Who else uses a scythe?

An acquaintance of mine gave me this scythe blade a few days ago. It's a NWT CO.
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But I'm not sure if it's a little giant or the next line down that I can't remember the name of atm. Is there any way to differentiate?
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It's in very good shape. Not even close to being thin from rust in places like my other ones. Can't beat it for free that's for sure!
 
Yankee Josh said:
An acquaintance of mine gave me this scythe blade a few days ago. It's a NWT CO.
FvJmjxy.jpg

But I'm not sure if it's a little giant or the next line down that I can't remember the name of atm. Is there any way to differentiate?
uTMWZmN.jpg

It's in very good shape. Not even close to being thin from rust in places like my other ones. Can't beat it for free that's for sure!
Click to expand...

If the number is a date stamp like I believe it to be, then that blade was made in the final few years the company was still around. Unfortunately, the only real way to tell if it's a Little Giant is in grinding it. You can feel/see the difference between the cladding and edge layers. Treat it like it's laminated, either way, and you can't go wrong.

In other news, I had the shipment of those USA-made whetstone containers land today. I'm just working on finalizing the design of the carrying loop for it before putting them up on the site. I figured out a way to integrate locking tab into the design and I'm making final adjustments to get the proportions and spacing of the tab and rivets just right so I can make a permanent template for it.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
If the number is a date stamp like I believe it to be, then that blade was made in the final few years the company was still around. Unfortunately, the only real way to tell if it's a Little Giant is in grinding it. You can feel/see the difference between the cladding and edge layers. Treat it like it's laminated, either way, and you can't go wrong.

In other news, I had the shipment of those USA-made whetstone containers land today. I'm just working on finalizing the design of the carrying loop for it before putting them up on the site. I figured out a way to integrate locking tab into the design and I'm making final adjustments to get the proportions and spacing of the tab and rivets just right so I can make a permanent template for it.
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Thank you for that. When you say;
FortyTwoBlades said:
Treat it like it's laminated, either way, and you can't go wrong.
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What do you mean?
Should I lightly hammer out the edge steel like I've heard mentioned before? It's pretty keen still and really just needs a touch up. I just figured I'd ask as you are the resident scythe guru! Plus I'm curious as to what my options are. I do have this I could use;
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And thanks btw! It's a unique privilege and opportunity to be able to ask people who know what the heck they're about!
 
American blades aren't peened--that's only continental European blades. American blades are beveled by grinding, which is only done 1-3 times per season, barring accidental damage. Here's a video on grinding and honing. I show using a roller jig in the video since it's a good way for beginners to get used to using a wheel, but if you're well familiar with them then holding the blade at a 45° oblique angle to the face of the wheel works best, and is what I do at this point. It sets the scratch pattern in the right direction and gives good control over the angle produced while also reducing the potential for any clearance issues of the spine. In Nordic tradition one grinds square to the stone, but period agricultural gazettes I turned up described using the slant method and I found it overall the most satisfactory for freehand grinding.

 
Thanks! Those Craftsman blades are kind of unusual in that the tangs are impression die forged. The knob isn't an upturned end, but rather a flat-topped cone shape, and there are clear draft angles on the sides of the tang to assist in parting from the die.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
So, here's a rather fun development. I've found a source for USA-made containers that, with very little modification, make perfect whetstone holder in the Austrian/German style.
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After using the yellow holders that I got from you, I think a perfect whetstone holder should employ some kind of feature to reduce the amount of water sloshing out and whetting (punny, eh?) my pants! I have to keep the water level at only about 1/4 of the way up the wall or there's just too much water bouncing out.

When I get a chance, it won't take me but a few minutes to CAD-up a snap on cover with a rectangular hole in the top for a single Arctic Fox stone and then I'll 3D print some out. I don't need to use my Bull Thistle stone in the field as I only need to use it between field mowing sessions. A snap-on cover for a single stone can be made to be more effective at reducing the slosh-out than a cover with the larger hole size required to accommodate two stones.

I'll send you a couple of lids to try out once I print them, FortyTwoBlades.

P.S. I'd be happy to accelerate my development of the lid, if you might still have time to incorporate it in some manner into your new holder product after evaluating the concept.
 
Yankee Josh said:
An acquaintance of mine gave me this scythe blade a few days ago. It's a NWT CO.
Click to expand...
That looks like a keeper (and a working tool) for sure Yankee Josh! The NWT Earle Special weed blade that I got from FortyTwoBlades is my favorite blade, ATM, because it does just about everything very well. Here's an example of what it does best though. I sure wish 42 had some old inventory of the Little Giant version (though it's hard to imagine a sweeter blade), and a long NWT grass blade too.

