Dog head sledgehammer

[Philip Davies]

A previous post showed a heading anvil made recently, when I explained that limited head height meant that only a short-handled sledge could be used inside, but now that the heading anvil can be used outside, to upset stock to make anvil tools, it seemed a good idea to convert a railwayman’s driving hammer (properly, a platelayer’s side pin keying hammer) to a doghead sledgehammer, such as may be seen in videos of swordsmiths at work. Because although the master is seated, the hammermen are standing. The handle is about 4 feet in length. A longer reach is required since then anvil is low.



Their’s is straight, but I prefer a handle that is sinuous, like a felling axe.


My hammer is no good for keying: I cut that part off!


I saw a video of one being used, but cannot find it now. I would like to know what the word for it is