Who else uses a scythe?

Steve Tall said:
A question to the members of this ax forum: Where does the ax stand in this regard? To be specific, are there more trees cut down, limbed and processed by means of an ax this year than was the case last year? Or are more axes merely collected, restored and hung on the wall?...
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Since about 2008 (when I started following seriously), there are many times more people who *own* axes, many of which were restored by the owners, as compared to before where most “serious” axe users either had to buy a Gransfors or answer a lot of questions as to why they didnt own one of the “best axes in the world”. It was pretty scant. Now there seems to be more consensus about certain things (whether good or bad, I dont know), less status symbolism (Gransfors), and more people at least toying with axes. To date, I still see axes mostly used for splitting, as a chainsaw assistant, or for light bushcraft use. Serious use is usually to the chagrin of todays effeciency mob, but I have a hard time believing even they dont see the simplicity and timelessness of working by hand. I have cut, hauled and split enough wood in lieu of fossil fuel powered tools to notice people are usually charmed by it-- its the lack of exposure and shroud of mystery that keeps them sort of dubious. I think with more expsoure (at least having an axe in reasonable condition) and some time and curiousity, that might change.
 
G-pig said:
Since about 2008 (when I started following seriously), there are many times more people who *own* axes, many of which were restored by the owners, as compared to before where most “serious” axe users either had to buy a Gransfors or answer a lot of questions as to why they didnt own one of the “best axes in the world”. It was pretty scant. Now there seems to be more consensus about certain things (whether good or bad, I dont know), less status symbolism (Gransfors), and more people at least toying with axes. To date, I still see axes mostly used for splitting, as a chainsaw assistant, or for light bushcraft use. Serious use is usually to the chagrin of todays effeciency mob, but I have a hard time believing even they dont see the simplicity and timelessness of working by hand. I have cut, hauled and split enough wood in lieu of fossil fuel powered tools to notice people are usually charmed by it-- its the lack of exposure and shroud of mystery that keeps them sort of dubious. I think with more expsoure (at least having an axe in reasonable condition) and some time and curiousity, that might change.
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Agreed. I think people initially were enamored with the idea of having an ultra-premium "status axe" but that fad at least started getting people thinking about digging their axes out and actually using them for stuff. I think we're starting to see a growing number of people expecting their axes to do real work and to do so properly. It's a positive trend as a whole, I believe.
 
Daft Slice 1986 said:
Poor guys, whoever it was that lost that crop :( As a legal grower, I don't like to see CAMP destroying someones hard work.
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That crop pays for hired murderers, extortion, paying of corrupt officials, kidnaping, buying weapons that are letter used on us…. Fell sorry all you want. I don’t.
 
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Bingo. Just remember to use a weed blade on the scythe when clearing it out though! :D
 
Edwood7 said:
That crop pays for hired murderers, extortion, paying of corrupt officials, kidnaping, buying weapons that are letter used on us…. Fell sorry all you want. I don’t.
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So legalize it and tax it. That's what we just did here in Washington. Colorado did it, too. The laws are silly and outdated.

Pardon me. I'll get off the soap box now.
grin.gif
 
Square_peg said:
So legalize it and tax it. That's what we just did here in Washington. Colorado did it, too. The laws are silly and outdated.

Pardon me. I'll get off the soap box now.
grin.gif
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You think this crop is for local use??? Your way of.

It’s just one of the ways the narcos are making money. Any way we can at least dent there income we take it. Legislation is not my job, and it’s a bit sad I know, that this plant causes so much trouble.

The problem is much greater than just legalizing it. What works for the state of Colorado does not necessarily translate to an entire third world country.
 
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Keeping on topic, does anyone know what a Swedish snath looks like? Since the blades are similar to American ones it would be interesting to see if there are any significant differences in the snaths. Also, is anyone able to find more images of Swedish scythe equipment in general?
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Keeping on topic, does anyone know what a Swedish snath looks like? Since the blades are similar to American ones it would be interesting to see if there are any significant differences in the snaths. Also, is anyone able to find more images of Swedish scythe equipment in general?
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I think they were probably just imported American blades. Sweden made a lot of American pattern stuff (and still does) to import over here-- a lot of it pretty decent. I dont think they are traditional swedish patterns, though I could be way off mark there. But with Swedens history of importing into America, I thinks its pretty likely.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Keeping on topic, does anyone know what a Swedish snath looks like? Since the blades are similar to American ones it would be interesting to see if there are any significant differences in the snaths. Also, is anyone able to find more images of Swedish scythe equipment in general?
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Lots to explore at this site:
http://www.melicamedia.se/lie/orvtyper.html