I waited too long to mow our "out of weed control" lower pasture of high milk thistle content and it was about the blow all over our front yard and into our 8 acres of main pasture, which is nearly weed-free. After mowing the worst of it, which was starting to take to the wind, and stomping down the huge amount of heavy debris intermixed with seed pods, the seeds are not getting very far on the wind. I'll try to get to the much sparser and still colorfully flowered sections in the next few mornings, which are not yet blowing in the wind. They will mow much more easily. The section I mowed was almost as tall as my height and very dense! I like the heavy Earle Special, because it provides enough mass to store highly variable amounts of energy in each forward swing that can be directed in slicing, chopping, and downward drop components of the swing to very good effect. I also like that the Earle Special weed blade will take the occasional wild rose stalk (very woody and tough) up the the size of the second knuckle on my pinkie without any worry of damaging the blade's edge.

About halfway done with the toughest section here:
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Earle Special and its customized Seymour No. 9 support awaits the final assault:
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Most of the airworthy component of the milk thistle air force is destroyed!
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My Earle Special is not a laminated blade but, if you grind your edge as if it's laminated (as FortyTwoBlades suggests) you'll very likely learn whether or not it's laminated by looking for the line in the edge bevel.

FortyTwoBlades said:
In Nordic tradition one grinds square to the stone, but period agricultural gazettes I turned up described using the slant method and I found it overall the most satisfactory for freehand grinding.
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Yes--I learned much about wet grinding at 45 degrees from that old American publication that you posted early in this thread. The author was also an advocate for grinding "into" the edge apex instead of away from it. I've also commented about the publication more recently in this thread. I'll try to find the link for Yankee Josh, if he needs it.
 
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DavidBevis said:
I'm really glad I found this thread! I've been looking at scythes at flea markets and thinking about getting one to use around our property. Maybe the goats well appriciate the trimmings, and if not to the compost it is
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Welcome to the thread, David!

My daughter's pet Nigerian dwarfs love the fresh cut timothy that I throw over to them in their paddock. They are too small to help with weed control very much around here but I'd like to learn about getting a herd of large (alpine breed, maybe?) goats. I'd rather mow timothy for them to eat in the winter in exchange for their alleged appetite for weeds in the warmer months so I can mow and stack timothy and orchard grass instead of mowing weeds!
 
calinb said:
After using the yellow holders that I got from you, I think a perfect whetstone holder should employ some kind of feature to reduce the amount of water sloshing out and whetting (punny, eh?) my pants! I have to keep the water level at only about 1/4 of the way up the wall or there's just too much water bouncing out.

When I get a chance, it won't take me but a few minutes to CAD-up a snap on cover with a rectangular hole in the top for a single Arctic Fox stone and then I'll 3D print some out. I don't need to use my Bull Thistle stone in the field as I only need to use it between field mowing sessions. A snap-on cover for a single stone can be made to be more effective at reducing the slosh-out than a cover with the larger hole size required to accommodate two stones.

I'll send you a couple of lids to try out once I print them, FortyTwoBlades.

P.S. I'd be happy to accelerate my development of the lid, if you might still have time to incorporate it in some manner into your new holder product after evaluating the concept.
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I actually use my Bull Thistle quite heavily, myself. About every third to fifth honing. In the course of a mowing session I'll also typically use my Manticore 3-5 times in all. As far as sloshing goes, that's mostly a sign you're filling it too high! I do suggest filling the holder fairly high to start just until your stone(s) soak up all they're going to, but as soon as they're saturated about 1/3 full is all you need. The sloshing action keeps the stones clean, and their porosity draws water up into them and they stay wet. I'd be happy to try out a lid, though!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I actually use my Bull Thistle quite heavily, myself. About every third to fifth honing. In the course of a mowing session I'll also typically use my Manticore 3-5 times in all. As far as sloshing goes, that's mostly a sign you're filling it too high! I do suggest filling the holder fairly high to start just until your stone(s) soak up all they're going to, but as soon as they're saturated about 1/3 full is all you need. The sloshing action keeps the stones clean, and their porosity draws water up into them and they stay wet. I'd be happy to try out a lid, though!
Click to expand...
I could always carry a water bottle to replenish the very small amount of water that I can manage without too much sloshing but I'd rather see how much water can be conserved with a lid and try to forgo carrying a water "tanker" with me. By the time the water level is low enough with only one stone in the holder (providing more water than I'd have with additional volume of a second stone), I run out of water after about 5 honing sessions with the Arctic Fox just due to wetting the stone enough to keep it clean in very hot weather. Thus, even with your schedule, I'd probably run out of water about the same time I'd need that Bull Thistle. To date, I've been filling to a higher level to accommodate more honing without a holder refill and I just live with slightly wet pants and t-shirt. Like I said, it's been hot. As you can see from the photos, our terrain is somewhat hilly. Perhaps marching up and down the hills or chasing down a distant wild rose bush causes me to use more water, even though I'm trying to walk and move so as not to slosh (which somewhat hampers my style).

