Compact brass head mallets, like the Veritas model shown here, can be handy for many woodworking tasks, mainly chisel work.
The idea is simple – the striking head is placed close to your hand and greatly improves control compared to using a traditional long-handled hammer or mallet.
Brass head mallets aren’t for driving nails or persuading furniture pieces to fit together. It’s a tool for tapping a sharp wood chisel for precise wood removal or carving.
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It can be used for other things as well. For example, I’ve used mine to tap dowels into place.
This Shop Fox mallet has an 8oz head weight and maple wood handle. I think it could be a good choice for starting out. They also have a heavier 12oz model.
Price: $14.50 (small), $21 (large)
Lee Valley currently offers 2 made-in-Canada brass head mallets with walnut handles. The smaller is 12oz and the larger is 18oz. Both are under 6″ long.
Price: $33.50 (small), $42.50 (large)
Do You Need One?
I bought a Lee Valley model a little more than 11 years ago. I don’t need one, but I feel I’ve benefited from having one.
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I consider this to be one of those tools that contributes to a better project experience.
It’s not a must-have, but is one of the tools one could consider once they’re done buying all of their must-haves.
A block plane? That’s a must-have. Dead blow mallet? Absolutely. Brass head mallets? In my opinion it’s a good-to-have tool.
Bonnie
To answer the title question: no, not really, but it’s a nice-to-have.
They’re also a fun project to make yourself if you’re getting into lathe-work. Brass turns well on a wood lathe.
JR Ramos
I think I’d opt for one of the Grace USA small brass hammers instead…replace or shorten and reshape the handle if need be. Cap it with delrin or buy their model that has it already applied. Those small dead-blow hammers that have one face with a steel cap can do the same while having more uses such as some of the ones you mentioned these mallets are not for…longer handle, though.
These are very nice to look at, though, and that’s got value. Properly sharpened chisels almost negate the need for more than hand pressure…a joy to work with vs. dull or misformed chisel bevels.
fred
While our carpenters often used what they had at hand (usually a claw hammer) to drive chisels – this is never the correct tool for the job. While all-steel or plastic-handled-with cap butt chisels can survive such use – a mallet provides better control and less propensity to damage the chisel. I’d also see some guys shearing off rivets or other objects using a cold chisel and a claw hammer. This can work – but the face and the rim of a claw hammer are not properly tempered for striking the hard steel of a cold chisel – so, there is the possibility of chips breaking off the hammer.
Master carvers seem to have varying preferences for mallet shapes and materials for driving chisels and gouges. I usually start with the palm of my hand and work my way up as needed to something heavier. As JR Ramos points out if you sharpen your gouges and chisels to a highly polished edge – they should shave wood easily.
When more than hand pressure is needed, or short taps work better than just pushing – brass-headed tools work well for me. But I prefer the ones that I have from Glen Drake tools in 9, 11 and 14oz sizes. Sadly, these are no longer available – except on the secondary market. The Grace USA brass hammers that JR Ramos talks about – might be an alternative. At the pricey (showpiece?) end of the spectrum DFM makes some with different handles:
https://www.amazon.com/DFM-Chisel-Hammer-Mallet-Aluminum/dp/B09RRQYQCL
At various woodworking shows, I’ve seen carvers using other styles and materials for mallets. Nylon, HD Polyethylene, and Urethane plastics seem to fit into this category. Traditional wood mallets are also a choice – with woods like Beech, Hornbeam and Maple being used for the heads, Narex makes several styles:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=narex+carvers+mallet
Robert
A few years ago, I bought an obviously hand-made wooden mallet at an estate sale. To me, it is very well designed, has just the right amount of “give.” I’d be afraid a brass head mallet would be more prone to striking too hard with optimally sharpened chisels and marring your work piece.
fred
I use the Glen Drake tools more like a piece of brass in my hand than a mallet- giving my palm some greater oomph. Like so many tools, it can be about what feels right in your hands – and what fits me may not fit you.
https://www.jimbodetools.com/products/mint-glen-drake-no-3-hammer-97681
With carving – a light touch is almost always better. Making a stop cut (if you can)- to define the endpoint for the chisel or gouge stroke can also help.
Jared
Beautiful tools, especially the ones from Lee Valley. It makes me want to need one.
I can’t think of many times when I’ve needed to chisel something with that level of precision though. I’m not that skilled.
fred
I’m not sure if beauty always translates into functionality. But a well-crafted and beautiful tool may say sometimes say something positive about the care that went into making it. I have a modest collection of both vintage and modern hand planes. Some like vintage Stanley’s are highly functional but a bit utilitarian looking. Others like my two Norris infill planes are wonderfully designed and crafted, beautiful to look at and perform superbly. By modern standards, I guess you can say that many Lee Valley (Veritas) and Lie Nielsen planes are also good looking and good performers.
Those DFM mallets that I link to above – seem to have been made to appeal to the eyes – but maybe performance is good too. Their over $100 pricing seems a bit off-putting to me – but I had paid about $60 for my Glen Drake ones back in 2014 – when I might have done just as well with something cheaper.
Amazon also sell some pricey (over $100) brass mallets that may be functional – but I suspect that their appeal might be more in the way of beauty than functionality.
https://www.amazon.com/HONGDUI-KM-18-Woodworking-Chisel-Interchangeable/dp/B0C3B21TDN
eddiesky
Tappy Tap Tap Tap!
