How to tell the difference in American scythe and European scythe

I have two scythe blades but I’m new to scythes so ho can I tell the difference in America pattern and Europe pattern.

Hank Waltner wrote:I have two scythe blades but I’m new to scythes so ho can I tell the difference in America pattern and Europe pattern.

Here's a photo of a few global styles. Top is a Nordic (Norwegian) blade, below that is an English ("patent tang" riveted) blade, and American blade, and a continental European blade (Italian.) Bear in mind that there are lots of variations within the various global styles, but they broadly follow the appearance of these examples.

How do I know if I need to peen it or sharpen with a grind stone

Hank Waltner wrote:How do I know if I need to peen it or sharpen with a grind stone

Only continental European blades are peened. American, Nordic, and English blades are all heat treated hard, and are often of laminated construction. Peening would not only be likely to damage those blades, but if done on a laminated blade would result in the edge being comprised of soft cladding iron rather than the core edge steel.

So I should just sharpen with a course stone and work grits done until a fine edge

Hank Waltner wrote:So I should just sharpen with a course stone and work grits done until a fine edge

You'll need to bevel it, first, which (if using manual means) will be done fastest using a chainsaw file or half-round file, as I described above. The best edge for scythes is a coarse scratch pattern with a crisp apex, so use a coarse stone to do any initial honing and then chase it with a light pass of a fine stone just to crisp it up a little without erasing the toothiness of the edge given to it by the coarse stone.