Sharpening and peening, step by step
Interactive lesson: sharpen a spade, hoe and axe, hone a scythe while mowing, peen it on the anvil and keep your tools free of rust.
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The whole lesson as text
1. When and with what
A blunt tool tires you twice as fast and injures you more often.
- You can see a blunt tool — The spade won't go in under your foot, the hoe pushes weeds instead of cutting them, the axe bounces off the wood.
- Little and often — Don't wait for a tool to go completely blunt. Sharpen the spade thoroughly at the start of the season, the hoe every few days of work, and hone the scythe every 10–15 minutes.
- Sharpening kit — A flat file for the spade, hoe and axe, a whetstone in its holder for the scythe, a peening anvil and hammer for peening, a bench stone for knives and secateurs.
- Handle and protection — A file without a handle goes into your palm when it catches, so fit a wooden handle on every one. Gloves and safety glasses are essential with a grinder.
Why: With a blunt tool you work by force, and force means missed strokes, slips and injuries. For most tools a file, a whetstone, a vice and ten minutes are enough.
- Make it a habit with the hoe and spade: three or four file strokes on each side before you start.
- An old sandstone grindstone with a water trough doesn't heat the steel. If it's sound, it's worth restoring.
2. Basic rules
Four rules apply to every tool you sharpen with a file.
- Tool in the vice — The edge can't move and is at waist height. Hands never in front of the edge.
- Follow the existing bevel — Lay the file flat on the bevel and hold the same angle through the whole stroke, without rocking up and down.
- A file cuts on the push — Press on the forward stroke, lift slightly on the way back. Dragging it back only dulls the file.
- The burr on the other side — When the bevel is sharp, the edge rolls over into a thin lip on the other side. Feel it with a finger drawn across the edge and remove it with a couple of light strokes.
Why: The maker gave the edge an angle that suits the job. If you create a new bevel, you get an edge too thin that chips.
- Never use a file as a lever or screwdriver: it is hard and brittle, it snaps and the pieces fly.
- The angles are rough: spade 30–45°, hoe 30–40°, axe 25–35° in total.
3. Spade, hoe and axe · Locked
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4. Scythe: honing while you mow · Locked
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5. Peening the scythe · Locked
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6. Grinder and storage · Locked
Buy the Sharpening and peening module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.