Who else uses a scythe?

[FortyTwoBlades]

Thanks for posting!

The snath, unfortunately, is not a distinctive design so it's not as easy to tie down to a specific manufacturer, but it doesn't look like a STA-TITE or a Seymour (though Seymour made so many variations it's not out of the question) so it may be from a company like Derby & Ball?

Also, great article, whynacht!

[Whynacht]

Thank you. I'm happy you enjoyed it. I'm about to start restoration on a sickle we just acquired for the princely sum of $5.00. I'll be posting progress.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Please do! I still need to get pics up of the one I nursed back to health.

[scrteened porch]

I found a blade 42" from tip to tang. Fits my Seymour just fine, but it seems a little extravagant. Does anyone know if this was for a special kind of crop, or for a show-off mower?



I'm a little behind on this thread, hope I'm not repeating a question somebody's answered.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Those are all some exceptional-looking blades! A 42" blade like that would be for cutting a very broad swath through lighter grasses. For reedy stuff you'd probably want a bit shorter. Looks like it would be a heck of a haying blade!

Love that Dutch-pattern blade 3rd down. The heavy beard does a great job of finishing off a difficult stroke in thick growth.

[scrteened porch]

Those are all some exceptional-looking blades! A 42" blade like that would be for cutting a very broad swath through lighter grasses. For reedy stuff you'd probably want a bit shorter. Looks like it would be a heck of a haying blade!

Love that Dutch-pattern blade 3rd down. The heavy beard does a great job of finishing off a difficult stroke in thick growth.

Thanks for the info. That 3rd one is pretty much unused, though it came from an antique store. Made in Maine, I forget by whom.

[FortyTwoBlades]

I'm going to guess it's Dunn Edged Tool Co., North Wayne Tool Co./Little Giant, or Emerson & Stevens.

[C.S. Graves]

I've tried to use a scythe on several occasions since getting one a few years back. Getting the hang of the whole process - from mowing to peening.... especially peening - has been tough for me. At the recommendation of Peter Vido, I tried my hand at making my own snath... the first one broke before too long, but was a learning experience. Second one is holding together, but still seems awkward. I can't imagine the skill the ol' timers must have had to mow golf courses and palatial grounds with 'em! Luckily for me, it's not my sole mowing implement... I mostly intended it to be a silent alternative to the whipper-snipper, but I actually find myself more comfortable using a Facli billhook, or a sickle for more short-term cutting... after goin' over the property with a noisy zero-turn mower!

[FortyTwoBlades]

Mmmmmm Falci... For up-close trimming work I find a sickle very handy. And there's something very satisfying about the "scrunch" sound of a big fistful of grass getting neatly sliced by the pull of the blade.

[scrteened porch]

I'm going to guess it's Dunn Edged Tool Co., North Wayne Tool Co./Little Giant, or Emerson & Stevens.

North Wayne was it. That's the one that admonishes me to sharpen both sides because the steel is in the middle.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Haha! Thought the toe of that blade looked familiar. And yes--on American scythes you want to sharpen both sides equally.

[Square_peg]

Here are a few scythe blades I've found recently. The top 2 are 30" grass blades. The bottom 2 are brush blades, 18" and 16" respectively. Both grass blades came to me badly rusted and pitted. The one I've cleaned up is still plenty good enough to use. I expect the other one will clean up about the same.




I found a manufacturers stamp on the clean 30". It looks like a tree or maybe a cotton plant.




The smaller brush blade is a Banko made in Sweden. Not sure what the 67 stamp means. It's not the length in centimeters.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Nice finds, dude! The blade with the little berry bush on it is a Seymour--they still use that tang stamp. Looks to be of MUCH nicer quality than their present production, though!

I need to post the pics I took of the blades a pal of mine from the boards (not sure if he minds being identified or not) was kind enough to snag for me. One's English and the other is Austrian. The English one is nice in that it's a fairly old one from before production switched over to the "patent tang" method where they riveted the blade to a separately manufactured tang and spine. It has a nice gentle angle to the tang just like it should. The Austrian one has a very thin and light blade something like a hybrid between a typical European and American pattern and was user-modified by cutting the tang off and brazing it back on at a better angle. To help take strain off of the brazed connection they also took a section of rod and brazed it to the top of the tang to make a shelf that butts up against the end of the snath so strain goes to the rod before it goes to the tang. The run of the blade is perfectly parallel to the ground now which, combined with the light thin web of the blade, makes for a PERFECT lawn maintenance blade.

I've got the pics--I just need to brighten them a little and get 'em up on Photobucket. I have some pics of a nice little grass hook, a pitchfork, and a massive all-steel wood auger to post as well!

[John Frankl]

Cool thread.

Looking for axes in New England I see about 5 scythes for every axe. Go figure.

[FortyTwoBlades]

Man--I need to look where you're looking!

[Steve Tall]

...
I need to post the pics I took of the blades a pal of mine from the boards (not sure if he minds being identified or not) was kind enough to snag for me. One's English and the other is Austrian. The English one is nice in that it's a fairly old one from before production switched over to the "patent tang" method where they riveted the blade to a separately manufactured tang and spine. It has a nice gentle angle to the tang just like it should. The Austrian one has a very thin and light blade something like a hybrid between a typical European and American pattern and was user-modified by cutting the tang off and brazing it back on at a better angle. To help take strain off of the brazed connection they also took a section of rod and brazed it to the top of the tang to make a shelf that butts up against the end of the snath so strain goes to the rod before it goes to the tang. The run of the blade is perfectly parallel to the ground now which, combined with the light thin web of the blade, makes for a PERFECT lawn maintenance blade.
...

Here's a photo of those two blades. Found them at a garage sale, the asking price was a buck each, so I passed them on to FortyTwoBlades. The top one is made in England by T. Waldron.

[FortyTwoBlades]

I'll try to clean up the pics I took (they came out a little dark so I just have to lighten them) and get them up. Thanks again, man! I really appreciate it! I just need more dang snaths in good shape!

[FortyTwoBlades]

Ok--finally got the darn pics uploaded--there were a lot of them!

Starting with the Austrian blade mounted on my snath (if anyone is able to find out who the manufacturer of my snath is let me know--I've found the patent for it, AND found it in old catalogs but never seen a name alongside it!)

[FortyTwoBlades]

The English blade:

[FortyTwoBlades]

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