Scythe Acquisition Disorder (ScAD?)

[ckirk]

Oh, boy. I feel another AD jumping on my back. This looks just like the type of thing that can end up costing me some money.

Who Needs a WeedWacker When You Can Use a Scythe?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304782404577490583379647566.html

I had just spent an evening earlier in the week rebuilding the carburetor on my push mower (I hate Ethanol) and the WSJ just had to run the article on the front page where I couldn't miss it.

Let's check the list.

• Does it involve a blade? (check)
• Does it have to be sharpened? (check)
• Is it dangerous? (check)
• Is it an *almost* lost skill that takes some effort to master? (check)
• Would I be the only person that I know who uses one? (check)

Next spring. I can hold out until next spring to get one.

//ckirk

 

[jlanger]

That's actually kinda tempting. Seems more fun then a reel mower

 

[PFP_Dad]

Too funny, a guy I work with was just asking me if I could restore and sharpen one he had so he could use it in the yard.

 

[packersfan117]

I have a couple sickles, although a scythe would be easier due to the longer handle and lack of stooping. My weed-eater has limited battery life, so sometimes these see duty to finish up the yard work.

 

[TheVez2]

I have one, but I left it at my parents house. Never actually used it. It's not a very precise tool. Great for hacking down long weeds and overgrowth, but I don't think it's a replacement for a lawn mower.

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Please remember, it's very important to wear a hooded black cloak while using it.

 

[the_edski]

Fair legal warning, I'm going to steal your checklist, it sums up this forum so succinctly!

 

[Pkrankow]

Great tool. I edge out my yard in about the time it takes my neighbor with a weed whip. I have more trees...

http://www.scythesupply.com/
http://www.themaruggcompany.com/

Two stand up companies I have dealt with.

I also recommend
The Scythe Book by David Tresemer
It is available as a free download, but the purchased version is the second edition with a whole lot more information in it, especially the addendum.

If you are holding the grips of the scythe it is impossible to injure yourself. I mow the ditch, downhill, quite easily. Hone frequently, about every 15 minutes or when it starts pulling, takes but a few seconds.

I still have an irregular finish, but I only mow with the scythe every couple weeks, only been doing this a couple years. I never could produce a regular finish with a weed whip either.

The one pic is both my scythes, an American pattern blade and an Austrian pattern blade. The American blade weighs much more than the Austrian blade, and does not work as well because of the shape of the blade.

That said, for $10 at a garage sale...Do it! The tang will need bent to suit a straight snath. The straight snath is Ash from a local mill, may not be the best choice. It weighs about 1/3 the weight of a commercial steam bent snath.

The other pic has the kit as I received it from Marugg Co. Easy to assemble, but I called and asked questions while I went anyways (I didn't expect to need a hammer) They were very friendly on the phone. I ordered a peening kit from Scythe Supply because I like their hammer better (stupid reason, I know) you need a means of peening the scythe, and I thought I could do it on my blacksmith anvil, but that is not an easy proposition. Get the peening kit.

Get the cheap synthetic hone and a fine natural hone. The synthetic will be used after peening, or on the American pattern blade (which gets ground, but can be peened, according to some)

Have fun, silence is BLISS!

Phil

 

[Pkrankow]

Oh, I got a medium brush blade, 20 inch, the longer 24 inch grass blade would have been fine for my purposes, Ah hindsight. the two snaths are near identical in setup dimensions too, I built the one and ordered the other to my body measurements.

Phil

 

[Kentos]

That's pretty cool Phil!

 

[oc_in_fw]

Is that you, Carl?

 

[honed]

Scythes are among the coolest tools a man can lay his hands upon.

Watching someone who has good skilld with a scythe work on a field with waist-high grass is really interesting.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Get some Japanese kama. They're the kamisori of the scything world. I think Japan Woodworker carries them.

 

[Pkrankow]

Those are more of a sickle than a scythe. The big difference is with a scythe you can stand straight, and with a sickle you are often bent over or crawling, unless the harvest is tall enough. A sickle is more appropriate in some places, and I have an old one that I use around and between landscaping plants, when I am weeding without digging weed roots out.

Phil

 

[mretzloff]

How often do scythes need to be sharpened?

 

[honed]

How often do scythes need to be sharpened?

Depends a bit on the type..
The kind I'm used to is made from hard steel, much like an axe. The there is other models that you peen the edge on, probably softer. And I'm not familiar with these & maintenance.
As for the kind I'm used to the normal routine is to first sharpen them on a big wet-grinder with a slow moving sandstone wheel. Then you further refine that edge with a handheld round stone.
Either a finer sandstone or a carborundum stone.

Then once you are out in the field, maybe every hour or so you "strop" them with a slender piece of birch.
Some grease this piece of birch & rub sand on on it, as to make a "pasted strop"
If you are working hard or hitting rocks you might have to take it back to the handheld stone, if you have it with you

From what I've heard back in the day when scythes were the main tool for a farmer, there was always an extra scythe brought out, so you could
just take a new one if you struck a rock. Then one of the field hands, often a woman, would have the duty of re-sharpening the damaged scythe.
Then when your day on the field is over, you take the scythes home and re-sharpen them with the handheld stone or if the edge is really bad, go back to the wet-grinder.

 

[Pkrankow]

You hone a scythe via one manner or another about every 15 minutes, or less, whenever the blade is not cutting cleanly and starts pulling. Honing like this takes about 30 seconds using a "fine" natural hone, a light sandstone. A greased stick with grit is called a "strickle" is another method of honing (not stropping, grit is removing steel)

Sharpening a scythe is done with a large grinder or a smaller hammer and small anvil called a "denglestock". This is done every 4-12 hours of mowing. There are modern versions called a peening jig (or kit) This process is dependent on the TYPE of blade. An American pattern blade will be ground, (but may be peened, peening may also cause the metal to tear because it is thicker and may be harder) An Austrian or European pattern blade is much thinner and lighter, so it must be peened, as grinding will wear the blade away very quickly.

Peening or grinding is a "bevel setting" process, and honing is a finishing process. My "fine" hone is about 800 grit, and my "coarse" hones are about 200 and 400 grit. I ended up with 2, not because I need them but because I bought one in the kit and the other a year prior.

Stropping is not done. Any remaining wire edge will break off in the grass the first few cuts. A wire edge is not desired because when it breaks a larger flat area is presented as the cutting edge.

An Austrian or European blade weighs about 1/3 what an American pattern blade of similar length weighs. A straight snath weighs about 1/3 what a commercial steam bend Ash wood snath weighs. The steam bend snaths of antiquity were much lighter, but less uniform in bend.

I prefer my Austrian setup over the setup with the American pattern blade.

Phil

 

[mretzloff]

Thank you for the information. Sounds interesting.

 

[Mike H]

cool

 

[Pkrankow]

I love how the scythe keeps pulling ahead of the machine. A lot of good videos showing all aspects of using and maintaining a scythe on youtube.

Phil