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I posted this in the big scythe thread as well, but feel it deserves its own thread for discussion. Some time back I was musing over aspects of scythe snath design, particularly their regional variations and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. All snaths serve the role of connecting the dots in space between the hands and the blade. For the most part this can be done in the following methods:
These different methods, while found in all sorts of different regions, are most strongly associated (from top to bottom) with Russia, Sweden, Austria, and England/America respectively, and so will be referred to as Slavic, Nordic, Austrian, and Anglo-American from here out.
The Slavic snath is the simplest, in the form of a straight, single-gripped snath. The left hand is held in an underhand hold at the top of the snath, not too unlike sweeping with a broom. This style works and is easy to make, but does make it harder to put the muscles of the left arm to work, which is why the other three methods all represent an attempt to bring the left hand lower where the muscles can be better engaged.
The Nordic snath describes a straight line from the blade through the right hand, with the shaft of the snath passing over the bicep and a stem extending for the left hand. There are a number of different snath styles present in the Nordic nations, but this variety is one of the most geographically distinct.
The Austrian snath is the kind most discussed and used in the global revival movement at the moment, and takes the form of a slanted "y" with a straight line passing from the blade to the left hand and a stem raised for the right.
Lastly, we have the Anglo-American, my own preferred style. Known for its sinuous curves, the American pattern snath connects directly from the blade to the right hand, and from the right hand to the left, eliminating the need for a stem. The downside of the American pattern has long been that commercially manufactured snaths of this type have effectively been a "one size fits most" option, and while the nibs allow easy customization of the spacing and angle at which they were set, you were still limited by the fixed nature of the snath's shaft, so the very tall (over about 6ft) and the very short were kind of out of luck with using them because they only came in lengths ranging from roughly 56-60" end to end.
This made me wonder how to go about properly scaling a snath done in this style, which led me to what I consider a simple but elegant solution--producing the snath in two halves, connected with an aluminum coupling. This provides a number of strong advantages over other methods, as it allows the two halves to be simplified to using a single bends, allows those bends to then be oriented and assembled in the manner that best suits the user's needs and preferences, and allows the snath to be broken down for easy transport and shipping. The halves come deliberately over-long and are simply trimmed to the appropriate dimensions before being assembled for truly custom scaling. I had done some crude mockups prior to this, but just a few days ago I received some samples of the upper snath shafts from the steam bender I'm working with, and I put them together as a proof of concept. The lower half will have a less severe bend than the upper in the final version--it was actually excessive in this mockup! I'm also having custom hardware made for it that is designed to be universal in fit, being compatible with both American and European style tangs. The example here, however, has been fit with a Euro style attachment ring. With the 100cm (nominal) Russian blade on it the complete unit weighs 4lb 2oz.
These different methods, while found in all sorts of different regions, are most strongly associated (from top to bottom) with Russia, Sweden, Austria, and England/America respectively, and so will be referred to as Slavic, Nordic, Austrian, and Anglo-American from here out.
The Slavic snath is the simplest, in the form of a straight, single-gripped snath. The left hand is held in an underhand hold at the top of the snath, not too unlike sweeping with a broom. This style works and is easy to make, but does make it harder to put the muscles of the left arm to work, which is why the other three methods all represent an attempt to bring the left hand lower where the muscles can be better engaged.
The Nordic snath describes a straight line from the blade through the right hand, with the shaft of the snath passing over the bicep and a stem extending for the left hand. There are a number of different snath styles present in the Nordic nations, but this variety is one of the most geographically distinct.
The Austrian snath is the kind most discussed and used in the global revival movement at the moment, and takes the form of a slanted "y" with a straight line passing from the blade to the left hand and a stem raised for the right.
Lastly, we have the Anglo-American, my own preferred style. Known for its sinuous curves, the American pattern snath connects directly from the blade to the right hand, and from the right hand to the left, eliminating the need for a stem. The downside of the American pattern has long been that commercially manufactured snaths of this type have effectively been a "one size fits most" option, and while the nibs allow easy customization of the spacing and angle at which they were set, you were still limited by the fixed nature of the snath's shaft, so the very tall (over about 6ft) and the very short were kind of out of luck with using them because they only came in lengths ranging from roughly 56-60" end to end.
This made me wonder how to go about properly scaling a snath done in this style, which led me to what I consider a simple but elegant solution--producing the snath in two halves, connected with an aluminum coupling. This provides a number of strong advantages over other methods, as it allows the two halves to be simplified to using a single bends, allows those bends to then be oriented and assembled in the manner that best suits the user's needs and preferences, and allows the snath to be broken down for easy transport and shipping. The halves come deliberately over-long and are simply trimmed to the appropriate dimensions before being assembled for truly custom scaling. I had done some crude mockups prior to this, but just a few days ago I received some samples of the upper snath shafts from the steam bender I'm working with, and I put them together as a proof of concept. The lower half will have a less severe bend than the upper in the final version--it was actually excessive in this mockup! I'm also having custom hardware made for it that is designed to be universal in fit, being compatible with both American and European style tangs. The example here, however, has been fit with a Euro style attachment ring. With the 100cm (nominal) Russian blade on it the complete unit weighs 4lb 2oz.
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