Drive chisels and strike work without damaging its surface. To avoid marring, choose a mallet with faces that are softer than your workpiece. Lighter weight mallets are good for tapping work into place and driving a chisel to make small cuts. Use heavier weight mallets when assembling joints, dislodging stuck parts, and making aggressive cuts with a chisel. Longer mallets allow for more powerful swings.

Rawhide faces are more durable than plastic and won't distort the surface of soft sheet metal, such as brass, aluminum, and copper. Hickory faces are a good choice for light sheet metal work and striking wood.

Hickory handles resist vibration.

Replace faces when they become worn rather than replacing the entire tool. These mallets are suitable for driving chisels and striking work without damaging its surface. Choose a mallet with a face that's softer than your workpiece to avoid marring it when tapping or striking. Lighter weight mallets are good for tapping work into place and driving a chisel to make small cuts. Use heavier weight mallets when assembling joints, dislodging stuck parts, and making aggressive cuts with a chisel. Longer mallets allow for more powerful swings.

Mallets with two face materials can be used for a wider range of applications than other mallets.

Rubber and plastic faces are softer than metal faces, so they're good for striking plastic, wood, and sheet metal. All have a face hardness rating for comparing their hardness with other rubber and plastic faces. Medium-soft faces have a hardness similar to that of a shoe heel. Hard faces have a hardness similar to that of a bowling ball. Hickory and ash handles resist vibration.

Pair a body with two faces of different materials to create the perfect striking tool. Use mallets to drive chisels and strike work without damaging its surface. To avoid marring, use a face material that's softer than your workpiece. Lighter weight mallets are good for tapping work into place and driving a chisel to make small cuts. Use heavier weight mallets when assembling joints, dislodging stuck parts, and making aggressive cuts with a chisel. Longer mallets allow for more powerful swings.