Combination Steel Bench Block with Rubber Base

A steel bench block is one of the most reliable jewellery making tools you can keep within arm's reach, and this one earns its place by doing double duty. The solid steel block sits inside a hard rubber base, so you get a flat, hardened surface for shaping and stamping metal, plus a rubber surface underneath for softer work, all in one compact unit.

The steel side is what you'll reach for most. It gives a dead flat, hardened surface for flattening sheet, straightening wire, staking rings, and texturing or stamping metal with a hammer. Because the block sits inside the rubber base rather than directly on your bench, it stays put under repeated hammer blows instead of skating around, and the rubber cushions the impact so your bench sessions are noticeably quieter.

Flip the block over and you've got a rubber bench block for jobs where you don't want to risk marking your metal, useful for gentle shaping, straightening rings, or working pieces that already have a finish you want to protect. It's a handy pairing with a chasing hammer or a nylon-headed mallet, and we like using the rubber side alongside our Halder Dead Blow Mallet for straightening and flattening before ring sizing or final adjustments.

At this size it suits benches of any size, from a home studio setup to a busy teaching bench, and it's solid enough to become one of those tools you reach for on almost every project.

Worth knowing:

• The steel block lifts out of the rubber base, so you can use either surface on its own or store them separately
• We use this block in our own studio classes, it holds up well to daily use across a wide range of metal forming techniques