This is the hammer with which I do 90% of my work. Not only did I make the hammer and handle myself, I also made the 'spoke shave' I used to make the handle. This reminds me of one of my favorite stories involving a blacksmith.
Once upon a time there was a wise king, he wanted to acknowldge the most important craftsman in his land. He looked at his royal robes and went off to see his tailor. His tailor showed hin how he cut out the cloth with scissors and then sewed the peices together using needle and thread. When asked by the king where he gets his tools from he said, "Oh, I just get them from the blacksmith" and went on telling how he makes clothes.
On his way home from the tailors he stopped at a farmer and asked him to tell about his trade. The farmer told the king how he plowed the land, planted seeds and cut down the grain with his scythe when it was ripe. When asked by the king where he gates his tools from, he said, "Oh, I just get them from the blacksmith" and went on telling about the finer points of planting.
As he was riding back to the castle in his carriage he noticed how well it was built. So, he stopped at the carpenters and asked how carriages were made. The carpenter showed him how he cut the wood with his saw and trimmed the wood to size with his chisel and plane. The king asked where his tools came from and was told, "Oh, I just get them from the blacksmith" and went on talking about wagons.
The king was heading home when he noticed the armour and swords his body-guard carried. He saw a potter digging his clay from the bank of the river with a shovel. He saw that the horse's pulling his carriage had iron shoes. When he asked where these things came from he was told, "Oh, we just get it from the blacksmith"
The kings last stop was the smithy, he walked in and looked at all the tongs, punches, hammers, and chisels and asked the blacksmith where he got them from. The smith looked at him and said in a puzzled voice, "I made them myself, sire."
Upon hearing this the king crowned the smith "The King of Craftsmen". To this very day many Blacksmithing guilds still use the motto "by hammer and hand all arts do stand"
