"To live at all is miracle enough" ~Mervyn Peake
Baryonyx Knife Co. --Owner
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again." - Thomas Paine
ben harpo wrote:A diamond hoe is for cultivating not mowing
I'm experienced with a scythe and I say pavement, curbs, walls, and posts present no problem whatsoever. Rocky unlevel ground is where I tear up my blades.
Zach Muller wrote:I bought a bush blade and a steel snath from marug company to replace my broken gas string trimmer. I found it is pretty great for slicing stuff in the lawn that my reel mower would only knock down. Along the chain link fence it was a little frustrating and often had better luck with the hand sickles I have. In the end I just put down cardboard under the fence to get rid of some of the impossible to get grass. Along the curb the scythe is great, way better than holding my old trimmer and breaking string every few seconds. For only a tenth of an acre I would be torn between sickles to a full blown scythe. I like reel mowers for cultivating lawn like areas. Another thing to consider, that a friend of mine has done is just dig out the turf along the edges and deep mulch so you can get everything easily with just a mower.
"To live at all is miracle enough" ~Mervyn Peake
Baryonyx Knife Co. --Owner
Rufus Laggren wrote:I like your paint job. It looks like the blade has a twist to it...? I can see where maybe that might work well as you swing the tool and the angle and cutting point (along the blade) change as your body twists. Or not. I'm not sure what I'm looking at. The angle of the blade (across the blade, not along it's length) relative to the snath looks small - like the snath would need to be more parallel to the ground than usual in order for the edge of the blade to get down low.
I have one back in Chicago that I can't get a look at right now that IIRC has almost no angle to the blade; the snath looks more or less normal. Can't figure out how it was used; but I have heard the railroads commissioned scythes and I wonder if was intended not for grass but for growth higher up encroaching the tracks. Still not sure how it would be used...
Rufus
Zach Muller wrote:I like that paint job as well Benjamin, nice lookin tool! Since you seem to know you stuff I thought I could maybe get more info on this
On the left is the one I bought from the marugg company and it was called a sickle
On the right is an antique tool I found at an outdoor market labeled as a scythe. It has a much heavier blade than the sickle and it sits an inch behind the level of the handle when looking at it straight on. Is this technically a grass hook and not sickle? I know it would be bastardizing an antique but I have considered putting a longer handle on it so I would have a long, medium, and short to accommodate more tasks. As it is now the antique one, once sharpened, can easily cut woody stems up to a quarter inch without pause.
"To live at all is miracle enough" ~Mervyn Peake
Baryonyx Knife Co. --Owner
"To live at all is miracle enough" ~Mervyn Peake
Baryonyx Knife Co. --Owner
"To live at all is miracle enough" ~Mervyn Peake
Baryonyx Knife Co. --Owner
Charles Tarnard wrote:Maybe it was in one of your posts, but if it was, I missed it.
What is the primary difference in performance or function between the American and European scythe? Most of what I have read merely says one sucks and the other doesn't:). I've seen videos that show an American scythe clearing a field, but the end result of that looked lumpy and rough due to what I assume was the attack angle of the American scythe, not the ideal application for an urban lawn, IMO.
Educate me:).
Edit::: I'd really prefer to not buy online, and there are places to get an American scythe locally, so if you could convince me of how to make one work, that would be swell.
Thanks. This thread went from nice to amazing very quickly.
"To live at all is miracle enough" ~Mervyn Peake
Baryonyx Knife Co. --Owner
Rufus Laggren wrote: Ladies, I am sorry but I doubt any curve could as fine and purely catching as those shown by two old farm tools ...
Burra Maluca wrote:
Rufus Laggren wrote: Ladies, I am sorry but I doubt any curve could as fine and purely catching as those shown by two old farm tools ...
In which case, you may appreciate this...
That version has no sound. If you want the complete one, click here, but I can't embed that one.
Benjamin Bouchard wrote:
Careful now! Her boyfriend is a member here!
Rufus Laggren wrote:Benjamin
I think you may have cast light on the scythe I have in Chicago. The tang is indeed, I believe, flat with the blade and I'll take a close look next spring when I go back and see what the heel looks like. As I recall there was no marring or peculiarly twists or bends so it's seems possible it has never been set up. I was hanging on the wall of a suberban basement rec room when I bought it, the PO having passed on the next world.
And... The two sickles in your first pics are simply beautiful. Ladies, I am sorry but I doubt any curve could as fine and purely catching as those shown by two old farm tools ... And until moments ago I could never have imagined saying some so purely idiotic! <G>
Rufus
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