A. Hammers and mallets
Mallets are the basic tool of every drystone mason. The weight of the hammer should not exceed 1 kg in order not to overload the tendons of the hand during longer work with the hammer.
Hammers and mallets should always be made of softer steel than the chisels they are hitting. It is not easy to find unhardened hammers today. However, commercially available steel hammers can be annealed to remove the hardening of the steel.
Whereas in the past a variety of different shaped mallets were used, today only standard shapes are available. Below are some examples of hammer shapes used in the past, which were adapted to the rock to be worked.
Notice the different head shapes, the different lengths of the handles and the shape of the casing for the slip handles.
Source: "Gotthardbahn, Auszug aus den Vorschriften des Bedingnisheftes über die Ausführung des Mauerwerks", 1873
Drilling mallet for hand drilling round holes in stone
Source: "Gotthardbahn, Auszug aus den Vorschriften des Bedingnisheftes über die Ausführung des Mauerwerks", 1873