Calling all smithies!

[zombiedad]

I'm a frustrated blacksmith. I've taken a course or two, drool over the local historic village shop and have started amassing the tools to make my own. To wit, this recent straight peen hammer purchase.

Note the heavy mushrooming on the end of the hammer. My question is this: is it better to leave it alone or grind this off?

Scott

 

[Farmer J.]

Always grind them off, or the chips break off and attack you. When one of my sons went to Balcksmith college his instructor ground the faces of some of his hammers nice and even he said it was planishing. If the face of your hammer isn't even it leaves nasty dents and scars in the hot metal when you shape it. A local artist blacksmith I know uses a hide mallet for quite a bit of his shaping and bending work so as not to scar the workpiece.