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In woodworking, is there a practical difference between a deadblow or a rubber mallet? I'm speaking of knocking joints together, or aligning the boards in a glue up. --Thanks

Rubber mallet will bounce, but the dead blow doesn't. May not make much difference in the end result though. Perhaps more efficient energy transfer with the dead blow with the force applied to the surface rather than partially used to bounce the head. Be sure what ever you use that it has a non-marking head so you don't end up with black smudges on your work.

I use a Thor nylon-headed hammer ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

I look at the dead blow as something where you need a bit more power behind the strike. Since a dead blow hammer doesn't bounce, more of the energy in your stroke is imparted to the thing you're persuading vs. a rubber mallet. I actually think you have more of a chance of denting your work with a rubber mallet vs. a dead blow. If you only have a rubber mallet and are concerned about marring or denting the work, use a scrap wood block as a spacer.

I have both, a rubber faced mallet and a dead blow hammer.

I haven't used the dead blow hammer since building my bench.
For most tasks, including driving chisels I use a Stanley "soft face"
that weighs 16 ounces.

If you're working by hand, the weight of things you must repeatedly lift adds up to a shortened day, sore arms and a few wonky joints.

You can get dead blows that weigh as little as 10 oz.

HF offers dead blow mallets ranging from 1 lb to 4 lb
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsear...=DEAD+BLOW

GeorgeV said:

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HF offers dead blow mallets ranging from 1 lb to 4 lb
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsear...=DEAD+BLOW

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They also have a knock-off of the Thor style that is pretty decent. And they have a little watch-makers hammer with one brass head and one nylon head for around $10 that makes a fantastic plane blade fine-adjuster.

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is there a practical difference between a deadblow or a rubber mallet?

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Yes...a dead blow delivers more "smack", while the rubber loses some in the "rebound"....and the dead blow is easier to "gauge the amount of force delivered"...

Derek Cohen said:

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I use a Thor nylon-headed hammer ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Derek, what is the weight size of the Thor hammer you use?