Hey Tim...

You're rattling my cobwebs..yet I believe you are correct on TB early attempt...

I can add that many HB often go down this path with related issues!!

Are there Hammer Beam trusses..yes...and they are wonderful in their aesthetic capture of a space whether large or small. They frame a vaulted ceilinged room elegantly. The only form I like better is a Cruck frame, which is the HB grandparent style.

Are most frames designed and built that are meant to be Hammer Beam truss actually a truss...NO!!!...not even close in my view. That is the challenge when I try to warn folks away from them. They are not for a novice Timberwright to design and build. Which is another issue I have with Sketchup, even though I love the program and use it professionally. Way too many (somehow???) think that because they find and/or copy a timber frame done in CAD it is safe or appropriate to build. Quite often it is not only aesthetically out of balance...it is in dire need of a PE's keen eye for loads and dynamic integrity. Ergo why we see the big freaking cable tieing many of the HB together, as this is the only way to make many of them work properly. In my view, that then makes them something else. A real HB does not need that cable, and those with them are faux Hammer Beams in my view, which seem to be more common these days...Many just...glued and screwed...to a ceiling after stick building a frame.

I also agree that a Queen, King, or related system would probably be more easily facilitated by anyone new to the craft.