Who else uses a scythe?

As far as a haft socket, I think its a holdover 'eurothing from DIY times.
(Not that tang fitting is difficult...) A guy could quicky carve and fit a haft of whatever was at hand.

I have couple old US made forks what are a dream to use. Ended up fitting them to hafts intended for garden rakes.
Not quite as sturdy an original haft, & rake haft is straight, so alters the original fork geometry, but, I dont bother bending stuff, It still works fine, As I am not throwing 20 pound sheafs either, they are plenty durable.
 
Yes, sockets are certainly quite expedient to rehandle and require fewer tools to do the job well. But dang--they sure are heavy compared to tang and ferrule. I have a Falci-branded 3-tine socket made by Struc in Slovenia and the thing's just heavy as hell. Not as bad as it could be, granted (beats the hell out of a Truper or Seymour fork) but even with substantial grinding work to slim and taper the tines it's still nowhere near as nimble as I'd like.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
American blades are ground on both sides. Due to the shape of the rib you can typically grind a deeper bevel on the upper face of the blade than the bottom, but regardless of the specific angle per side, the edge should reach an apex in the center of the web.
Click to expand...

good to know. my Grizzly just showed up. seems pretty rugged, which is good, as the box and foam definitely did their jobs.

can't wait until it's not freezing outside. things growing. stuff to cut :D
 
Meanwhile we just got dumped with 24" of snow in as many hours and I spent all day and yesterday afternoon dealing with the stuff. :p
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Meanwhile we just got dumped with 24" of snow in as many hours and I spent all day and yesterday afternoon dealing with the stuff. :p
Click to expand...

same. southern NH. took me two hours with proper equipment to clear my open areas. bah.

to think, last week i was going to buy a wood chipper and start logging.
 
which reminds me, i need to make a pilgramage to lie-nielsen
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
...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.

View attachment 357522
Click to expand...

Here's a catalog with snaths (and snath repair parts) from the Eastern Handle Co. of Richmond, Virginia.

BookReaderImages.php


BookReaderImages.php


BookReaderImages.php


I didn't see a date, but the inside front cover says "since 1810" and "for more than 139 years", so that should mean the catalog is from about 1950 or later.

https://archive.org/stream/EasternHandleCorpCatalogA39/Eastern Handle Corp Catalog A-39#page/n1/mode/2up
 
Yup--saw that right away yesterday when the True Temper catalog was pointed out and it was a major find, as there's hardly any info out there about the Eastern Handle Co. Their swing plate method sucked because it relied on digging into the wood to fully affix it, and the second hole didn't make much sense because you can't really switch between them. The fact that many of them had conventional threads on the nibs, and it makes for a very sub-par combo. That being said, the quality of the rest of the hardware and the snath shafts are pretty decent, and certainly a lot better than a lot of later-period Seymour stuff.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Here are the most relevant pages from that 1938 True Temper catalog...
Click to expand...

"Kelly scythes are all hand forged and skillfully shaped under repeated blows of the hammers."
(from page 133 of the catalog)

This contradicts the recently published "Scything Handbook" (by Ian Miller) that says American scythes are stamped. The book also states that American scythes are "not suitable for hay and small grain harvesting", which seems to ignore a whole lot of history.
 
Steve Tall said:
"Kelly scythes are all hand forged and skillfully shaped under repeated blows of the hammers."
(from page 133 of the catalog)

This contradicts the recently published "Scything Handbook" (by Ian Miller) that says American scythes are stamped. The book also states that American scythes are "not suitable for hay and small grain harvesting", which seems to ignore a whole lot of history.
Click to expand...

I've spoken to Ian Miller about the egregious falsehoods in that book regarding American scythes, and he did a bunch of handwaving and tried to avoid talking about it. :rolleyes: There is literally only one manufacturer (as yet to be identified by name) that I have ever seen stamped blades from, and I have a couple of them. All other American blades I have ever come across were fully forged construction, and most premium blades were laminated. There's mountains of evidence that contradict Mr. Miller's statements, but he seems not to care in the slightest. The man thinks the rib on American blades was for diverting juice when harvesting sugar cane with them, for crying out loud.
 
Some interesting info about the Eastern Handle Co. here.

Apparently they were a continuation of the Brinser legacy. I have a Brinser snath in the collection with a partial label.

"Ray Coble Brinser who passed away Saturday, April 7, 2001 was born June 8, 1908 in Richmond, Va., was the son of the late John Wesley and Alda Coble Brinser. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Clareine Sheppe Brinser. He also leaves a number of nieces and nephews. He attended Richmond Public Schools and McGuire University, where he excelled in football and track. Mr. Brinser was a life-long member of Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church. In 1941, the family business, E.C. Brinser & Sons, manufacturer of agricultural tool handles, burned. In 1943, Mr. Brinser, with his partner, formed the Eastern Handle Corp. of which he was Vice President and Superintendent. In 1980 at the age of 72, he began carving in wood. He was self- taught, producing many quality carvings and sculptures in wood and stone."
Click to expand...
 
