Planishing hammers

Straightening

— specialized hammers designed primarily for straightening and leveling sheet metal and other similar materials. Some of these instruments resemble mallets (see relevant paragraphs), have a cylindrical head with a double-sided striker, and differ only in the smaller diameter of the head. The striker in such hammers can be made of plastic and be replaceable (see "Additional"), and different types of plastic can be used at the same time — harder on one side of the head and softer on the other. There are also metal straightening hammers; most often they have a double-sided head — one flat head, the second with a notch — or a round head (as on carpenter's hammers) in combination with a hemisphere-shaped toe.