Traditionally, lead working sticks were made out of hardwoods, such as beech and hornbeam. However, nowadays, plastic tools are also available.
Wood
Wooden dressing and bossing tools are typically made of types of hardwood such as beech and hornbeam.
Both of these timbers are hard, dense and strong, but hornbeam is tougher. Their close grains help the tools to effectively grip the lead they are being used to work and enable them to move it more quickly, making lead working more efficient.
However, lead working tools made out of wood are subject to shrinkage and so need to be treated with linseed oil before use. Soaking the tools in linseed oil helps to preserve their shape and prevents the wood from warping.
Plastic
High density plastic (HDPE) is primarily used to make lead working tools because of its durability. In addition, it is hard and stiff which means that plastic tools can be used to effectively work the lead.
High density plastic is lightweight, so plastic dressers and bossing sticks can be used and transported easily.