As the story opens Obie is seen filing on a plough. Unfortunately Obie should stay with prospecting/mining as he knows nothing about farming. Obie is filing on the mouldboard which rides in the bottom of the furrow and provides no cutting of any kind. It therefore requires no sharpening. The Foreshare and mainshare provide the cutting and require sharpening.
Obie says at the end that he has a big sack of gold in the rain barrel outside the kitchen. Surely the desperadoes would've torn that place apart looking for his gold and they would've found it in its hiding place.