Found Three Old Blades, What Now?

I found these 3 hiding out in the barn rafters. Three years on the property and still finding surprises! I have a Lee Valley scythe that I’m pretty fond of and these look like they would fit. But is it worth doing anything with them? How do you know when a blade is toast? My current (new) blade is the size of the longest old blade, so I’m wondering if there would be any benefit to sharpening up the two shorter blades and what their application would be. Maybe for close quarters ditch work?

It's worth pursuing. Sometimes the steel in old blades is amazing quality. High carbon, and holds an edge like crazy.

You could always cut down one blade for scythe work in rough or constricted spaces. The leftover piece might make a dandy garden knife.

However, cleaned up a little, they do look pretty on a wall.

Very interested in this. Just found a similar scythe blade in my barn and would love to source a handle for it but I dont know where to start, nor do I easily see how it would attach.

I have a blade the size of the shortest one and it is very handy for weeds and small brush. Things like goldenrod, ragweed and small tree saplings are easy, partly from the short size and partly from the extra weight.

So long as the blades don't have any cracks or giant missing pieces they generally last until there is no metal left to sharpen.

Jayme Anderberg wrote:Very interested in this. Just found a similar scythe blade in my barn and would love to source a handle for it but I dont know where to start, nor do I easily see how it would attach.

It's relatively straightforward. The handle is called a "snath." And the snath end of the blade has the little right angled bend on it that sticks into a hole on the snath. Then everything is held together by a cuff.
Here's some good info on the snath: https://scythesupply.com/snaths.html