Who else uses a scythe?

Doesn't typically need to be very thick unless the wood has shrunk severely. Just a little increased thickness when you have a bit of a wobble in the fit is enough. :)
 
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An update on the scythe. I learned that it came from the neighbors family's dairy farm that they got 150 years ago. I managed to clean it up and sharpen it and tune it up. One of the handles split in half so I fashioned some slivers to fit in the cracks along the splits. It held fine through some mild scotch broom cutting. I replaced the cloth with a rubber band made out of a piece of thin bike inner tube that won't absorb moisture. I am able to see a lighter patch where a label might have been.
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New scythe mower here (mowed the yard 5 times). I went through all the pages and didn't see anything about clogged whetstones. Got the beginners kit with ditch blade from scythe supply. The natural stone seemed to become glazed and my sharpening wasn't going well. Our water is alkaline and hard. Some say you need a chisel to drink our water. I switched to distilled water in the holder. Didn't have a noticeable effect. Page 28 in the scythe book mentions that some mowers put vinegar in the holder water. It didn't say why. I tried it and the glazing went away and the stone feels amazingly different. The honing works better. How much vinegar? I just used a 8-10 squirts from the spray bottle. With such hard water, a bit of vinegar keeps shiny things shiny.
 
GNM said:
New scythe mower here (mowed the yard 5 times). I went through all the pages and didn't see anything about clogged whetstones. Got the beginners kit with ditch blade from scythe supply. The natural stone seemed to become glazed and my sharpening wasn't going well. Our water is alkaline and hard. Some say you need a chisel to drink our water. I switched to distilled water in the holder. Didn't have a noticeable effect. Page 28 in the scythe book mentions that some mowers put vinegar in the holder water. It didn't say why. I tried it and the glazing went away and the stone feels amazingly different. The honing works better. How much vinegar? I just used a 8-10 squirts from the spray bottle. With such hard water, a bit of vinegar keeps shiny things shiny.
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It's because it essentially mildly etches the metal fines to help keep them from adhering. The stone they sell with those kits is kind of on the fine side, though, and I'd suggest getting a synthetic stone or coarse natural stone (if you prefer that sort of thing) to help do the "heavy lifting" of your honing work.
 
Picked up a scythe at an antique machinery show last week for $20. The snath seems solid and I wanted to use it for weeding fence rows so I picked one with a decent looking, though rusty, heavy blade.
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From what I have read in this thread, it's most likely a Seymour snath, but I haven't seen anything online similar to the blade it came with. I'm not sure how they are traditionally measured, but measured straight across from toe to heel, the blade is just over 23".
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It seems extremely thick and heavy compared to other scythe blades I've seen and the tang section appears to be riveted to the blade.
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I removed the blade last night and hit it with a wire wheel to remove some of the surface corrosion, but as of yet I haven't come across any markings of any kind. Does anyone have any ideas who could have made this blade?
 
Those blades were an economy blade made by True Temper. They're very heavy due to the tang construction. The snath looks like it *might* be a Sta-Tite, but I'd have to see the rest of the hardware. :)
 
It appears to be a brush blade like the one I posted 3 posts back. As for a maker, wait for 42blades. Edit: I waited too long.:rolleyes:
 
Hahaha--no worries! There are exceptions, but as a rule of thumb, bush blades run 14-20", weed blades run 22-26", and grass blades run 28"-36". But build is a factor that gets taken into consideration when categorizing, so it's not always universally going to be one of those types just 'cause it fits the length standards. :)
 
Thanks for the insight everyone! I'm kind of glad it's not a super rare blade since I'm going to be learning on it. I'd hate to hit a stray rock or post while learning correct form and damage a nicer blade.

I took some more pictures of the snath hardware last night. Do these help in nailing down the snath manufacturer? Thanks again!
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I'm now thinking it's most likely a Brinser snath. Brinser later went on to become the Eastern Handle Co.
 
Thanks for the info, 42Blades. I'll be placing an order for some stones soon. Any recommendations on treatments for the wood of the snath? Linseed oil like you would on an axe?
 
I use a mineral oil and paraffin wax blend on mine. I add just enough wax to make it more like a paste rather than oil.
 
Not easy to assess from that dark, small photo. At a distance the blades look "fair", and have a bit of toe wear and potential signs of less-than-ideal rusting, but overall nothing glaringly wrong with them. The snath appears to be of a sort that I see every now and then, but never in good condition. I have yet to ID the maker of them, but they have a very short collar with a sort of strap coming off the topside of it. The fit is always loose, and the thin metal of the collar often results in the strap being cracked or broken. At a distance, again, I can't see anything obviously wrong with it, but due to the overall slightly underbuilt hardware they have and their age, I'd lay the odds against it being a solid candidate as a workhorse snath. They seem older than most snaths--I'd hazard a guess at them being from around 1900-1910 or so, but that's purely educated guesswork on my part.

All in all, it's only a middlin' deal by the look of it. 50:50 odds that they're worth picking up.
 
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