FAQ: When you peen a scythe blade, how do you know when you have peened the edge thin enough?
Traditionally, a scythe blade's edge for cutting grass, was peened until the edge was thin enough to "run over the thumbnail". That is the edge would deflect when you pressed your thumbnail to it, and rocked it back and forth. This is kind of hard on the thumbnail, however. I prefer to use the cross-peen end of my peening hammer for that. I press the the hammer up against the edge, and slide it back and forth. In the video below you can see a moving shadow created by the running pressure from the cross-peen end of the hammer. If you watch it on full screen, in HD on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPKGnqykmxk , you can actually see the metal at the edge deflect.
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