Who else uses a scythe?

The European scythe is a marvelous tool indeed, and while the the European scythe is more difficult to fit and maintain, I feel the method of use is much more intuitive. The problem is when people confuse "intuitive" with "effective" or "efficient". Likewise the adjustability of the American scythe makes it easier for people to adjust the tool to their proportions, but this means there's a TON of variation between users with regard to the grip orientations. These are harder to describe and really have to come from personal fiddling to find what's most comfortable. Usually, the tool is then left in this position in perpetuity, which is why the grips are rusted in position on so many antiques. The proper spacing between them is easy to find and set, though, and the wide range of positions the blade can be securely set at allows you to adjust for different conditions or environments.

Generally speaking, the European scythe is best suited to wide sweeps on smooth ground (level ground or hillsides, but with few bumps or ditches) with lighter targets. The American scythe, on the other hand, fares well in variegated terrain against both heavy and light targets. Little difference is experienced between tackling stemmed plants or leafy greens. It's like the difference between a road bike or a mountain bike. Two variations of the same machine designed for different environments, and equally good in their own right. :cool::thumbup:
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
...little info on the American pattern on the 'net
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Here's a book from the '70s with some articles regarding the American scythe in Chapter 6, Harvesting Equipment:

"Tools for Homesteaders, Gardeners, and Small-Scale Farmers",
edited by Diana S. Branch, Rodale Press, 1978

Articles about the American scythe include:

"Bring on the Scythe" by Drew Langsner
"Build-It-Yourself Grain Cradle" by Richard Weinsteiger
"Hand Mowing: Few Have the Skill to Swing a Scythe -- Properly" by Steve Taylor

A quote from the above article by Steve Taylor:

"A man who can handle a scythe as gracefully and efficiently as anyone in New Hampshire is Stanley Colby of Cornish, a retired agricultural extension agent for Sullivan County and now a town selectman and amateur historian. Colby grew up on a river farm in Plainfield. His father declined to do hand mowing when Stanley approached manhood, and so the boy had to learn. Colby’s grandfather. Albon Wood, instructed him on mowing by hand with a scythe, and coached him for a year or two. Wood could mow all day long and hardly work up a sweat, Colby recalls. Colby is willing to coach greenhorns today. much as his grandfather did him a half century ago."

"‘There's not much to it. You just have to know how to mow, how to sharpen a scythe, and how to set the nibs.” The nibs are the handles affixed to the snath, which is the curved handle of the tool. The scythe is the metal blade which does the actual cutting. ‘You should set the nibs so they’re comfortable and then hold the tool in a normal position close to your body. The tip of the scythe should then be at your left foot."

“'Then you do it. You keep your heel down, stand up tall. If you bend forward, you’ll be a basket case in no time,' Colby advises."


The book can be downloaded here, it's a big book (over 500 pages) and a big file:
http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/417/06-257.pdf
 
That looks like an amazing read! Thanks for posting it!

I'll try to see if I can get my other half to help me take a mowing video. I can't claim my form is perfect, but I know I've got a good grasp of it at least. :D

By the way, I guess Truper makes guadañas. Looks like their snath for them is pretty much identical to the European pattern, though. Falci of Italy, reportedly, is the best present maker of quality Euro-pattern blades. I like the look of their billhooks, too... ;)
 
Well, my lady has agreed to help me take a clip or two so I started the ugly work of preparing an area of overgrowth behind the pasture fence for mowing. This is dense stuff full of reedy grasses, thistles, goldenrod, and other woody stemmed plants. I'll take the vids this weekend and get them up. Like I said, I'm no expert, but my technique isn't TOO awful! :p

Also, I've sent messages to Seymour, Falci and Fux. Hopefully I'll hear back soon. :)
 
Crummy weather today, but I was able to get a few good clips. :)

[video=youtube;6sgM0YlYrDM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sgM0YlYrDM[/video]

[video=youtube;HLonBl3UjSs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLonBl3UjSs&feature=channel_video_title[/video]
 
So does an american scythe have to be hung on a curved snath like that? I remember seeing some straight snaths but they were all for euro scythes...
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Well, since there isn't an agricultural tools section this seems like the best place. Who else is lucky enough to own and use one of these beauties? No cords to yank, no noise, no gas, no fumes--and it's faster than a weed whacker and easier to use than manual push mower. There's a bit of a learning curve involved (and little info on the American pattern on the 'net) but it's a wonderful, simple, and efficient tool for mowing, haying, and clearing weeds, tall grass, or light brush.

Found mine at a local store that specializes in antique tools for only $25. :cool: Ignore the handle positions in the first pic. That's how they were when I bought it. The second one shows them adjusted to where they SHOULD be. :D

View attachment 232710View attachment 232711
Click to expand...

Did you get it at Liberty Tools?
 
G-pig said:
So does an american scythe have to be hung on a curved snath like that? I remember seeing some straight snaths but they were all for euro scythes...
Click to expand...

I've never seen an American scythe with a straight snath. The bend of the snath allows the nibs to be set at the proper level (when held, both hands should be close to level with each other) and the blade at a suitable angle. European scythes accomplish this with a more complex blade shape, a steeper tang set, and either curving the snath or having the lower nib raised on a "stem" to the right height. The American scythe accomplishes all of this this by the curve of the snath and the adjustable nibs. :)

scotchleaf said:
Did you get it at Liberty Tools?
Click to expand...

Nope! I got it at their sister store in Hull's Cove. :cool:
 
Ok, thanks. I toyed around with mine today. Finished the edge on my belt sander and attached to a homemade (straight) snath. It actually cut pretty good. I am short at 5 foot 5 so I could squat a bit and the scythe was level enough to function.
 
