lots of Woodworking then

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I seem to remember reading Richard Maguire - The English Woodworker - recommending a lump hammer for use on wooden handled chisels. As pointed out before, the downside of a claw hammer is not that it's steel, it's the small size of the face - that's why a lump hammer is better.

 

[G S Haydon]

I remember that too. I saw a video of his and he seems to use the Thorex Mallet now. It's decent, I use one at home.
It's just not practical for me to be carrying a selection of mallets and hammers when on site so I use a claw hammer, as did my Dad with no issues. Would I use a claw hammer on all chisels, not at all! Just on the ones that can take it.
Plus if you're swinging a hammer hard enough to slip and miss you likely being a clown.

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Maybe those that need a 2-1/2 pound lump hammer need to sharpen their chisels a bit?

 

[david.tamlaght]

I ve been using splitproof marples(yellow and red ) since the 80s and never used anything except a claw hammer .
A wood mallet is an old workshop tool that still has a use on wooden handled chisels with a brass furrel on some but no way would i be hawking a mallet around a building site .Never had a marples break .they wear down first .25mm one sitting here with only about 50mm working length left on it.
They are still making them so doing what they are designed for

 

[david.tamlaght]

When I first taught, rawhide mallets were standard kit is school metalwork shops. In those days they raised and dished copper, also used egg shaped wooden mallets and leather cushions as well as beautiful planishing hammers.
I was only a woodwork teacher and watched my skilled colleagues with awe and wonder.

that was my first thought.copper dishes in metalwork 1977 .memories eh

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Could it be another modern day solution looking for a problem? (The modern lump hammer)

 

[cowtown_eric]

The first time I saw a rawhide mallet was in a cardboard box MFG next to my shop about 35 years ago.

The dies they made for boxes were 1/2" baltic birch, flat and curved, cut by a special jig saw. "cutall" like this
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-power-tool/guelph/vintage-cutawl-jigsaw-tool/1611586578
You will get the idea from this website
http://www.jigscut.com/cutting-dies.html
The dies, which were sharp, were hammered into the cuts with the rawhide mallet, and they lasted a little while, but not more than a few years.

Those guys used to make dies that would last over a million impressions!

Eric

 

[John In Ireland]

What profession would have used the rawhide mallet?

I used them quite a lot at Rolls-Royce. We used to them on exotic materials like titanium and Inco or plate so as not to cause damage. They are quite professional there.

 

[Limey Lurker]

I often look in Charity shops for, among other things, tools. About twelve years ago I bought, for fifty pence, a hide mallet with a 3 1/2 inch by 6 inch head, in almost unused condition. It still had the "Thor' decal on the handle. I do love a bargain, so I looked in my catalogues to check the price. This the the Dictum entry.

 

[Limey Lurker]

Sorry, I don't know why that pic came up twice!

 

[accipiter]

This provide some answer your question of what a leather mallet should be used for?
https://www.libertyleathergoods.com/rawhide-mallet/

 

[Rich_D]

I still have my rawhide/copper mallet which I got for Xmas 1972, I was an apprentice motor mechanic. A vital tool. This thread brought back some memories of me hitting axles and drive shafts all those years ago