Nickname
Crystal Hammer is my nickname since about 2001.
I mostly use the shorter form CryHam when relating to FOSS.
Here is the history behind it.
History
The name struck me while playing Eye of the Beholder II. It was literally an item to pick (a key), used later to smash a glass wall. Could also serve as a weapon.
I liked it instantly and recognized it would be a great nick for myself. I realized much later that it can also mean a real name and surname.
At some point I’ve decided it’s too long for a nick (for IRC, forums) and shortened both words to first 3 letters. I enjoyed it too, because it could also mean a crying ham, which was even more fun.
Funnily enough, I saw another such item in a game Spell Force 2, which I played later, it was a reward weapon. But neither of those hammers looked like I wanted it to, so while learning basic 3D modelling, I decided to make my own.
Logo
The 3D hammer logo is also quite old and from about 2002. I created it in 3D Studio Max R3, used as hobby in technical school. Nowadays I would just use Blender.
The decorative text for it was made later, in my program Crystal Font from around 2006, implemented at college.
Most likely I combined them together in 2010 for the old Stunt Rally ver 1.0 video and all further avatars, used first on OGRE forum.
It is okay for smaller avatars, but since being so old (and given what I’ve learned) I could probably recreate it better.
There is also that nostalgic feel to it that reminds me of all this.
Other appearances
Unknown to me, there were many appearances of Crystal Hammer. I found them after searching myself on internet (who didn’t).
In 1988 there was even a whole amiga game with this name, which also had a cool music mod, like most of them.
Seems to be a popular weapon from time to time in other games like here, or a mod here. Lately I even found a drawing of many different types of crystal hammers here. I prefer the symmetrical shaped.