Definition
The replaceable striking surface of a soft-faced hammer or mallet used in aircraft maintenance. Driver heads thread or press into the hammer body and are made of materials such as plastic, rawhide, brass, or lead so they can deliver a blow without marring or deforming the metal being struck.
Plain English
The soft tip on a special hammer used by aircraft mechanics. It can be swapped out when it wears down, and it lets the mechanic hit a part hard without leaving a dent or scratch.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft sheet-metal repair and solid-rivet installation.
Derivation
From 'drive,' meaning to push or force something into place by striking it, plus 'head,' the working end of a tool. The term names the part of the tool that does the driving.
Why Pilots Care
Using the correct driver head helps prevent damaged rivets and dents or marks in the aircraft’s metal surface during maintenance.
Intuition Check
Driver head does not mean a person’s head or the head of a screw. In this context, it means the tool face on a rivet gun that drives a rivet.
Example Sentence 1
The mechanic unscrewed the worn plastic driver head and replaced it with a new one before continuing the bearing installation.
Example Sentence 2
A worn driver head can slip and damage the fastener during torque application.