Scythe peening questions

Has anyone here used a peening jig with a scythe? Or peened their scythe in another way?

I read that peening jigs are supposed to be more failproof than an anvil and hammer and wondered about getting one.

I was also wondering how often an Austrian scythe needs to be peened? Is it worth owning the gear to do this from the start, or is it fine to get it in a year or so? Or is it something a local blacksmith can do in a few minutes instead?

Kate Downham wrote:Has anyone here used a peening jig with a scythe? Or peened their scythe in another way?

I read that peening jigs are supposed to be more failproof than an anvil and hammer and wondered about getting one.

I was also wondering how often an Austrian scythe needs to be peened? Is it worth owning the gear to do this from the start, or is it fine to get it in a year or so? Or is it something a local blacksmith can do in a few minutes instead?

Freehanding gives overall better results, as the typical cap jig creates a poorly-blended bevel and mashes the edge against the central post. Practicing on thin sheet steel is a good method to get used to the process before trying it on an actual blade. Peening is typically needed after roughly 8 hours of continuous use, and so will be performed frequently. Setting the bevel the first time will always be the most time-consuming and doing some of the thinning with a file is often helpful rather than trying to peen the bevel in entirely.

Standard time frames that you can kinda use while you are starting out is it needs to be peened every 6 hours of use or so, provided you are honing every 5-10 min. after a bit of experience when you really get the feel of when the blade needs honed, and the blade needs to be honed very often, then you will know it's time to peen. but it's easier to just get in the habit of doing it every 6 hours or so of use. it takes some experience to learn what sharp is like and what a blade needing to be peened is like. as benjamin said, the jigs are not great, but they are a good starting point. a good way to go is to get a jig, and an anvil, use the number 1 cap on the jig, and then finish by freehand peening on the anvil for just the very edge, but eventually you will want to be freehand all the way, and no matter what you will want some way to peen the blade if you intend to do more than 6hrs or so of work with it.