I keep my stones in a water bottle with a cut-off top so they never soak up any of the day's initial dose of water. In order to carry two stones, I think a one-stone lid usage model might be to carry the Bull Thistle dry / damp in a pocket and only wet it when needed. I don't think the smaller inside overhang achievable with a two stone lid will be large enough to reduce sloshing much (the two-stone rectangular hole will be too large), but I might be wrong about that so I'll make both version of the lid.

I have a bunch of the old Taulman 618 Nylon 3D printer filament and it has just the right amount of flex for a snap-on lid. Nylon is also very rugged and won't get soft or even gooey in the sun like PLA. ABS or PET-G have sufficiently high glass transition temperatures too and they would probably have enough flex to nicely snap onto the holder. This is actually a trivial 3D printing project and I like to design and 3D print useful things, rather than downloading garden gnome trinket models and such, which is mostly what people do with their 3D printers.

I'll post photos here once I've printed them and I plan to send both single and dual stone versions to you, if they both prove to have any merit.
 
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calinb said:
I could always carry a water bottle to replenish the very small amount of water that I can manage without too much sloshing but I'd rather see how much water can be conserved with a lid and try to forgo carrying a water "tanker" with me. By the time the water level is low enough with only one stone in the holder (providing more water than I'd have with additional volume of a second stone), I run out of water after about 5 honing sessions with the Arctic Fox just due to wetting the stone enough to keep it clean in very hot weather. Thus, even with your schedule, I'd probably run out of water about the same time I'd need that Bull Thistle. To date, I've been filling to a higher level to accommodate more honing without a holder refill and I just live with slightly wet pants and t-shirt. Like I said, it's been hot. As you can see from the photos, our terrain is somewhat hilly. Perhaps marching up and down the hills or chasing down a distant wild rose bush causes me to use more water, even though I'm trying to walk and move so as not to slosh (which somewhat hampers my style).

I keep my stones in a water bottle with a cut-off top so they never soak up any of the day's initial dose of water. In order to carry two stones, I think a one-stone lid usage model might be to carry the Bull Thistle dry / damp in a pocket and only wet it when needed. I don't think the smaller inside overhang achievable with a two stone lid will be large enough to reduce sloshing much (the two-stone rectangular hole will be too large), but I might be wrong about that so I'll make both version of the lid.

I have a bunch of the old Taulman 618 Nylon 3D printer filament and it has just the right amount of flex for a snap-on lid. Nylon is also very rugged and won't get soft or even gooey in the sun like PLA. ABS or PET-G have sufficiently high glass transition temperatures too and they would probably have enough flex to snap onto the holder too. This is actually a trivial 3D printing project and I like to design and 3D print useful things, rather than downloading garden gnome trinket models and such, which is mostly what people do with their 3D printers.

I'll post photos here once I've printed them and I plan to send both single and dual stone versions to you, if they both prove to have any merit.
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The new Jackdaw whetstone holders of mine do have a higher water capacity by virtue of being round rather than a flattened oval shape. I do think it odd that you're running out of water after 5 honing sessions. I can mow for hours in hot conditions and only end up losing enough water that a tiny splash from my water bottle is enough to refill it. A water bottle should already be present when mowing for safety reasons, since improper hydration is a major risk factor for heat exhaustion/sun stroke. When in rapid motion it's usually helpful to remove the holder from you belt/pocket lip and to carry it in your hand, which can then act as a stabilizer against shocks that would cause it to slosh on your hip. :)
 
Eli Chaps said:
How well do scythes perform on terrain with lots of little holes and mounds (think dog digging and such)?
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Quite well. You'll usually want a blade with a fairly bull-nosed tip to help prevent lancing the mounds, and a relatively decent amount of crown to it so it can get into hollows and ride over bumps easier.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
When in rapid motion it's usually helpful to remove the holder from you belt/pocket lip and to carry it in your hand, which can then act as a stabilizer against shocks that would cause it to slosh on your hip. :)
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Yes. That would reduce water loss significantly. I tend not to lose water while mowing; rather, the loss is from traveling. Thanks! I also tend to use a lot of water on the stone. I think the stone works better when contaminants are flushed from it and it provides better tactile and auditory feedback when it's cleaned of both metal fines and sticky plant matter. It provides better visual feedback as well by cleaning the honed surface so that scratch patterns and shiny reflective (dull or damaged) spots on the apex of the edge can be more easily seen.
 
Oh, I keep my stones fully saturated and as wet as possible. But the sloshing action naturally keeps the stones that wet above the water level itself, so setting the level of the water such that it's as full as possible without going over the top is generally the ideal. :)
 
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