Hammer eye drift dimensions?

[setlab]

How do you guys that make your own drifts end up with the final dimensions? Do you just aim for a squareish oval shape and call it a day or are you going for a specific dimension?

[ThomasPowers]

Well one classic method is to find the hammer handles you like the best, buy one and make the drift so the handles can be fitted to the hammer heads with the least amount of work.

Another is to decide you don't like any of the generally found commercial handles and design your own and make the drift to suit.  

As I like forging better than woodworking I try the first...On a lot of my old hand forged hammers there are no standard size eyes and I do have to make or re-work handles to fit them.

[Frank Turley]

I don't have a standard. If you look at old hand-forged hammers and top tools in the U.S., the eyes are usually Rx capsule shaped, not oval. Oval eyes are usually on manufactured tools. That may be because it's easier to forge a tapered rectangular shape and radius its two narrow sides than it is to forge an elongated oval shape. Of course, cold work and a bright finish should be done on the finished drift and punch. The capsule shape is often twice as long as it is wide.

[Francis Trez Cole]

the shape and size of the drift. Well I try to keep it simple Decide on the size hammer head you are making find a handle that correlates with the weight of the hammer head and make the drift to fit the handle. The taper should be larger so the center of the hammer head is the same size as the handle giving you an hour glass shape.