This article is about the hand tools known as mallets. For the implements used in playing percussion instruments, see drum stick.

A mallet is a type of hammer. Mallets are used in sports such as croquet and polo, as a type of drumstick, and as tools in other fields as well. Mallets for each of these purposes are very different in design. Despite their similarities, a mallet and a sledgehammer are different tools.

Mallets used as tools are hammers with heads made of softer materials than the steel normally used in hammerheads, so as to avoid damaging a delicate surface. Some common mallet materials include:

Rubber 

Rubber mallets are generally used on sheet metal, plasterboard, upholstery, and a variety of other general purposes. It is the most commonly used mallet.

Wood 

Wooden mallets are usually used in carpentry to knock wooden pieces together, drive dowels , or drive chisels.

Copper 

Copper mallets are usually used on machinery to apply force to parts with a reduced risk of damaging them and to avoid sparks.

Less common mallets include:

Rawhide 

Rawhide mallets have a rawhide covering over a steel head, and are used for leatherwork, jewellery, electric motors and delicate machinery.

Plastic 

Plastic mallets are usually nylon, and are especially used for leatherwork and jewellery.

Split head 

split head mallets have removeable faces, so the face can be changed to an appropriate material for the job.

Dead blow 

Dead blow mallets have an internal cavity filled with steel shot, to even out the time-impulse curve of the impact, enabling a more powerful blow to be delivered without risk of marring the target.