What is it? Set 371

Very close, you're right about it being pounded into a tree stump, but it wasn't for saws.

Rob

Is it a stake anvil? You might drill a pilot hole in a stump to prevent splitting. Forging could be called flattening. I imagine it could be used to flatten bent implements, too.

It was probably invented to tenderize beefstakes!

Posting from Rec.crafts.metalworking as always:

2137) One of many forms of stakes which are placed in the hardy hole (the square hole) in an anvil. 2138) Does the back dome invert its curvature and then restore when released -- often after a delay?

If so -- then it is a variant of a hopping disk -- often it pops as it is warmed up by resting in a hand.

As for the markings -- they suggest old UK monitory units, 20 shillings 6 pence.

2139) Looks like a removable handle for either a cooking container, or perhaps a lid for one of the cooking holes in a wood stove. 2140) I don't want to play! :-)

Perhaps for holding one end of some leather as it is being processed?

2141) Skewers for closing an opening in a carcass while it is being cooked. The skewers go through from side to side, and a lacing is put over the skewers on either end to draw the opening closed.

2142) Something for pulling together two objects to close a gap.

Since back then, adhesives were not strong enough, I suspect that it was inlaid into a recess in the two objects, and then the center turnbuckle was used to draw the end pieces (and thus the two objects) closer together.

Now to see what others have suggested.

Enjoy, DoN.

The anvil is for peining the edge of a sythe, the steel of which are softer than you would think and are pounded out thin and work hardened at the same time and then stoned. A thick edge is useless.

It's not missing a handle but it is for flattening a particular piece of metal although not as described above. Actually, the word 'flattening' isn't the best word to use here, that is essentially what it does but there is better word for what happens when this tool is used.

Rob

Not like ones I have used, but probably a "flatter"

Steve R.

Sickles?

Ive one here, its for sharpening a cythe or cikle by hammering the edge of the tool to thin it to a razor edge. Its set into a log or piece of wood.

Ive seen them used in Switzerland. Ted Dorset UK

Correct! It's a scythe anvil used for peening the blade with a hammer.

Rob

The anvil is for peining the edge of a sythe, the steel of which are softer than you would think and are pounded out thin and work hardened at the same time and then stoned. A thick edge is useless.

Good answer, this is correct.

Rob

You have the right idea but this one was made to be used with corn husks.

No luck on the two unidentified items but the rest of the answers can be seen here:

Rob

Just found the patent for the last one, turns out that it's a bed tightener, the patent link has been posted on the answer page.

Rob

That's an odd one. I understand the metallurgical reasoning, but I don't understand the compound curve of the anvil. Wouldn't that tend to leave a rippled edge? A rippled edge would be bitch to sharpen. Do you have a patent reference on that one by any chance or a link? I'd like to read a bit more about it to see how they did it.

R

God-dayum! That fencewire-stringing machine is a beauty to behold.

Thanks for that.

-- Jeff R.

Ive used mine and it only ripples a very small amount. In fact the swiss cythers didnt put a sharpening stone to the edge after swaging it to a razor edge. the hammer they and I used is a flat head and the small anvil is domed. you only swage the 1/8thin edge bit of the cythe. you should be able to replicate the technique with any metal with a hard faced ball peen hammer gripped in a vice and another hammer to do the work Ted Dorset UK

Okay, Ted, thanks for the info. Maybe I'll give it a shot on a hand scythe I've never used that's been laying around forever.

R

I don't have a patent, just the link on the answer page and a reference in the Dictionary of American Hand Tools.

Rob

I just checked out that link. What a great German web site! I was browsing their course offerings and they only had twenty or thirty I am interested in. I was also interested in their $1000 chisel sets, but I managed to keep my credit card in my wallet. ;)

R

Not the best copy, but "The Scythe Book" may help. Page 20 has "peening" info (7.2mb).

Thanks for the link, Leon.

Page 20 says this: "The edge of the blade rests perfectly flat on the anvil." And it told of tilting the scythe when peening. I can now see how tilting the scythe's curved blade would eventually find a flat "plane" on the curved anvil. While Page 24 has this: "The edges, no longer perfectly straight, have become a little wavy, showing that the wear and/or sharpening has been uneven. However, this is acceptable for a scythe, and does not impair its performance."

Damn. I knew I should have paid attention in high school hand mowing class, but I was more interested in checking out the cute girls in my animal husbandry class. ;)

R