Do You Mow With A Scythe?

redsquid2

redsquid2

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Growing up in the U.S., I have never actually seen anyone using a scythe. Today I stumbled upon youtube videos that gave me the impression it's a commonly used tool in England. Looks like good exercise, too.

I get the impression the edge is delicate, and has to be sharpened using special peening technology. Therefore, I would not expect a scythe to be used in a rocky place, where rocks could damage the edge. In what situation would you use a scythe?
 
There is a large thread on scythes in the ax sub forum. If I understand the evolution, the need for peening came about due to the use of steels that required work hardening to get the best edge. In the US, better steel was used which only needed an abrasive sharpener to get the best edge. But in either case hitting a rock is a bad thing. So, in either case, the best use was for harvesting larger areas of grains and forage. I did see a video where a young lady was mowing a lawn area where she used a smaller scythe and great control to avoid trees, fences, shrubs, and rocks.
 
FortyTwoBlades here is an expert in the American English scythe
search for him

I have used the European scythe

they are different
it is not about better steel
 
I use a short edged American scythe a good bit. Anyplace where I have stuff over a foot tall especially if there are small trees up to about 3/4" in diameter in the growth and also if I have to reach back under a fence or other obstruction. It is easy to use, requires no gas or electricity and is pretty good upper body exercise. The cut is more utilitarian than golf course smooth. But much of what I cut would not cut well with any whacker twine I know and I would have to mount a round blade on that device so this is faster and easier to use. I guess the edge is a bit fragile like there is a big knife on the end of a pole (hmmm) but you tend to avoid rocks with it and sharpening is easy with a rounded metal file and I finish with an old kitchen sharpening steel. When sharp it cuts faster than a weed whacker and doesn't spatter poison ivy juice everywhere!
 
I have used a scythe now and then. Think of it as a weedwacker that is slower into action but faster at what it does... one that requires no gas and less maintenance. I use it for those times where you have a few square meters of tall grass where you can't easily get in with a tractor and getting the weedwacker out seems like too much of a hassle. I sometimes also use it when the machines are in for repairs. If you have a small perfectly flat lawn to mow then just get one of those push mowers where the rotation of the wheels drives the cutting blades.
 
neeman said:
FortyTwoBlades here is an expert in the American English scythe
search for him

I have used the European scythe

they are different
it is not about better steel
Click to expand...

It seems that now it is mostly about tradition as the quality of steel has improved over the last couple of centuries. I have read some good articles that indicated, historically, one purpose of peening the blade was to work harden the edge.
 
Bo T said:
It seems that now it is mostly about tradition as the quality of steel has improved over the last couple of centuries. I have read some good articles that indicated, historically, one purpose of peening the blade was to work harden the edge.
Click to expand...

The American and English scythes use hardened steel, which are sharpened very differently from the soft European scythes

The European scythes are peened with a hammer or jig to reform the blade shape then honed
And are honed often during the mowing day
 
back in yesteryear, the early fifties, yeah, I mowed the yard around the barnyard with a scythe. Ever since string trimmers and lawn mowers came on the market though, I quit using old tech. :D
 
BO T
That is a flat Anvil, where the peening is done only by hand with a hammer
It requires very good knowladge of the scythe blade

There are also ring anvils that have two different collars
The first collar is for beating the primary bevel
The second collar is for the final edge bevel
Then you hone with a fine stone
 
I never knew the ring anvils existed. Do the collars have a slight bevel to them?
 
yes

The ring base is flat and each collar has a bevel
I will try and take a photo but I will not be home for a couple of days
 
First thing is to adjust the nibs to fit you ! Let the tool do the work .Long swings in a regular pace .For me that's about a 2' x 6' swath. Longer lighter blades for something like wheat or grass and a shorter heavier blade for tougher brush.
The steel is fairly low in carbon so the hammer/anvil can taper and work harden the edge and the farmer carried a container on his belt to carry a hone which had water in it.
 
First thing is to adjust the nibs to fit you ! Let the tool do the work .Long swings in a regular pace .For me that's about a 2' x 6' swath. Longer lighter blades for something like wheat or grass and a shorter heavier blade for tougher brush.
The steel is fairly low in carbon so the hammer/anvil can taper and work harden the edge and the farmer carried a container on his belt to carry a hone which had water in it.
 
nope, i have a riding lawn mower for that job. but i think it might be fun to play with, for about five minutes, lol
 
The reason for using softer steel in continental European blades is chiefly to enable the blade to be worked extremely thin through tensioning, and while peening does work harden the edge it only does so by a few points RC--the main purpose is to produce a hollowed form without the use of a water cooled grinding wheel. The result is a very light blade, but with the drawback of damage being amplified due to the desire of the blade to release its tension by spreading those cracks, and the pretty soft steel requires frequent maintenance from stones that we would consider unusually fine in order to keep a sufficiently keen edge. Nordic, English, and American/Canadian blades are heavier on average but are made using harder steel and are beveled through grinding and usually honed using coarser stones to produce an edge of comparable refinement thanks to their higher wear resistance. Well tuned American scythes can be just as light as many continental European units if the right blade and snath are used, and most wooden snaths have an excess of wood on them and can be thinned down a bit. The American scythe compensates for the heavier blade (on average) by using a stroke that's a little different from (though visually similar to) that used with the continental scythe. Continental scythes tend to be propelled by the right arm with the left hand acting as a pivot, while the American pattern uses the right hand as a floating pivot and the left hand powers the stroke through a drawing action, with similarities to the stroke of an oar in an oarlock. The more efficient lever diminishes the workload somewhat.

Here's a video I took recently using a modified 48" American grain cradle blade on an aluminum snath to mow tall grasses. In spite of the huge blade the total weight of the scythe it only 4lb 15oz, and the weight rests on the ground during the stroke--you don't need to hold the scythe up, you just need to move it. :)
[video=youtube;G07Mx59-KuI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07Mx59-KuI[/video]
 
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