Stake tool?

[Balbasarado]

Whatever this is, it's the only thing in my garage that has rebound comparable to my anvil. (70+%). I went on a little ball bearing bounce-a-thon earlier.  The bottom is smaller than 3/4" and it's maybe 4" tall. Any idea? 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Looks like a stake tool to me. Most of the commercial ones like Pexto are marked though. Could be a scythe sharpening anvil.

[George N. M.]

I agree with IFCW.  It looks like something you would set in a stump rather than the hardy hole.  It could be useful for fine work.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[SLAG]

Messrs. George N. M. and Dragon,

are both correct.

The tool is a scythe peening anvil.

It is called a "denglestock" in Europe.

Use that term  to do a search on I forge iron.

There are a number of threads that discuss the tool and sharpening method.

Regards,

SLAG.

[Balbasarado]

Alright then.  I don't foresee an influx of scythes in need of sharpening to my little "no hope for profit" shop, but it's good to be informed.  
 

Thanks!

[ThomasPowers]

Especially as that is used with the traditional unhardened european scythes where the work hardening pounding out the edge is what is used.  Supposed to ameliorate  chipping when hitting stones due to the soft backing for the edge.  Most modern scythes in USA are hardened and just get ground/honed.

[George N. M.]

Thomas:  I did not know that about European vs. American scythes.  Thank you.  Now I just have to put it into the retrieval system so that I can recall that fact.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[ThomasPowers]

I know you can still find some of the type I described; but I believe most European ones are similar to USA ones these days.  ISTR a discussion on the finding of modern sources of "traditionally made scythes" I ran across once by people working in LH farms.   (Central Europe was where they were getting theirs.)

Along with having a sand and oil mix in a cow horn on your belt with a "sharpening stick" for field touchups--- (I may have read some of this in "Lost Country Life", DH,...)

[Chris Williams]

There are at least two US distributors for Schröckenfux scythes that are made in Austria, and there are other valid options available as well (typically from Central or Eastern Europe). "European" style here does not include Britain, as their scythe style is basically the "American" scythe, which may or may not more accurately be called the "English" scythe. I admit to not having researched that enough to know where it actually originated. 

Sharpening sticks with sand/oil or (now much more commonly) whetstones in water are used as needed while mowing, and peening is required less frequently to reestablish a thinner edge that is then sharpened with the sharpening stick or whetstone. 

I am not willing to give up modern mowers for cutting large lots, but I'm quite fond of my European type scythe for trimming of weeds in the pasture before they go to seed or most anywhere I would otherwise use a string trimmer. It also serves admirably for mowing small areas. I prefer it to my American style scythe and string trimmer for wherever I want to use one.

[ThomasPowers]

Well I once cleaned my lot with a scythe which annoyed my shoulder a lot---turns out I had a bone spur and using the scythe let me know about it.  Surgery, Laparoscopic thankfully. Dr said he couldn't show me a picture of it as it was too large for the scope's viewer.

Anyway my wife says she would rather have weeds and we just burn them off each fall.  Country Living++ Playing with fire!

[Chris Williams]

I could see the rotation being somewhat unpleasant with a bone spur.  

I'm only semi-country, as I have a lot next to a subdivision. I'm sure the 10 neighbors on that side wonder what went wrong for someone to buy the commercial ag zoned lot behind them to actually use it that way. The previous owner kept it as a huge lawn.  

[ThomasPowers]

I knew a fellow who built a huge house out on 7 acres that included a covenant that it had to be grass and it had to be mowed every 2 weeks all summer long.

I learned about Home Owners Associations and Covenants from the mistakes other people have made!

[Chris Williams]

There are portions of the summer here where you could lose a child or pet in two week old grass. I've occasionally mowed twice in a week. It depends on how much rain we get. 

I make a point to avoid any place where there is an HOA or covenant. I don't need to be any place where someone with nothing better to do than measure my grass or compare the color of my mailbox to a paint swatch with the official color to marginally improve their home value can cause me work or hassle. 

[George N. M.]

