"Why throw them away?" says Gerald LeMaster, Portland, Ind., inventor of a new jig that lets you splice together pieces of broken sickle guard rather than replace them all with new sections.

LeMaster says the jig lets you match up broken pieces of guard to make new ones. It has hand-tightened hold-down bolts and adjustable clips that hold the point of the guard. The jig is designed so that it can be mounted on the table of a cut-off saw so that broken pieces can be cut off to evenly match other broken pieces. Then the pieces are fitted together for welding.

"You can buy the jig equipped with a saw or you can just buy the jig and fit it to your own saw," says LeMaster.