Steve Tall said:
"Kelly scythes are all hand forged and skillfully shaped under repeated blows of the hammers."
(from page 133 of the catalog)

This contradicts the recently published "Scything Handbook" (by Ian Miller) that says American scythes are stamped. The book also states that American scythes are "not suitable for hay and small grain harvesting", which seems to ignore a whole lot of history.
Click to expand...

For most (last summer weather caused us a small shortfall) of the past four winters, I have maintained four animals (fat pony, and three mules) exclusively on hay cut with a scythe, American style. Aside from the Vidos, I think most of the people promoting euro scythes are dabblers and have very little credibility beyond demonstrations and races, both of which I might add they hold under unrealistically perfect conditions, ideal grass, flat smooth land, etc. Ian Miller is welcome to join us in the hayfield.
 
I picked this up at a garage sale this weekend.
e3exb2V.jpg

No markings anywhere on the blade or elsewhere.
I'm guessing it's some sort of ditch blade but I've never really seen a tool like this. The single handle is annoying and overall it's short.

I did give it a cursory sharpening and it cuts pretty dang nice. Took down small hackberry saplings with no problem. All in all it seems worth the 20 bucks.
 
Looks like a clone of the North Wayne Tool Co.'s "scythook"

content


However, it's a tang-and-ferrule construction rather than the two-piece shell socket that NWT Co. used. My guess is maybe someone like True Temper made it, or maybe Village Blacksmith, but I've not seen that particular model before.
 
BG_Farmer said:
For most (last summer weather caused us a small shortfall) of the past four winters, I have maintained four animals (fat pony, and three mules) exclusively on hay cut with a scythe, American style. Aside from the Vidos, I think most of the people promoting euro scythes are dabblers and have very little credibility beyond demonstrations and races, both of which I might add they hold under unrealistically perfect conditions, ideal grass, flat smooth land, etc. Ian Miller is welcome to join us in the hayfield.
Click to expand...

Is there any doubt that people in Europe have done just that, even more, with their scythes, for centuries? If anything, you'd be hard pressed to find today people in the "civilized" world who use these tools with the same prowess I have witnessed growing up. There are still places e.g. in Eastern Europe where I could throw a rock and hit someone mowing with a scythe :) - this being their seasonal job. I assure you they do not work under ideal conditions and after 20-30-40 years of doing the same thing they are very, very efficient.

I may have missed the point of your post, and I am apologizing if so, but to me it just described "routine" I have witnessed year after year.
 
Moonw said:
Is there any doubt that people in Europe have done just that, even more, with their scythes, for centuries? If anything, you'd be hard pressed to find today people in the "civilized" world who use these tools with the same prowess I have witnessed growing up. There are still places e.g. in Eastern Europe where I could throw a rock and hit someone mowing with a scythe :) - this being their seasonal job. I assure you they do not work under ideal conditions and after 20-30-40 years of doing the same thing they are very, very efficient.

I may have missed the point of your post, and I am apologizing if so, but to me it just described "routine" I have witnessed year after year.
Click to expand...

He was talking specifically about promoters of Euro scythes. There are a few folks other than the Vidos who can be considered as truly adept (most notably folks like Niels Johansson), and they tend not to be at all closed-minded about the merits of different kinds of scythes, but most of the folks raving about the Austrian/Vidonian style are neophytes. Even I'm really an amateur by my own estimation, but at least come from a background in the in-depth study and application of edged hand tools. However there are a lot of folks trying to make a name for themselves promoting the Euro scythe that really are underqualified to be called experts by any measure, and many of them like to rag on the American pattern thanks to old bad lore and inexperience. There are tons of highly experienced mowers in the world, but most of them aren't publishing books, promoting themselves on social media or magazines, or arguing with folks about scythe stuff on the internet. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
He was talking specifically about promoters of Euro scythes. There are a few folks other than the Vidos who can be considered as truly adept (most notably folks like Niels Johansson), and they tend not to be at all closed-minded about the merits of different kinds of scythes, but most of the folks raving about the Austrian/Vidonian style are neophytes. Even I'm really an amateur by my own estimation, but at least come from a background in the in-depth study and application of edged hand tools. However there are a lot of folks trying to make a name for themselves promoting the Euro scythe that really are underqualified to be called experts by any measure, and many of them like to rag on the American pattern thanks to old bad lore and inexperience. There are tons of highly experienced mowers in the world, but most of them aren't publishing books, promoting themselves on social media or magazines, or arguing with folks about scythe stuff on the internet. :D
Click to expand...

Thank you for providing some context. If people that would curl up and die were they forced to support themselves via manual labor of this kind (under non-ideal conditions) are the critics/promoters, then I can see BGFarmer's point and I apologize profusely. I didn't know there were scythes "terrorists", too, but why am I surprised? :)
 
I know from direct conversation that at least one very experienced person more knowledgeable than Mr. Miller was turned down when the offer was made to assist in the technical portions of the book.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top