I love a good hammer and a good mallet. Let’s hit some things, shall we?

Deadblow Mallet – Why do I love it so?

The deadblow mallet has tiny ball bearings in it that give this mallet heft and weight, meaning you need fewer blows to achieve the same result. And herein lies the reason I love it so much – fewer blows means faster work, faster work means more time to play and be creative, more time to be creative means more jewelry!

Also those thermoplastic heads mean little to no marks on your piece and no stretching of the metal. Watch and see how quickly you can make a ring round.

The deadblow has a similar function to a rawhide mallet, but a rawhide mallet is a lighter-weight tool. and lighter weight means that it is a gentler tool. I often use mine for very gentle shaping, but to be honest, I haven’t used my rawhide mallet in so long that I have no idea where it is. It takes more blows with a rawhide mallet to achieve the same results as a deadblow. This means that it takes longer to hammer, and more blows also mean more wear and tear on your joints in the long run. That said, there are uses for both hammers.

Both are great tools to have in your tool arsenal, both serve different functions. Personally, I find myself reaching for the deadblow more often, but your experience might be different.

Deciding Between a Rawhide and a Deadblow

Are you going to do a lot of shaping of springy wire and sheet? A dead blow likely has the power that you need.

Do you want to gently work-harden your metal without distorting or texturing the metal? Try the dead blow

Are you working on dead soft metal and just have some gentle shaping to do? A Rawhide mallet is great for this.

Do you have questions about which mallet is right for your work? drop a note in the comments!