Thomas: 7 acres is too big for a lawn and too small for a farm.  Covenants have their place but anyone who doesn't check out what they can and can't do before buying a place is not doing their due diligence.  Sometimes covenants become obsolete, e.g. racial covenants which prohibit selling to anyone of the X ethnic or religious group, and they are as only effective as an HOA or a neighbor wants to make them because they have to be enforced in a civil court.  Some covenants provide that the cost of enforcement or remedying the violation are assessed against the home owner and become a lien on the property.  The county or city will not get involved with enforcing private covenants.

I'm with Chris about not having to live with overly restrictive covenants re house color, signs, parking, etc. but covenants can have value when someone does something noxious.  There's always the one jerk who doesn't care about anyone but him or her self.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

[ThomasPowers]

We split off some desert acres to go to the horse farm next door when we bought our house.  Later I learned that if I had kept them I would fall under "Farm Zoning"  which is *very* lenient about building sheds and stuff.  Of course if we hadn't split it off we couldn't have afforded our house on it's 1+ acre.

The horse farm laser leveled the land, put in a 9" well and raises alfalfa on it.  They also planted trees around the border.  Nice green for us to look at, but they pay for the water!  (I can also park my truck under the trees overhanging the shop driveway.)

[anvil]

I had the perfect covenant situation on my old place. I had a subdivision eith covenants on one side and we were separated by a county line. National forest on two sides and the road into the national forest on the fourth.

Loved it. Had a few neighbors try to mess with me. Alas for them, they failed.

[ThomasPowers]

General rule of country living is to not pick fights with your neighbors.  I asked around before I bought the place and everybody was OK with me having a smithy---just disappointed that I wasn't a Farrier!

Unfortunately my new next door neighbor is trying to run a minifarm on 2 acres with turkeys, ducks chickens, goats, *8* dogs, a hog.  All the animal pens are on the side that abuts our bedroom window.  The dogs will line up at the fence when I go to the shop and bark constantly for hours, (LGD bred to bark at disturbances for long periods.)  If my employment outlook was better I'd put in a 6' concrete block wall between us.

[anvil]

The problem was with a new person in the subdivision in the other county. He moved in 4 or 5 years after we did.  Not to mention that I never considered the opinion of folks in another county as a factor in buying this rather perfect property.

I had my farrier business, blacksmithing business, horse business, malamut puppies, Persian cats,eggs,goats milk and cheese business and a few others.

It was our lil hippie haven. Basically we did all those things John Denver never sang about, you might say.

Some people just like to think they have the right to do as they please, and rain on your parade no matter what.

By the way, if that's your first rule, what would you have done if a neighbor didn't want a blacksmith as a neighbor? Lol just couldnt resist. 

[ThomasPowers]

My new neighbor moved in after we had paid off the house. Previous one was great; unfortunately he died.  I'm working on the assumption that I can wear hearing protectors in the shop and if the dogs bark long enough one of the other neighbors will call the county.  Having one of his turkeys nest on my land didn't bother me a bit---BIG eggs!  I didn't like it on top of my house pooping on the steel roof  as I figure it would attack the coating on it.

They did run an electric fence around their fence to try to keep things inside.

Trying to keep things quiet until the power hammer is fixed!

[George N. M.]

Thomas:  You might check to see if your county has any animal limits.  Some do, some don't.  Often, if someone exceeds the allowed "hobby" number of animals they are considered a "confined animal feeding operation" and come under regulation for odor, flies, manure management, setbacks, etc..  Also, if animals get out of the owner's property they may come under the state "estray" laws.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Balbasarado]

So, scythe peening anvil eh? Which way was Albuquerque again? Ha!

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

South and west of us, over the river, through the woods to the desert.

[Chris Williams]

Yes. If you ever find yourself wanting to use it, clean it up almost like you would a hammer face. Make sure there are no sharp edges, and you want a very slight dome to it. 

[ThomasPowers]

From IL, turn left at Albuquerque! (If you are coming for a visit...)

[Frosty]

Your scythe anvil will make a fine anvil for small work say swords, axes, etc.

We don't have code here except for fed and state health and such. Had one neighbor who wanted to enforce imagined covenants though. The second time she tried to cause us trouble over our barking livestock guardian dog barking got her fined for filing false reports. They moved and the new neighbors are all good folk, don't even shoot fireworks.

The real code enforcement is through homeowners insurance but they're not unreasonable. 

It's nice to have neighbors at a distance.

Frosty The Lucky.