The blacksmith's hammer is used to shape, with repeated blows, the red-hot iron placed on the anvil. It consists of a wooden handle and a squat metal head. The surface of the striking part, called the "mouth", is flat, the other side, called the "pen", can be flat, but more often is wedge-shaped. The sledgehammer and the mallet are distinguished from the hammer both by their larger size and because the metal head ends with two striking surfaces, the sledgehammer also has a longer handle and is handled with two hands. They are used to work the iron held in a vice or held by a second person while the blacksmith beats it. Depending on the pieces to be forged, a great variety of hammers and mallets of different shapes and weights were used. Hammers could weigh between 3 and 6 kilos, mallets from 6 to 10 kilos.