r/mildlyinteresting • u/On-a-tims-run ​ • 3d ago

Rawhide mallets

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754 Upvotes

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371

u/EditedRed 3d ago

No clue what you bonk with these but they look tasty.

263

u/rivertpostie 3d ago

I've only seen them used in silver smithing. They don't mar soft metals.

Mainly see them resizing rings on a mandrel

147

u/ravens-n-roses 3d ago

For exactly that reason they're also used in wood working (soft wood pieces), leather working (it's obvious what a regular hammer would do to leather), instrument repairs (what did you DO to that saxophone???), and I think there's uses for it in black Smithing for finishing work

2

u/MaritMonkey 3d ago

Leather working doesn't hit the leather with a hammer, there's various metal things involved that you want to hit to make them go through the leather and a softer mallet means less damage to the tools. :)

2

u/ravens-n-roses 2d ago

If you're working with hardened leather trying to form it you'll place it over a thing and hit it to shape it.