First hammer - Dogs head

[Don Rooker 13]

I made a dogs head hammer yesterday, my first hammer ever. Pretty much eyeballed it and it turned out decent. I will find out later when when I fire up the forge. It’s roughly a pound and a half maybe a little more, my scale ran out of batteries. The eye was made with a 3/4” drift. I tried enlarging the eye a bit but I didn’t want to loose the handle angle. Anyway it’s a first shot I don’t plan on making a lot of hammers but any advice/critique is welcome. Have at it!

[Alan Longmire 2,734]

That's a dog's butt in the first shot...

 

Seriously though,  looks good!  How do you like it?

[Don Rooker 13]

I didn’t even notice the background but my wife sure did when she saw it! Lol

 

I’m hoping to try it later today, I’ve got a busy Saturday. I’m afraid the head is going to break off with that small eye. Some fingers shall be crossed...

[Gary LT 106]

Looks nice to me. What did you use for raw stock?

Gary LT

[Don Rooker 13]

I made it from 1” mild steel that I upset to get the face 1 3/8”. I am planning on this being primarily a beveling hammer down I don’t think the mild will be a problem. I could be wrong but I didn’t want to waste good steel on my first attempt anyway. 
 

I want the face flat but could someone suggest how much beveling on the edges I should have? I’m not sure how to properly face it. 

[Rob Toneguzzo 792]

That looks great Don,

About facing it, I suggest to try it out and if you find it is leaving to many hammer marks bevel a small bit at a time then try again and do this till you are happy with the result. 

[Alan Longmire 2,734]

What Rob said, emphasis on "small bit at a time."  And a 3/4" round eye should be fine.  

[Jeremy Blohm 511]

That's a great looking hammer. I will get that hammer sent to you this monday. I have a bunch of stuff I need to send out. I keep forgetting to do it!!!

[Don Rooker 13]

On 11/23/2019 at 5:07 PM, Jeremy Blohm said:

That's a great looking hammer. I will get that hammer sent to you this monday. I have a bunch of stuff I need to send out. I keep forgetting to do it!!!

That will be great! Can’t wait to give that one a swing. 
 

I finally got a chance to try mine today. I just played around beveling some mild scrap pieces. I refaced it twice to get it where I wanted it and by the end I was beveling without any marks it just ran together smooth. Odds I’ll reproduce that when I get a blade under it are probably pretty slim but I’ll try.