Who else uses a scythe?

Steve Tall said:
This recent video shows how scythes are just starting to be used in India to harvest wheat, instead of the slower method of squatting on the ground with a sickle, thanks to the efforts of 2 guys who went there to demonstrate the scythe at a bunch of villages:
Click to expand...

Egads. While I applaud their motives, couldn't they have at least taught them with hard edged American scythes?
 
For their particular application I think the Euro pattern is fine. Since they're most likely to opt for the most simplistic of assembly and want to DIY whatever they can, it's easier to self-manufacture a straight snath, a peening anvil can be improvised if need be, they already have a wide blade that supports the stalks well (American grain cradle blades were wider than standard grass blades for this reason, and cradle blades are no longer manufactured) and the rings are very minimal mounting hardware even if they have their deficiencies.

Obviously I significantly prefer American scythes overall, but this is one context where the Euro style is probably a more appropriate match, at least for now. The American scythe was a pretty high-tech version of the tool in its day.
 
Thanks for starting this thread, I'm going to try and get through all 84 pages for the same reason I was looking for machete ideas.. Lots of 3-4 foot weed grass to handle. I've been watching Craigslist for an American scythe and want to make sure I know what to look for
 
Just make sure you take earlier writing with a grain of salt in that I hadn't had as much experience or done as much research yet as I now have. If anything seems contradictory or you have any questions just let me know. Any vintage scythe is going to need a lot of work done to it to get it tuned up, just as a heads up. It's quite an undertaking, though you only have to do it once.
 
Yes, although they still need some work out of the box. The No.1 wooden snaths are currently garbage the way they're assembled, though the raw parts are fine which is why I've arranged to purchase them unassembled and do the fitting work properly myself. The No.8 and No.9 aluminum snaths are fine, though the nibs are usually on tight enough you need a vise with rubber jaw pads to loosen them initially, and the heel plate retaining bolt is installed upside down. Take care of those factors and they're good to go. I've noticed recently that the Austrian-made Seymour American blades are coming sharper from the factory now, but the still do need some thinning plus tang angle adjustment for most users. Restored vintage blades provide the best performance overall, but I'm the only fellow in that game right now as far as I know.
 
Looks like a fairly slim one compared to most I see with an Ironclad collar. Here's hoping the pitting doesn't go deep enough to go halfway through the thickness of the web, though, 'cause if it does, you'll get gaps in the edge.
 
I figured for $25 i would have a go.
Is it possible to find new stock replacement blades for it? Where would one start looking ?
 
There are new blades available by Seymour Midwest (contracted through the Austrian manufacturer, Schröckenfux) as well as new old stock blades available through yours truly, but one doesn't need a "new" blade, per se, so much as one that's just in good restorable condition.
 
Kraash
I think that blade will clean up ok. A pan of acid or bottle of naval jelly will take the rust off, with a little scrubbing. I like to paint with flat black enamel spray paint as soon as the rust is off. That minimizes appearance of pits and stops rust until you get blade back to use.
 
It's only a problem if the pitting goes halfway or more through the web since it creates interruptions in the edge.

Here's a little rough mockup of some of the diagrams that you can expect soon, along with written information. The inner two circles are placeholders just showing length represented by diameter, so ignore them for the moment, and there are some other small tweaks that will be made in the final diagram. This shows behavior of the pivot center of a stroke in positions ranging between the right hand (red) and left hand (fuchsia.)

ScytheRotationAnimated.gif
 
42, agreed, but pitting that bad is rare, thankfully! It is worth a try for a user blade. Old bendy was almost that bad looking rust wise and came out good.

Need to brush up on my trig, calculus, maybe even diffE by the looks of that diagram :).
 
They only had gloss where I was but I hope to start working on it this week, right now it's taking a bath in wd40
 
A coarse drill-mounted wire wheel will do a good job of getting the worst of the surface rust off of it, even in the absence of preliminary cleaning.
 
Mr FortytwoBlades, Any idea what this scythe or sickle head would have been used for? I finally ran down the emblem its from an Austrian company (Redtenbacher) that is no longer in business.
16%2B-%2B3
16%2B-%2B2
 
Looks like it's missing the tip of the blade. Probably either a cereal grains harvesting tool or for general vegetation gathering. Doubtful it was a grass hook with that shape. With how open the shape is it would have been used with a drawing action, most likely.
 
Another teaser picture, linked from Facebook. The required presentation of the blade's arc relative to the radius of the stroke. You can see that in this case the angle is greater than 90°, and so the edge is trailing rather than leading like it should.

13654403_10209981506162686_9201093728891057598_n.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Another teaser picture, linked from Facebook. The required presentation of the blade's arc relative to the radius of the stroke. You can see...
Click to expand...

How are you defining "the radius of the stroke"? Isn't it an oversimplification to consider the motion of the blade to be purely circular?
 
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