[TheForge] Knife sharpening

[J. Petrila]

They used stump anvils.. I had 2 somewhere was with a rounded one way edge
and one with a fuller groove and slanted face..   they used a hammer that
looked a lot like a leaf hammer with the stump anvil..  It was used to peen
back any chips that folded from impact and also to tension a blade..
While the fullering/spine on the back of the blade added some rigidity the
blade was also tensioned so it wouldn't drop the point in use..

Scythes came in many different versions..  some were used for brush
cutting, corn cutting, hay, straw etc, etc.. Each design was slightly
different..

I had quite a few in the way back, one was nearly 7ft long and was used on
grass.. Like 2nd cutting with finer materials vs 1st cutting which needed a
stouter blade as the stocks are thicker and courser..

Now, the original Scythes had no spine.. The spine was a newer adaption.. I
don't remember what time frame was or where, but the very early ones looked
like a sword more or less with thimble to hold it..  More modern ones have
adjustable poles and handles so they can change blade angle as well as
sweep or set of the blade..



JLP Services Inc
6 Kenwood Dr
Rutland, MA 01543-1215

1 (508) 667-5498

On Wed, Jul 5, 2017 at 1:06 PM, Chris Caswell <olayers at sover.net> wrote:

> I believe the European scyth blades are make thinner and are designed to
> be sharpened by hammer and stake. American blades were made thicker and
> designed to be sharpened on a grindstone.  I have two snaths and 4 blades:
> one ditch blade and 3 grass blades.  I have managed to sharpen the ditch
> blade so it cuts, but not yet the grass blades,
>
> Chris in VT
>
>
>
> On 7/5/2017 2:06 AM, Mike Spencer wrote:
>
>> "J. Petrila" <jlpservicesinc at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> A chef's knife is designed to have the burr straightened using a
>>> steel..  This burr will fold over in use and the steel straightens
>>> it or stands it back up.. Yes it removes little sections but for the
>>> most part it lifts it back into position as its the fine burr that
>>> does the cutting..
>>>
>> I've come across an interesting sharpening thing.  People who do
>> competitive hand mowing aren't happy with a stoned edge on their
>> scythe blades.  They insist that the edge has to be cold-hammered all
>> along its length as the last step in getting the edge they want.
>> There are guys to come to competitions to do it for the mowers, have
>> polished hammers and special little anvils.  They say that modern
>> scythe blades (or at least most of them) aren't suitable for this
>> treatement and they prefer wider antique blades or (I might be wrong
>> here?) new ones made in Germany or Austria that are like the old ones.
>>
>> I have both a modern and a wide, hand-forged antique scythe blade but
>> I haven't managed to quite get the hammering bit down.  Asked
>> questions and watched a guy do it a couple of summers ago.
>>
>> Ideally to get the sharpest edge...
>>>
>> Back when I worked in a hospital, I knew the technicians who sharpened
>> microtome blades.  The last step took several hours.  The blade -- 3
>> or 4 inches long and maybe 2-1/2" wide -- was put in a clamp at a
>> precise angle on the end of a a mechanical arm.  It lowered onto a
>> rotating plate glass disk, rather like a very slow, oversized record
>> turntable.  The disk was flooded continuously with white rouge and
>> water. The machine slowly moved the blade from sided to side on the
>> glass and turned it over every minute or two.
>>
>> - Mike
>>
>>
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