Who else uses a scythe?

The crossbelt, commonly referred to as a Sam Browne belt was developed originally by a British officer of the same name for carrying a sword, as it distributes the weight across the left hip and right shoulder as well as helping somewhat to prevent rotation on the body. I use the rig shown in the clips for carrying machetes typically, but it works very well with the Maxpedition bottle pouch as it mitigates the "sag" that belt carry of a full Nalgene would normally cause and keeps me from feeling unbalanced. The pith helmet is a modern made genuine article, being made of the pith of the Vietnamese sola plant, and soaks up water like a sponge while maintaining its rigid form. This, along with the highly ventilated design, creates a wonderful evaporative cooling effect that lasts for hours.

I may dress funny, but it's for good reasons. :D :D :D
 
The latest restoration--a Seymour Ironclad. No "before" shots of this one but it was just as bad as the previous ones. I'm just finishing up work on the plain-webbed grass blade that'll be paired with it. :)

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Thanks! The color is a little less yellow and more green than in the photos--more of a gingko leaf sort of hue. The paint color name is "ivy leaf green"
 
Did some more lawn maintenance yesterday. Believe it or not, in spite of the very closely cropped surface I used that blue snath of mine with the heavy TrueTemper weed blade on it in the original photographs. Did a great job--the steel is so hard on it that getting a stupidly sharp edge is almost absurdly easy and something about the curve is just right for me. Would be wonderful to find a lighter one of almost identical form for this sort of stuff, but since I was resting the rib of the blade on the ground to achieve the close cut it took care of the weight a bit, and the heft did make getting a supremely smooth and stable draw of the left arm a breeze.

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Some recent additions to the collection.

First up is a vintage Seymour-contracted blade still in its original paper wrapping. Rather than being made by Shroeckenfux like they are at present, I believe this one was made by a now defunct firm by the name of Redtenbacher, but I'll have to consult with the experts on that point. The forging is, if anything, actually worse than on present ones--the rib and bead are very shallow and their walls are quite widely spaced, and the set of the web is atrociously low to the point where I would call it a quarter-set. Note the "polished" toe of the blade (which is awkwardly triangular shaped like American pattern Redtenbacher-marked blades were) and the absence of a hanging hole like those seen on present production. The one cool thing about it is that it has a nice crowning to the blade.

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Next up is a North Wayne Tool Co. "Little Giant" blade with the original labels mostly intact. It's seen use, but not much. These pieces were made from laminated stock. Unfortunately it seems that whomever did the forging on this one was a bit of a novice as the stock is heavier and thicker than their usual, and the forging neither as crisp as usually exhibited nor as deep. It's still a nice blade, but a bit rough-cut. I was originally going to keep this one in the collection as a display piece but after receiving it and assessing both its condition and quality I would rather use it. I have a Little Giant bush blade, by contrast, that has picture perfect form.

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Lastly, here's an unusual blade with a notch and hook at the base of the blade, presumably as a means of preventing choking of stocks in the span between the heel of the blade and the snath much like a grass nail. The tang is stamped "TRYON" on one side of the tang and an indistinct stamping on the other, but it bears an odd resemblance to the "KELLY" stamping on the TrueTemper weed blade I use on that blue snath of mine. The blade was not modified at all--the hook is original. I'll be restoring this one to see exactly how it performs though I must say I don't like the sacrifice of edge length to prevent a problem that I only experience under extraordinarily rare circumstances.

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Haha--glade you're enjoying it! :D

Was able to find an image of a complete label for that snath I restored for my friend. Looks like it was Eastern Handle Co.

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More mowing today:

[video=youtube;23zG6H4K5Ek]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23zG6H4K5Ek[/video]
 
Latest blade cleanup. A TrueTemper Briar Edge bush blade with the tang pitched. G-Pig and I have taken to calling thin-webbed bush blades given a pitched tang "mulch blades" since they're a good hybrid of a weed and bush blade for cutting mixed vegetation in confined spaces between garden beds and the like.

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My new favorite scythe sharpener. Got the idea for the application after reading a patent for a "steel scythe riffle" which was basically a fine sharpening steel shaped like a stone. The document described the advantages as being durable, lacking hard edges that could accidentally "smack" the edge of the blade during use, causing damage, and the ability to be pocket carried without wear on the pocket. Made sense to me, and this "Balkan steel" from Friedrich Dick was almost the exact same thing but with a handle on it! The cut is VERY fine and the edge it quickly produces on both my American and European blades is astounding. It had a couple of jangly rings on the handle, presumably a means of forming a guard of sorts, that I found annoying and removed. The ring at the end of the handle also ended up being removed. It carries beautifully in an Imacasa 12" machete sheath, and does not clog with grass bits during use--they're easily swiped off of the steel simply by drawing it over the leg of my pants. It's not an inexpensive steel, but the style and size is rare and F. Dick makes the best on the market--the results are absolutely incredible and I cannot express enough how impressed I am with it! Best of all, it barely removes any material whatsoever so it extends the life of the blade compared to more abrasive sharpeners.

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F. Dick is the only company I'm aware of that manufactures steels of that class, which they refer to as "flat" in spite of their very broad lozenge shape. While oval steels are common in diamond models with many makers, F. Dick is also the only maker I know of making true steels in that cross section as well--not to mention polished smooth ones that literally have no abrasive action. They make a nearly $200 one they call the "Multicut" that has a "blade" like this one but with deep grooves interspersed. Apparently if you apply firm pressure it creates a grinding effect while light pressure results in typical fine steeling. They also make some with square cross section with two different cuts so it's like two steels in one.

And yeah, I'm loving this thing for my scythe blades. The edges it makes are almost stupidly sharp and very easily maintained even when I accidentally cut into an ant nest or similar.
 
The latest mowing session. Really crappy mowing conditions and a bad ground-level ozone day. The Balkan steel sees some action at the start as well!

[video=youtube;Oe-OfaMsogA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe-OfaMsogA[/video]
 
For those that have been tossing around the idea of picking up a vintage American scythe cheap locally but keep encountering ones with condition problems, I'm now carrying spare upper and lower nibs and replacement loop bolts. I seem to be the only place that's carrying those items from Seymour, oddly! O_o At any rate, if you find a good snath that has a damaged or missing nib or the loop bolt is gone, just know that it's possible to get spares now. Already installed replacement nibs on a beautifully thin swing plate snath that I had come in the other day.


On a related note, any opinions on what color I should do on the next restoration? :D
 
Wow, just read through all 42 pages of this thread. I think I'm catching the scythe bug too now, so thanks all for getting me thinking about even more ways to lighten my wallet....

dave
 
Hahaha--just got in from mowing the lawn and I'm kickin' back with a nice cold Geary's Summer Ale...nothing beats a good post-mowing beer. :D

The scythe bug is crazy strong once it gets its hooks into you. Get yourself a good unit or find yourself an inexpensive fixer-upper vintage one and do the elbow grease to it and you'll have a friend for life. I seriously couldn't imagine keeping the grass low any other way now, even in hot humid weather like we've been having lately. :cool::thumbup:
 
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