Review on 🔨 Picard 0000811 1000 Blacksmiths Swedish Pattern: Expertly Crafted Tool for Professional Blacksmiths by Bernard Her

I was about to buy a Peddinghaus hammer when I stumbled across this great value Picard. Nice hammer, but as several reviewers pointed out, the edges need some work. The working areas are ground with a very rough stone, leaving small but noticeable grooves on each side and on the bevels. Without a belt sander, I spent some time cleaning the surfaces and bevels with 80, 120, 240 and finally 2000 grit sandpaper. It took a while and needs more, but it's coming together and I'm enjoying the process during the time the first session , but the next day it got tired. Today I got drunk on linseed oil, so I sanded down the factory clear coat and smeared it with oil. The sticker on the hammer said it was a Picard and the ring wedge in the handle looked like a Picard, but after searching the web for a few other Picard sites I'm wondering if it's genuine or the manufacturer's fault resells became. Seller as "blem". Somehow missed the final polishing of the edges. All in all, after some greasing, a really good hammer with a very comfortable grip. Update: 9/6/17 This will be my last Picard purchase from Revain. It was interesting at first to work through the grind marks myself, but after yesterday's hammer session, Picard was gone when I wasn't seeing him in person. I was planning to buy a lighter hammer, but I'll go with a different brand. "Made in Germany" did not meet expectations. Warning; If you're looking for a blacksmith's hammer for metalworking that would be nice, but I use it for forging blades so smoothness is important for my purposes.