(in the voice of that AvE youtuber)
I think we all need one brass hammer if we deal in automotive or repair of anything needing force to remove/install without damage. This is more for delicate carving, no?
Stuart
This is a brass mallet for wooodworking. Brass hammers are used for other types of striking work.
fred
Metals other than steel find their uses when properties like corrosion resistance, non-sparking or their density (preventing marring or denting and driving power) come into play. Copper and copper alloys (Brass and Brozes) are sometimes used in hazardous environments where fires or explosions might occur should the tools produce a spark. Other metals or alloys such as Aluminum, Babbit, Lead, Tungsten and Zinc may be selected for hammer heads based on metal density and impact on what’s being struck.
To emphasize your point – these brass hammers find use for tasks other than carving:
For light tapping in Jewelry making and Hobbies:
https://www.amazon.com/SE-8302BHI-Hammer-Wooden-Handle/dp/B00CWDPVQQ
For heavy pounding work where non-sparking tools are needed:
https://www.zoro.com/abc-hammers-20-lb-brass-hammer-with-32-wood-handle-abc20bw/i/G4798220/?variantSelection=head-weight
MM
I have a mallet like this, I received it as a gift. It’s among my least used striking tools, I just don’t care for it personally.
I have a number of small hammers and mallets that I like for delicate tasks, or I’ll choke up my grip on a larger tool. I don’t do very much carving but I find I prefer the feel of a wooden mallet, I have a small one which has lead in the end to give it some extra weight, it’s not quite as heavy as the brass one but it is close. For whatever reason I prefer the feel that has.
Goodie
Both of the tools that Stuart put up are beautiful and functional. Certainly in the “nice to have” category. However, I’ve found with “hand tool” work, you often hold them for a long time. The joy of that work is the absolute “manual” nature of the labor, and I think it’s justifiable to have tools that “feel right.” I have some Veritas hand tools and always enjoy using them.
fred
I Used to enjoy the PBS show “The Woodwright’s Shop” – dedicated to the use of hand tools. Roy Underhill’s (the show’s principal) book is a worthwhile read for those who like hand tools:
https://www.amazon.com/Woodwrights-Guide-Working-Wood-Wedge/dp/0807859141
MM
Along those lines I can recommend Japanese Woodworking Tools by Toshio Odate
fred
Powell Manufacturing used to sell diamond crowning plates with the Toshio Odate name applied to them. A set included 4 grits plus a convex lapping plate. They were meant to ease the process of applying a camber to plane irons. A moderately cambered iron can help speeding material removal. A slight camber can help avoid nick or lines that are sometimes created using a dead-straight plane iron edge.
The Toshio Odate name was also once applied to Japanese dovetail paring chisels sold via Tools for Working Wood
Koko The Talking Ape
I used to think about making a lead mallet by pouring molten lead into a small steel can (like the ones used for tomato paste). The can would keep bits of lead coming off in use. Drill some holes in the end of a steel or aluminum pipe and insert into the molten lead for a handle.
I decided I didn’t need it because I don’t like lead, but I still wonder if it would work. The thin steel can might work loose from the lead eventually. Or maybe not!
fred
There are plenty of lead and Babbitt hammers available to buy. American Hammer and Cook make some. McMaster-Carr list a few:
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/babbitt-hammers/
JR Ramos
I think you’d have been very unhappy with that can. I actually did something similar many years ago using large copper pipe with end caps and large fishing weights for the lead. Worked out really well. I think any tubing material will ding up if you’re striking metal but the copper did great and the caps (soldered) never came loose. Melting and pouring the lead is a pain and can be dangerous…stay on your toes and think through everything first. Also, if you ever happen to be in the unfortunate position of needing to drill lead – read up on that first and be very careful. Lead is fifty times worse than copper in terms of grabbing a drill bit and sucking it straight in and/or snapping it off. Best to do it only in a drill press and absolutely with solid work holding, and take an old drill bit to the grinder to dub the cutting edges and relieve the shoulders.
I gave that hammer away to a girlfriend’s son…kinda wish I still had it around but I’m also never going to make another.
fred
When I was growing up many in the extended family were in the plumbing business. Conversation at family gatherings sometimes included plumbing. As the suburbs were being built after WWII – I heard about how some of the new-fangled plumbing materials would not last. Some of those remarks proved prescient. The galvanized iron pipe buried in concrete slabs (ala some Levitt houses) proved to be a disaster. What my great uncles called “copper tubing” water pipe proved to be more durable. They had grown through an age where lead pipe (mostly for service lines from the street) was replaced with galvanized iron, then yellow brass and finally red brass. With the exception of the lead that used wiped joints for connections – the other pipe was made up with NPT screwed fittings. The new-fangled copper tubing (which we now call pipe) was thinner-walled than its screw-fit cousins and was joined using sweat (soldered) fittings. Some localities did not allow this under local building code – and that hung on for many years (perhaps with the support of plumber’s unions). In any event. red brass proved long lasting (not subject to de-zincification).
I’ve provided this bit of history because you can still source red brass nipples and caps, fill the nipple with shot and cap it off to use as a drop mallet.