Peening tools: Prerequisite for successful mowing with your scythe

The peening process is a sharpening process with the goal of permanently maintaining, improving, or completely renewing the sharpness of your scythe’s cutting edge. With a hammer and anvil (or a peening jig), the metal of the cutting edge is driven out with targeted hammer blows, resulting in a thin, sharp cutting edge. At the same time, the cold hammering compacts the steel of your cutting edge, ensuring it stays sharp longer.
The result is then the Dangl (also called Dengel). A good Dangl is the basis for effortless and efficient mowing with the scythe.

The Goal: The Perfect “Dangl” & the Fingernail Test

The result of the process is called the “Dangl” – this is the outermost, wafer-thin part of the cutting edge. A perfect Dangl is approximately 2 to 4 mm wide and extremely thinly drawn out.

To check if your scythe is now thin enough for successful mowing, you can use the fingernail test:

• Lightly run your thumbnail under the Dangl of your cutting edge with gentle pressure.
• If the Dangl is thin enough, it will yield minimally under pressure and curve slightly upwards.
• This curvature creates a small, visible “shadow spot” on the metal. If you see this shadow, your scythe has achieved an optimal Dangl for easy mowing.

Product Selection: Peening Jig or Anvil?

The time required for peening ranges from 10 to 60 minutes, depending on practice and the condition of the scythe. The selection of the correct peening tool should be made based on your experience with peening:

1. Guided peening with our peening jig set – Recommendation for beginners

The peening jig is an ideal peening device. Its purpose is to make it easier for you as a beginner to guide the scythe and choose the correct Dangl width.

Handling is extremely simple for several reasons:

• The device is immediately ready for use, and nothing needs to be adjusted or complicatedly set up.
• With proper use, there will be no misstrikes or damage to your scythe.
  Although the result does not achieve the extreme sharpness of an experienced professional using a hammer and anvil, you will reliably achieve good and effective mowing performance.

The work is carried out using two different striking sleeves, which are used sequentially to optimally thin the cutting edge in two steps.

2. Peening with Hammer & Anvil – For more experienced users

When peening, a fundamental distinction is made between two working methods:

• Anvil with a narrow face: For this, you use a hammer with a flat, square face, while the other side has a narrow face.
• Anvil with a square, slightly curved face: Here, a hammer with two narrow faces (peens) is almost always used. Of course, you can also work with the peen of a hammer with a flat face.

How to peen:
With your peening hammer, you precisely execute the hammer blows with your right hand, while guiding the scythe over the anvil with your left hand. For a consistent result, it is important to hold the scythe very steadily and ensure that each hammer blow lands precisely next to the previous one, flush with your cutting edge.

What matters when peening:
Practice makes perfect! With much practice, you will develop a feel for how to perfectly peen your scythe. Those who peen well bring patience, diligence, a steady hand, and a good eye. It is also important to find your own consistent striking rhythm so that each blow lands precisely in the center of the anvil.