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Who else uses a scythe?
- Thread starter FortyTwoBlades
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Ooh--the one on the left is downright picturesque! I've got a few more vintage Americans on the way and fully restored one of the NWT grass blades and hung it on my ash D&B snath and it cuts like a dream! Most aggressive edge I've had on a scythe yet. The targets were all dry dead standing reedy plants since that's all that's available to cut right now--and there's not much of that to go 'round.
Square_peg
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Here are some interesting scythes that I spotted in a local historical museum. The one with the wide blade is on a home made snath.
This shows the full snath.
This shows the full snath.
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Very interesting! Thanks for taking the pics! I really like the snath on the leftmost one--check out them curves, baby! 
Couple Maple snaths that aren't done. Need to cut more grip material, didnt think I'd be going through grips this fast.
Those look nearly perfect, both of them have great curvatures for their respective blades. This settles it; you are officially a better snath-maker than I. Sad, but true.
More importantly, this is what Peter Vido had to say upon seeing your post:
"That's another couple of nice specimens!
You know, it took me a decade of playing around with the snath-making concept before I managed to make anything like them. Now I'll have to find some trickier blades for you to fit -- ones with big beards, unusual tang angles and longer lengths.
"And yes, you'll always need more grip material; Peter has hundreds of grips lying around here, and even so, finding just the right one for a certain blade/snath combo can be tricky.
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Ok--here's another snath I picked up for the collection. No one would EVER want to use this monster for a real work tool, but it was too rare and fascinating to pass on. I've only ever seen the patent images for this model. Stupidly complex and doesn't even do its job well, but boy it sure is fun to look at! Behold--the Seymour Vice Grip snath!
Good lord! What's that Transformers-looking contraption on the end?
It's a toothed plate designed to allow for adjustment of the lay of the blade, presumably without having to take a torch to your blade tangs. It doesn't work well, but more on that in a moment.
Near-mint labels.
Nib shots. Note the interesting band construction--forged right from the rod itself and welded back on itself:
Closeups of the hardware:
With the hardware disassembled. The core is wood, but painted blue like the rest:
The toothed adjustable web, removed:
The fastening ring:
The curvature. Here's where we get into the crux of the problem. It has heavier curves than most Seymours of its period that I've seen, but they're a little backwards. Not enough curve on the fore-end and too heavily recurved in the back. It ends up sending the end of the snath nosediving towards the ground at a steep angle. As a result the adjustment mechanism helps correct for this sloppy bending but can't be adjusted far enough in order to actually bring the blade to a proper lay, defeating whatever minimal advantage the bulky mechanism might have tenuously provided.
Here it is laid against a pillar at the height/angle it would be if I were holding it. Note that in spite of being at maximum adjustment this blade still has about the same lay as I'd expect from an un-pitched blade mounted on a well-bent simple snath.
A closeup of the hardware with a blade mounted. Very secure. Just clunky and gimmicky.
One last beauty shot:
Behold--the Seymour Vice Grip snath!
Good lord! What's that Transformers-looking contraption on the end?
It's a toothed plate designed to allow for adjustment of the lay of the blade, presumably without having to take a torch to your blade tangs. It doesn't work well, but more on that in a moment.
Near-mint labels.
Nib shots. Note the interesting band construction--forged right from the rod itself and welded back on itself:
Closeups of the hardware:
With the hardware disassembled. The core is wood, but painted blue like the rest:
The toothed adjustable web, removed:
The fastening ring:
The curvature. Here's where we get into the crux of the problem. It has heavier curves than most Seymours of its period that I've seen, but they're a little backwards. Not enough curve on the fore-end and too heavily recurved in the back. It ends up sending the end of the snath nosediving towards the ground at a steep angle. As a result the adjustment mechanism helps correct for this sloppy bending but can't be adjusted far enough in order to actually bring the blade to a proper lay, defeating whatever minimal advantage the bulky mechanism might have tenuously provided.
Here it is laid against a pillar at the height/angle it would be if I were holding it. Note that in spite of being at maximum adjustment this blade still has about the same lay as I'd expect from an un-pitched blade mounted on a well-bent simple snath.
A closeup of the hardware with a blade mounted. Very secure. Just clunky and gimmicky.
One last beauty shot:
Square_peg
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It's pretty dang cool even if not as functional as it could be. Have you considered transferring the hardware to a different snath?
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Heck no. Not worth the effort, not worth the bulk, and not worth disassembling a near-mint rare snath.
I'd rather just hit the tang with a torch. Gets it exactly where it needs to be without adding weight.
I'd rather just hit the tang with a torch. Gets it exactly where it needs to be without adding weight.
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Very nice! As usual!
Looks good! But you must have more snaths than blades now. We'll have to remedy that problem...
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Keep him busy!
Keep him busy!
What he needs is a box of 20 blades, that should keep him occupied for several days at least.
No, what he really needs is to visit the Vidos; Peter will pull out enough blades to keep him busy for months...
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What he needs is a box of 20 blades, that should keep him occupied for several days at least.
No, what he really needs is to visit the Vidos; Peter will pull out enough blades to keep him busy for months...
You guys won't let him leave! I just know it!
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I can just see him manacled to the wall in that snath room...but with a big ecstatic grin on his face.