orv.jpg


orvtypkarta.png


orvlangd.jpg


lietypersv.png


Liesnitt.png


slipa.jpg



http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=http://www.melicamedia.se/lie/lieblad.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.melicamedia.se/lie/lieblad.html%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dubuntu%26hs%3D8UK%26tbo%3Dd%26channel%3Dfs&sa=X&ei=q7ipUO-9KuSUiALgr4H4Bw&ved=0CDMQ7gEwAA
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Fantastic! I knew you'd have something on hand! :D
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I searched online for it, only took a couple minutes. Google Translate told me the Swedish word for scythe is "lie", which is too ambiguous, so I added a couple more search terms: the Swedish word for sickle, and the .se suffix for Swedish websites. The results of a Google Image search with these 3 search terms included a picture of a Swedish scythe blade with labels of the different parts. Bingo. This took me to the Swedish site. Then, a Google search using the Swedish site's URL gave me the option for Google Translate to translate the entire site.
 
Awesome. I tried doing a search for "scythe blade" in Swedish on Google.se but not a whole lot turned up. Didn't think to add the word for sickle as well. Go me. :rolleyes: :p
 
I think I may have finally solved the mystery of who made my snath. I suspect it to be a Derby & Ball. I just picked up a scythe from a fellow for $25 that has a badly warped blade (probably not fixable, but I'll try!) but the snath is quite solid still and I think it'll clean up nicely. The really nice thing about it is it has most of the original paper label on it, identifying it as a Derby & Ball #50 snath. The mounting collar and nib hardware are a little different than what's on mine, but the adjustment mechanism for the set of the tang is identical. I think that this new snath is probably later production than mine is, but of the same lineage.
 
Finally managed to snap the photos of my new old snath. :D

The original paper label. It was flaking off badly and was very brittle. I carefully removed it after snapping these photos for possible preservation.

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The mounting collar. Note the absence of a shelf or lip to brace the blade and the fact that the collar is a formed and welded piece of sheet metal rather than a steel casting. Cheaper to make this way. The overall more crude manner of construction leads me to believe this is fairly "recent" production all things considered.

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I didn't snap photos of the nibs, but they feature a square embedded bolt, aluminum collars, and the steel of the loop is rectangular in cross section rather than the rounded "D" shape of most older production nibs.

All in all this is still a fine quality snath but seems to me to be an economy model from around the time of Derby and Ball's sunset years. I plan on sanding off the ugly yellowed varnish and giving it a good liberal dousing of Ballistol, as well as scrubbing the rust and dirt off of the steel components.

The blade that came on it was moderately rusted but severely twisted and arced. It's a soft enough blade that I was able to bend it back straight and angle the tang by locking the blade in my vice and sliding a pipe over the tang. There's a very faint maker's mark on it but I haven't had the chance to clean the dirt and paint off of it yet to see if I can make the stamping out. Might make a good beater blade around rocks and stuff given how soft it seems to be. Well formed toe to the blade but it's otherwise unremarkable.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The blade that came on it was moderately rusted but severely twisted and arced. It's a soft enough blade that I was able to bend it back straight and angle the tang by locking the blade in my vice and sliding a pipe over the tang. There's a very faint maker's mark on it but I haven't had the chance to clean the dirt and paint off of it yet to see if I can make the stamping out. Might make a good beater blade around rocks and stuff given how soft it seems to be. Well formed toe to the blade but it's otherwise unremarkable.
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Thats about what every American blade ive come across has been like. Frustratingly soft, will bend and kink and will not hold (or even take) an edge. I was even looking into getting them re hardened and tempered to make them at least be sharp, if not still terrible quality.
 
Yeah I think that there was a lot of variation when it came to the hardness of American blades corresponding largely to their quality. The Rixford and TrueTemper blades that I have are nice and hard, as is (believe it or not) the modern Seymour blade I have--it's not AS hard as the other two and suffers from rigidity issues due to its very shallow rib and bead but the heat treatment is very firm yet springy. They did a good job on that bit at least! My old Oakland-made bush blade is about as hard as the Seymour is though its construction is much heavier. Try to keep an eye out for blades with deep and crisp ribs and beads, good curvature, and a well-formed tang with good attention to detail at the transitional angle. Blades that got more attention in their design are also more likely to have received good attention with regards to their steel and heat treatment.
 
I grew up in the middle of West Virginia in the late 50's to 60's. We had two scythe, one heavy with a broad blade, another with a slimmer, lighter blade. My brother and I would have to "go up on the hill and cut filth" every time we messed up (which was often). I actually liked using either one....after I found the correct rhythm for the swing. They just glided through all types of brush and undergrowth with hardly any effort. I also carried a coarse wet stone that had a red wooden handle. It was worn down in the middle kinda like an hour glass. I can still hear it sing as we sharpened our tools. Good memories now, but hot, dirty work then. Peace.
 
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