Who else uses a scythe?

Trimming tight spaces with a grass hook:
[video=youtube;ZG3pekptsJI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3pekptsJI[/video]

Rough cutting up behind the fence lines with a short unpitched bush blade on extremely bumpy ground:
[video=youtube;qLCxZWHwkrc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLCxZWHwkrc[/video]
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Some quick videos I took yesterday.

A little lawn work with the 48" cradle blade:
[video=youtube;CHyDMADvIAA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHyDMADvIAA[/video]
Click to expand...
This video is beautiful- an American pattern scythe in the typical case where a lawnmower is
used. Do you have examples in which you use a more common blade with the same sort
of grass?

I have run out of things to cut. A couple of weeks ago I took the 7 scythes in various
states of repair out to a group for a workshop. After talking theory we took them out
to a lot that had grown all season the year before.
field.jpg

There we learned the difference _sharp_ makes. Even with a sharp blade, cutting the
stuff in the picture was hard work at this stage of my learning.

Later in the week I made these windrows. The black hose is 20 feet and the magnolia
leaves mark out what I cut going in and coming out:
windrows.jpg


I appreciate the tip on where to find parts, and am looking
for a way to send some business that way. I have a spare
ring from a non-functional snath and will soon come across
some pristine nibs.

My next frontier is sharpening.
 
panyo said:
This video is beautiful- an American pattern scythe in the typical case where a lawnmower is
used. Do you have examples in which you use a more common blade with the same sort
of grass?
Click to expand...

I'll need to take a video with my lovely little TrueTemper weed blade again--it's a real gem in spite of being so heavy. I use the big cradle blade to knock down the flatter more open areas and then do cleanup with the weed blade, as it's much more nimble getting into the dips and valleys that comprise a lot of my yard space. I was doing a decent amount of that this evening, actually, and will likely continue with it tomorrow. The horses are in heaven right now with about 8 barley forkfuls of fresh lawn grass and dandelions.
 
The family that hays together stays together! :D

10349225_10152224356399440_4263805195194304943_n.jpg


Made the little guy (4 years old) his own unit and he had some fun doing some guided mowing in the tall growth out back. It still needs some final tuning and adjustment but it works great for him. The snath is birch with vintage hardware and new nibs.

10410799_10203825978638345_5383271530455056797_n.jpg


10429242_10203825979878376_8591713287453449495_n.jpg


1511341_10203825980198384_2710422626306482185_n.jpg


10372066_10203825980758398_1331437377251281093_n.jpg
 
Excellent. Will that be the new Seymour SN-0.5 :)? Indeed, if a family can stay together while haying together, they have a real leg up!
 
Hahaha--I'd actually like to convince them to sell the collar on its own for folks wanting to make their own snaths. They sell the loop bolts and nibs, but not the collar itself. Would be perfect for folks who are too tall for a standard 60" scythe as well as folks making their kiddos a snath like this.
 
Not sure what I have! 2 weeks ago I found a snath (is that right?) at an estate sale paid 2.00 for it. Just last week I got really lucky!!! I found an entire scythe at another sale that the women let me have! That one has a decal (don't remember brand name) on the blade and was made in austria. Think the snath was made in italy? The snatch is much heavier than the one that was mounted and a tad bit shorter. Anything you can tell me about either (I'll try and get pics up) would be greatly appreciated. Don't have much use for them but enjoy old school powerless tools!
 
42blades,
Good point. The u-bolts on my son's Wildwood snath seem to be holding perfectly, but the hybrid blade is short and light. I like the collar on the current Seymour snaths for US pattern blades, as it is very sturdy and secure and has a little pitch built in, not to mention adjustments for fine tuning hafting angle. Hope I got those terms right.

How did you bend the wood, or did you find something that grew right?
 
snuffy9999 said:
Not sure what I have! 2 weeks ago I found a snath (is that right?) at an estate sale paid 2.00 for it. Just last week I got really lucky!!! I found an entire scythe at another sale that the women let me have! That one has a decal (don't remember brand name) on the blade and was made in austria. Think the snath was made in italy? The snatch is much heavier than the one that was mounted and a tad bit shorter. Anything you can tell me about either (I'll try and get pics up) would be greatly appreciated. Don't have much use for them but enjoy old school powerless tools!
Click to expand...

Gotta' see pics to tell what it is. If Austrian-made it's probably either a Redtenbacher or Shröckenfux but may have a label reading "VIC" on it.

BG_Farmer said:
42blades,
Good point. The u-bolts on my son's Wildwood snath seem to be holding perfectly, but the hybrid blade is short and light. I like the collar on the current Seymour snaths for US pattern blades, as it is very sturdy and secure and has a little pitch built in, not to mention adjustments for fine tuning hafting angle. Hope I got those terms right.

How did you bend the wood, or did you find something that grew right?
Click to expand...

Just found a piece that grew right. :)

And yeah, there are even nicer types of hardware than the present Seymour ones...but the Seymour ones are a VERY good combination of simplicity and strength as far as forming and installation goes. The bolt just hangs off the end of the snath, rather than passing through the wood like in Derby & Ball or Sta-Tite ones. My favorite hardware, though, are the Derby & Ball swing socket models where the pivot of the swing socket is in a hole on the collar rather than just being sunk straight into the wood.
 
[video=youtube;nF_-JKPuDK4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_-JKPuDK4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
[video=youtube;nF_-JKPuDK4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_-JKPuDK4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Click to expand...

You turned your lower nib so it points down, raising the angle of your snath to the ground? Is this so your blade with its
set tang will have a more upward slope for the tall as opposed to short grass?

