Who else uses a scythe?

Nice! Waldron blades don't turn up too often. English blades were often sold in the USA for lawn use.

As far as links, check THIS guide, and the following videos:

[video=youtube;DjKjciIIDbs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_2437866877&feature=iv&src_vid=9sUICpqr2UA&v=DjKjciIIDbs[/video]

[video=youtube;DpwfQe5EK58]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpwfQe5EK58[/video]

[video=youtube;yK8KVgM7WAM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK8KVgM7WAM[/video]
 
Finishing up a snath right now that should end up around 2lb 5oz or possibly less. The current "dry weight" of the snath without nibs or other hardware is only 1lb 7oz.
 
scored a pretty decent scythe with a fairly long blade. teeny bit of surface rust, but sharp, clean enough edge.

very similar to the one i cleaned up and made purple.

going to need a good way to sharpen these bad boys at some point.
 
Bladite said:
scored a pretty decent scythe with a fairly long blade. teeny bit of surface rust, but sharp, clean enough edge.

very similar to the one i cleaned up and made purple.

going to need a good way to sharpen these bad boys at some point.
Click to expand...

Probably the cheapest way would be to find a good used low-RPM motor and slap an arbor on it with an appropriately-rated wheel large enough to give you clearance of the motor housing.
 
Yes. It's one that actually came with some rather bad surface knots in it that made it a good candidate for seeing just how far I could pare it down. Turns out I was able to get out all of the knots except at the tip of the small end where it doesn't matter.

I have an American-style or "inverted" custom scythe ring that'll be going on it. Think a lighter, smaller version of the ones Sta-Tite used to make. It's water jet cut from a solid billet of steel. Not a cheap ring, but sturdy as heck with a varied wall thickness. I've taken to calling it the "North Star" scythe ring after the star on the Maine state flag. I also have CAD files ready for the water jet cutter for some universal heel plates that can be used with both American and European style tangs. :)
 
Also, here's one of them completed with standard hardware. Weight complete with hardware is 2lb 11oz.

customized-seymour-no-1-grass-snath-17.gif
 
Excellent! Those sound like just the thing for getting Anglo American scythes the attention and respect they should have already!
 
I have a few other fun developments in the works, as well, but it'll be a while before those are ready for unveiling. :)
 
Here's that snath. To start, this ash was blindingly white. Here it is with a base coat of BLO on it.

IMG_3966-1024x694.jpg


IMG_3968-694x1024.jpg


Here's the blood/oil mixture.

IMG_3975-1024x694.jpg


Appearance when freshly applied.

IMG_3977-1024x694.jpg


After oxidizing.

IMG_3981-1024x694.jpg


IMG_3983-694x1024.jpg


IMG_3984-1024x694.jpg
 
Looks like the grain orientation ;) is like "horizontal" grain in an axe (resulting in more flex when loaded, but less than maximum strength)?

Just curious, is there any consistency to the grain orientation among all those new snaths you received?
 
Historically it's usually vertical (perpendicular to the load) because it better resists delamination/cracking during bending that way. The ones I received all have vertical grain. The one problem this sometimes causes is on old Seymour Ironclad snaths. The heel plate on those has lips that extend over the edge a crisp corner cut in the wood. If the fastening bolt is cranked down too tight it causes that lip to apply pressure straight into the grain.

US1824123-0.png
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Historically it's usually vertical (perpendicular to the load) because it better resists delamination/cracking during bending that way. The ones I received all have vertical grain...
Click to expand...

To clarify the terms here,
what you are calling vertical grain orientation in these scythe snaths,
is equivalent to horizontal grain orientation in axe handles,
in that they are both perpendicular to the load.
Right?
 
Correct. In this case the grain is perpendicular to the load in use but parallel with the load during steam bending.
 
Hey, Steve--here's one I could use a little help looking up. Just got my hands on a long plain web blade with a tang knob and stampings that indicate late 1800's manufacture. After a pop in the electrolysis tank the markings became legible as "JH WITHERELL & CO." and some initial research indicates a Witherell Scythe Co. in operation from 1885-1916 but I'm not finding much beyond the fact that Mr. J.H. Witherell was manager of the New Hampshire Scythe Co. as well.

books


Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine, Volume 5, 1882
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Hey, Steve--here's one I could use a little help looking up. Just got my hands on a long plain web blade with a tang knob and stampings that indicate late 1800's manufacture. After a pop in the electrolysis tank the markings became legible as "JH WITHERELL & CO." and some initial research indicates a Witherell Scythe Co. in operation from 1885-1916 but I'm not finding much beyond the fact that Mr. J.H. Witherell was manager of the New Hampshire Scythe Co. as well.

books


Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine, Volume 5, 1882
Click to expand...



"Witherell Scythe Co. Oakland 1885-1926 Tools Made: Axes and Scythes
Remarks: Their mark WITHERELL SCYTHE CO. | OAKLAND, MAINE has been reported on a paper ax label. Another company, Witherell Axe Co., supposedly was in operation during the same years as this company in Oakland. Perhaps these two companies were the same and the name was changed at some point. Klenman (1997) indicates that James H. Witherell opened the company in 1886, and his sons, Carl and Louis, continued the business when he died in 1916. They sold it to Emerson & Stevens in the mid-1920s. E. & S. continued to use the label for awhile."

text quoted from the Davistown Museum document:
http://www.davistownmuseum.org/PDFs/Vol_10_Registry.pdf
pages 244-255
 
Not that they couldn't have also used other marks, but it's interesting that the Davistown Museum registry does not note this particular marking as being used. Likewise the fact that it's under the name "JH Witherell & Co". Makes me wonder if it's an early piece.
 
J.H. Witherell ran a scythe factory in Littleton, New Hampshire, from 1880 until 1885:

"...The first year fourteen hundred dozen scythes were made and the annual output thereafter was about seventeen hundred dozen In 1874. Otis G Hale succeeded Mr Dow as agent and the company at the same time added the manufacture of axes to its product. James H Witherell who held a copyright on a name and style of scythes and axes that had met with large sales assumed the management in 1880 and so continued until its affairs were closed up in 1885."

books


History of Littleton, New Hampshire: Topical history
By James Robert Jackson, George Clarence Furber, 1905
 
Fantastic information--thanks, as always. You have a real knack for finding stuff that doesn't crop up for me. :)

Edit: Now knowing the first name James, I've been able to discover that the "H" was for "Hill".
 
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