For reference, it's actually pretty easy to make your own steam box (or so I hear) so you might try steaming and bending your homemade snath yourself!
 
I don't have much use for a sythe. I do use a British style billhook quite a bit .

billhook.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
For reference, it's actually pretty easy to make your own steam box (or so I hear) so you might try steaming and bending your homemade snath yourself!
Click to expand...

The snath was a small sugar maple, I could probably just clamp it up and bend it that way. Maple, when green, bends very easily (It did when I was making axe handles out of it!).
 
Keeping nibs from moving

books



From:
Popular mechanics, Volume 14, Issues 1-3 (Google eBook)
H. H. Windsor, July 1910, No. 1, p. 123
 
Neat trick!

EDIT, 7/4/2013: I do not recommended using either the above method nor any other method of driving objects into the wood of the snath in order to tighten the nibs, not placing shims between the nib bands and the snath--instead it is much better to reduce the circumference of the loop through tapping it with a hammer. The smaller diameter loop may then securely grip the snath again without any permanent alteration.
 
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Can you use a kitchen steel on a scythe? I would imagine it would work quite well as it wouldn't wear down the steel like a stone would (although thats probably beneficial in some instances) but it would work the burr back and forth and make the scythe razor sharp.
 
It should work just fine for minor touch ups. As mentioned elsewhere in the thread it's best to sharpen the underside and just remove the burr on the opposite.

Oh, and Mossyhorn--that's a sweet billhook! I like it! :cool:

Edit: steels work GREAT if they're of fine cut, in particular "flat" models. And sharpen American blades evenly on both sides.
 
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Thanks for the great thread. After doing a little diggin... Yeeeesh. A lot of crap thrown out about American scythes. Even with some self inflicted contradiction :p Take this for example;

"The style of scythe that they are referring to is the American-style scythe on the right. Being very heavy, and awkward to use, (and seldom sharp)"

That'd be like giving an old american axe with no edge and a brand new GB to someone, of course the GB will work better- its sharp! I watched that video with Perry Vienot and was pretty convinced that the American scythe was a very respectable tool. Just a different technique is all. Ya cant go whippin and twirling em around like the euro patterns.
 
Some old-school advice about sizes of the American scythe, specifying a blade edge 51" long (wow!) for a man 5-foot-eleven or taller.

"For the New England Farmer. SCYTHE PHILOSOPHY.

"Dear Farmer : — Have we no scythe philosophy, no system for fitting up the most important tool the farmer uses, the scythe ? One prefers a long scythe, crooked at the heel and straight at the point; another prefers it crooked at the point, and straight at the heel; some short, &c. The same opinions prevail with regard to snaths, so that a scythe maker may make a lot of scythes of all lengths and shapes, expecting they will suit some one. When the mower goes for a scythe and snath, if he has any scythe philosophy in his head, he goes to the loft with hammer and wrench, and commences measuring and trying, hanging and unhanging, trying which long scythe is the crookedest, and which stiff snath has the least unnecessary crooks. Go amongst the mowers, and no two scythes are alike, so each one must get used to his own scythe, and no other.

"Now the whole thing is wrong. Each and every man needs a scythe and snath alike, except a little difference in length of geer, to proportion it to the length of the man. Scythes and snaths should be number one, two and three, and fitted before they leave the scythe manufactory, so that they will go together without fitting or altering. Scythes should be crooked alike, from heel to point, and be made more crooked than they are; the snaths should have two crooks, all others are unnecessary. A crook at the right hand nib to fetch the hands nearly level when the scythe rests upon the ground, and the man that holds it stands erect; the other near the lower end, to turn the edge down so low as to make it range with the left hand nib, or a little inside of it, that the out and draught shall agree.

"A snath for a man 5-feet-11 inches, or over, in height, should be 2 feet 8 inches from the right hand nib to the lower end, and the scythe for such a snath should be 4-feet-3 inches long on the edge before it is bent; the bend should be a circular bend till the edge in the middle is 6 inches from a right line with the edge at both ends.

"No. 2 scythe, 2-feet-6 inches from lower nib to end of snath, scythe 4-feet edge, bent 5-1/4 inches, for men from 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-11.

"No. 3, for short men and boys; snath 2-feet-4, scythe edge 3-feet-9 or -10 inches, crook in proportion to others.

"The benefits resulting from such arrangements must be evident to all. One of our greatest difficulties arises from the weakness or elasticity of the snath. No man can mow fast or easy, with a scythe that springs, or tumbles in the grass. If the iron snath made by Lamson, Goodnow & Co., was bent as it should be, and the patent heel rigging left off, and a good wrought iron heel put in its place, it would be far superior to any thing of the kind. It is well known that there are certain men that can cut as much grass in one day as other men of equal strength can in two. That is owing to two things, namely; skill in rigging up the scythe, and second, in striking it into the grass. Some of the readers of your paper may recollect two men that mowed for Erastus Swift, of Addison, Vermont, in 1830, by the acre, and he paid them for mowing 7-3/4 acres a day, for every working day, till his hay was cut. Those men mowed with No. 1 scythes as above mentioned.

"Now, if a little skill can save one-third to one-half the labor of mowing, 'tis worth looking after. A question arises with me, and perhaps with others, who is to get up the alteration in the scythe, and write out a scythe philosophy to direct the young mower how to strike the scythe into the grass ?

"Too many mowers stand too far off from the grass, and strike too rounding a stroke. Some weight is necessary in scythe and snath to give stability to the motion."
--Green Mountain, Middlebury, Vt., July, 1858.

from
The New England farmer, Volume 10 (Google eBook), Samuel W. Cole, J. Nourse, 1858, p. 418
New England Farmer 1858
 
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