scuffle hoe?

found this at my favorite thrift store yesterday!

The handle is very dry, begging for some linseed oil and has a bit of a curve at the top that may or may not be intended or useful?

The blade is dull, almost as though it was never sharp?

How best to sharpen?

I've never used one before but have been interested in trying if it works as I imagine by just cutting off plants just below the surface of the soil?

any thoughts are most welcome!

Neat! I didn't realize they were a vintage tool. I have one on a handle and one on a wheel-hoe and they both came to me sharp. I just run a hand-file over the blades (remember it cuts on both sides) every hour or two of use. I'll be watching to see what advice you get for restarting something that out of prime.

thanks Christopher!

Is the bevel on the top or bottom of the blades?

Sharpen like a sickle with the bevel on top?

My mom bought one of those in the 70's.....they work well, ask me how I know. Had a name, 'Hula Hoe', pretty sure.
No need for super sharp, they work below soft surface and really are for just disrupting/tearing the weeds (or unwanted/needed nature's medicine) as they get established.
If you think about it, sharpening with a file beveling from the top down would make the blade a bit self sharpening as the bottom of the hoe wears away. In hard ground, sharpening from the bottom up would keep the keen edge away just a bit. Doubt it matters.

For hard ground, we weld hard facing on the top of backhoe tooth or bucket edge, bottom wears away faster tooth stays sharp.

Nice find!

I sharpen mine with a file or coarse grit stone on the *inside* of the "stirrup." It's a bit awkward but I find it works better that way. Single bevel only. As mentioned, sharpen both of the inside edges for push and pull cutting.

thanks Tommy and Doug!

I don't have a lot of places I would use it so doubt I'll wear out the blade.
I had thought it would need to be slicing sharp in order to çut the plants off?

I have an aversion to regular hoeing after summers 'walking beans' in high school so rarely use one.

This looks like it would cut off the plants and lay it down nicely, even tuck it under the soil a little.....maybe?

Also called a stirrup hoe.  Works great for taking down small weeds.

Judith Browning wrote:I had thought it would need to be slicing sharp in order to çut the plants off?

... This looks like it would cut off the plants and lay it down nicely, even tuck it under the soil a little.....maybe?

I certainly keep mine slicing sharp. It takes so much less effort and time.

If you tackle the weeds when they're very small, they get cut up and churned right into the soil. As a bonus it also scuffs up the surface so rain soaks in better.

I have found the steel in those older garden tools is a much better quality and will take an edge better. Found the head of an old standard garden hoe under our work bench and the celebration began. A new handle on that quality 6" hoe blade, makes me smile to think about it. Had purchased a similar hoe several years previous and the steel just would not sharpen well or hold an edge. Also did not seem to have much strength as it would bend easily. I rarely walk fields or grassland in the summer without a sharp hoe, my ecofriendly tool of choice.