Who else uses a scythe?

G-pig said:
Thanks for the great thread. After doing a little diggin... Yeeeesh. A lot of crap thrown out about American scythes. Even with some self inflicted contradiction :p Take this for example;

"The style of scythe that they are referring to is the American-style scythe on the right. Being very heavy, and awkward to use, (and seldom sharp)"

That'd be like giving an old american axe with no edge and a brand new GB to someone, of course the GB will work better- its sharp! I watched that video with Perry Vienot and was pretty convinced that the American scythe was a very respectable tool. Just a different technique is all. Ya cant go whippin and twirling em around like the euro patterns.
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Exactly. Note that the fellow who put forward that viewpoint is a retailer of European/Austrian scythes. Hmmmm... :D

Steve Tall said:
Some old-school advice about sizes of the American scythe, specifying a blade edge 51" long (wow!) for a man 5-foot-eleven or taller.
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You, sir, are a research wizard! :cool::thumbup:
 
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The Veteran in a New Field, 1865, by Winslow Homer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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I always loved that painting. Note the subtle inclusion of a grain cradle.
 
I bought this snath at a tool shop today for 5 dollars. it's in decent shape, a little de-lamination of the ash but nothing terrible. The attachment jazz will not fit the blade I have however. I think I can modify it by grinding the lip back to allow the tang of the blade to sit far enough back, and than leave a flat for the back of the tang to rest on. then just use a clamp of some sort to provide auxiliary attachment. Thoughts?

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See the lip? It doesn't allow the tang to rest flush as my blades tang is too long. The thought to grind it back leaving a shoulder made a little sense, at least in my weird head :p

Also, sorry for the bad pictures. I was in a rush to get em before it got dark.
 
Some clearer pics would help, but based on what I'm able to decipher so far, I'd advise filing the "elbow" of your blade's tang to match. But I wouldn't do anything until you get some better pics. It looks like a rather odd mounting system!
 
It is odd. Sorry for the bad pics. I am not sure filing the elbow down would be sufficient as the tang is much longer than the distance from the hole for the nib to the inside of the lip where it must rest. Thats why I thought that grinding the lip off half way would provide a shoulder for the elbow of the tang to rest on. I also suspect that there was a clamp of sorts used, but I can fabricate something like that later.

I'll try to illustrate what I mean using windows paint :D

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To translate that paint writing "Grind X area down flush with flat". The straight line represents what would be a shoulder at a right angle to the "flat", the X would be the stuff removed. This would allow the scythe tang to rest on the flat with the nib in the hole, and the shoulder backing up the elbow of the scythe. the addition of a clamp would add extra retention.
 
I suggest getting the tang to lie flat on that metal plate somehow, with the little knob on the tang fitting into a hole in the metal plate. (Edit: I see that is already your plan.) Then clamp it down somehow. The old-country way of clamping the blade is with a piece of pipe, maybe 2" long, with an iron/steel/wood wedge hammered in. The pipe diameter obviously has to be big enough to hold the snath, tang, and wedge.
 
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Another old way of attaching the blade to the snath, using a ring and an iron wedge:

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Photo from Old Sturbridge Village, Mass.
http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/collection_viewer.php?N=2.1.19
"Old Sturbridge Village's purpose is to provide modern Americans with a deepened understanding of their own times through a personal encounter with New England's past."

A detailed description of this type of ring and wedge, including measurements, is given in the following text (from Country Gentleman, Volumes 21-22 (Google eBook), Curtis Pub. Co., 1863, page 349)

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http://books.google.com/books?id=guUhAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA349&ots=PpHWaesx8F&dq=scythe%20ring%20wedge&pg=PA349#v=onepage&q=scythe%20ring%20wedge&f=false
 
Yup! That sounds like a plan. The main point of that lip is to prevent the blade from being knocked out of alignment during the cut if you hit anything resistant, so as long as you leave a little on there you'll be set. I would experiment as you file to see what degree of set to the blade that you like, though. I know I have mine set a little more "closed" so the tang isn't in-line with the snath. The wedge-and-ring method is what you'll probably want to use, though if you have a hose clamp lying around that should work, too. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yup! That sounds like a plan. The main point of that lip is to prevent the blade from being knocked out of alignment during the cut if you hit anything resistant, so as long as you leave a little on there you'll be set. I would experiment as you file to see what degree of set to the blade that you like, though. I know I have mine set a little more "closed" so the tang isn't in-line with the snath. The wedge-and-ring method is what you'll probably want to use, though if you have a hose clamp lying around that should work, too. :)
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Yup, hose clamps were the original idea. We will see if they are strong enough to hold. Should be since they are not holding it during the cut, the shoulder should back the tang up during the cutting and take that stress off the clamp. Thanks a lot for the ideas guys!
 
Let us know how it works out--don't forget pics of the completed project! :D:thumbup:

Going to be doing some more mowing today. The pony that boards at our place decided she like the look of the greens on the other side of the electric fence and didn't mind a zap or two on her way to get them. :p
 
The hose clamps didn't work, they just snapped on me when I tightened them up. Steve's idea of the pipe and wedge sounds really nice about now, what sort of pipe material is recommended? I haven't got anything with enough circumference to fit around the end of the snath.
 
I'd look for an old piece of steel pipe (galvanized or black) at a scrapyard, junkyard, or plumbing company. I haven't made one before, I'm hoping to learn from you! :)
 
That one looks especially good, depending on dimensions. Pro tip--stick a piece of thick leather or a rectangle cut from a rubber hose under the clamp to improve the grip and prevent marring.
 
Excellent idea on the muffler clamp... The old man works in parts, I'll have him pick a few up and let you know how they work.
 
That was the best video I have watch in very long time. Thanks for posting that!
 
Which one was it and which one of us posted it? There have been a few now. :D
 
For American-style snaths, there are some 30" blades available which can be peened and sharpened like European-style blades.


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A hybrid design.
I heard that the tang on these is raised off the ground by maybe 15 or 20 degrees, which can make it easier to fit taller people.
Lehman's currently sells them.
 
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