Mallet

A mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.

Contents

Tools

Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:

Less common mallets include:

Mallets of various types are some of the oldest forms of tools, and have been found in stone age gravesites.

Musical instruments

Mallets used as drumsticks are often used to strike a marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, metallophone, or vibraphone, collectively referred to as mallet percussion. They usually have shafts made of rattan, birch, or fiberglass. Rattan shafts are more flexible than the other materials. Heads vary in size, shape, and material. They may be made of metal, plastic, rubber, or wood, and some are wrapped with felt, cord, or yarn. Heavier heads produce louder sounds. Harder heads produce sharper and louder sounds and generate more overtones.

Toys

Mallets are commonly used as children's toys. Lightweight wooden mallets are used for peg toys. Toy mallets are also used in games such as Whac-A-Mole. Another type of toy mallet is a plastic mallet made of soft, hollow vinyl, with bellows and a built-in whistle, so that when the mallet is struck, it produces a sharp, chirping sound.

Sport and culture

Cartoons

The accidents received from mistreatment of wooden mallets in the workplace became a classic gag in the Looney Tunes Hanna-Barbera Nickelodeon Disney cartoons and 3D. Characters like Snagglepuss, Toucan Sam, Lightning McQueen, Roger Rabbit, Tony the Tiger, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Daffy Duck and Tom and Jerry made use of mallets as part of their arsenal in the Golden Age of animation.

In anime and Manga, it is very common for an angry character to pull out a large mallet, via hammerspace, and attack the person or thing that is angering him/her.

References

  1. ^ http://missvickie.com/howto/meat/cubesteak.htm
  2. ^ An illustration of the mallet can be found in Charles F. Mitchell's Building Construction, 11th edition, printed in 1930 by B.T. Batford, Ltd.