Hi Vic,
I am glad that you raised that question. Somehow, the "internet age" scythers have decided that the two standard forms for peening anvils had to be either "narrow" or "flat" according to
Picard's gospel, everything else being considered heretic, or at the very least, suspect.
Following the "official" way of doing things, I first started with the peening jig, and upgraded to the narrow anvil from Picard. Then, at Landi (a kind of general store here in Switzerland), I noticed an anvil like the one you are showing (except that it is shorter in order to be put into a stem). What the heck is that, I thought, this does not go by the "rules" at all ! But after some initial hesitation, I went down the rabbithole and bought one - after all the design must have been around for a few decades, hence not totally wrong.
Let me tell you, this brought my peening to a completely new level ! I did within minutes what I could not in hours with the narrow anvil ! Why this is so, I cannot really explain (only guess), but let us at least notice the following points :
- The area wrought with each stroke is larger than with the narrow anvil ;
- the stroke will (common knowledge) work the blade surface comprised between the hammer and the anvil ; if the blade's edge is put on / very near to the anvil's edge closest to you, then, the section wrought with each stroke will end on the opposite edge of the anvil ;
- in other words and given the width of the anvil, the area wrought with each stroke reaches quite exactly between the blade's edge and where the bevel is supposed to begin, with the hammer making a small "step" or "furrow" in the blade on that last contact point between blade and anvil (side away from you) ;
When using a narrow anvil, each stroke creates both a "furrow" and a "ridge" (the metal tends to stay where it is and does not go further if not moved by a certain force). My guess for explaining the excellent functionning of your kind of anvil, is that with your kind of anvil, as opposed to the narrow one, a force is exerted on the amount of metal that would otherwise build a ridge, so that this one is pushed lateraly towards the edge of the blade.
The only task I still use the narrow anvil is for one or two final passes on blades is intend to use on very lush and tender grass on well-kept meadows / lawns.