On some grass like that a gentleman much older than me demonstrated keeping the nibs level with the blade
and swinging the blade level and hard and fast into the grass. He said he used to open fields for machinery that way.
Another report I have heard from someone almost of that generation is of his Old Order Mennonite neighbors
gliding through the wheat fields with a stroke that opened from far back and closed in front of them rather than all
the way around to the left. I have yet to meet someone who still cuts fields with these tools.
I am guessing that the last generation to cut fields with a scythe passed the scythes to their kids for
knocking down grass on steep banks without bothering to teach them the finer points needed for efficiently
cutting down an entire field.
I am starting to have a feel for different strokes for different situations, but still am not up to sweeping
away the grass the way you do. Actively looking for a way to put hollow grinds on my blades in case that
might help.

Great on the family scything! We scythe and sickle.
 
panyo said:
You turned your lower nib so it points down, raising the angle of your snath to the ground? Is this so your blade with its
set tang will have a more upward slope for the tall as opposed to short grass?

On some grass like that a gentleman much older than me demonstrated keeping the nibs level with the blade
and swinging the blade level and hard and fast into the grass. He said he used to open fields for machinery that way.
Another report I have heard from someone almost of that generation is of his Old Order Mennonite neighbors
gliding through the wheat fields with a stroke that opened from far back and closed in front of them rather than all
the way around to the left. I have yet to meet someone who still cuts fields with these tools.
I am guessing that the last generation to cut fields with a scythe passed the scythes to their kids for
knocking down grass on steep banks without bothering to teach them the finer points needed for efficiently
cutting down an entire field.
I am starting to have a feel for different strokes for different situations, but still am not up to sweeping
away the grass the way you do. Actively looking for a way to put hollow grinds on my blades in case that
might help.

Great on the family scything! We scythe and sickle.
Click to expand...

My upper nib, you mean? Yes--the tang angle of this blade is adjusted for lawn mowing, and so is quite low to the ground in its more typical lay, while the ground back in this area is significantly more bumpy and requires the more upward angle, so a quick cheat to lift the lay is to simply rotate the upper nib straight down, lifting the edge upward a bit.

And yes--getting a good feel of the different strokes is all part of the process. I'm actually almost out of stuff to mow right now--I've gotten too good at it! :( Gonna' need to see if my grandfather has mowed his big fields yet. If not, I'll need to get out there just to have some fun. :D

And yes--good thin edges really help, and a slight hollow just makes it that much better. Harbor Freight has a cheapo $60 wet grinder but I hear the worm gear can strip easily. Still, if you were to replace it immediately with one made of brass instead I bet it would hold up.
 
Just came in from doing some brush removal in the back pasture. The dogwood likes to take over if I don't keep it trimmed. In the process, I found this.

10313487_10203869476805772_7402073546286275012_n.jpg


Wait--you mean you don't know what I'm talking about? Look closer. :)

10390442_10203869475325735_3985365118461267620_n.jpg


Even closer.

10421128_10203869474925725_2345192235201145902_n.jpg


If I had been using any sort of power mower these would have been a tiny little omelette.
 
“Just the place for a Snath!” the Blademan cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

“Just the place for a Snath! I have said it twice;
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snath! I have said it thrice;
What I tell you three times is true.”

The Blademan himself they all praised to the skies—
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!

He had forty-two blades, all carefully packed,
With his name printed clearly on each:
But since he omitted a whetstone in fact
They were dull as the rocks on the beach.

The Boots and the Broker were sharpening a blade—
Each working the grindstone in turn;
But the Beaver went on making lace, and displayed
No interest in the concern:

“Some Snaths are Hebrew—some Snaths are Dutch—
Some Snaths are German or Greek;
Some Snaths are English but there are nonesuch
As American Snaths that we seek.”

“We seek them with thimbles, we seek them with care;
We pursue them with forks and hope;
We threaten their lives with a railway share;
We charm them with smiles and soap!

“For the Snath’s a peculiar creature, that won’t
Be caught in a commonplace way.
Do all that you know, and try all that you don’t:
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!
 
Last edited:
Raymond1000 said:
“Just the place for a Snath!” the Blademan cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

“Just the place for a Snath! I have said it twice;
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snath! I have said it thrice;
What I tell you three times is true.”

The Blademan himself they all praised to the skies—
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!

He had forty-two blades, all carefully packed,
With his name printed clearly on each:
But since he omitted a whetstone in fact
They were dull as the rocks on the beach.

The Boots and the Broker were sharpening a blade—
Each working the grindstone in turn;
But the Beaver went on making lace, and displayed
No interest in the concern:

“Some Snaths are Hebrew—some Snaths are Dutch—
Some Snaths are German or Greek;
Some Snaths are English but there are nonesuch
As American Snaths that we seek.”

“We seek them with thimbles, we seek them with care;
We pursue them with forks and hope;
We threaten their lives with a railway share;
We charm them with smiles and soap!

“For the Snath’s a peculiar creature, that won’t
Be caught in a commonplace way.
Do all that you know, and try all that you don’t:
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!
Click to expand...

Hahahahahaha! Nice! Lewis Caroll would be proud. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Hahahahahaha! Nice! Lewis Caroll would be proud. :D
Click to expand...

Forty Two Blades:

It all got started when I read this verse:

He had forty-two boxes, all carefully packed,
With his name printed clearly on each:
But, since he omitted to mention the fact,
They were all left behind on the beach.

So my take off is really your fault. :D
 
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