Antique scythe restoration and exploration

I've been a long-time appreciator of the permies world and learn soooo much from reading these forums!

My foray into scything is providing the impetus to post.. I've been helping with the mowing on a roughly 5+ acre plot with tall meadow grass and since the riding mower periodically gives out, or can't handle the grass length, I started to use the weed eater more. I had honestly never used one up until last week. I had a bit of fun initially, but it's one of my least favorite tools ever, for a number of reasons. This one in particular does NOT like to start and will shut off if you take your hand off the trigger- if you ever do get it running. After a couple days of tangling with this thing- nerves shaken, fuel-dry, ears ringing- I found out about scything from a permies post. Never had I considered that this tool even existed! Beyond its fame as the grim reaper's implement.

I've been reading all about the subject for days now. At first I was set on the European style, but since I can't invest in an outfit at the moment I needed to get more creative with it. I found a vintage American snath without a blade, and blade with a worn-down snath, at an antique store a couple days ago for cheap and am working to turn them into one functional, restored scythe. I'd like to share my progress here and perhaps get some tips!

The blade is a Bartlett, patent stamped 1911 that appears to be a weed blade and the snath is a 8700 Craftsman. I have so far removed (most of) the rust from the blade with steel wool and very fine sandpaper, lightly sanded the snath and oiled it. Then I decided to use a file to try and reset the bevel. (it's what I have access to) At first I thought I'd need to peen it but found you don't do that with the hard steel of American blades. I know it's meant to be a hollow bevel and I don't believe my straight filing can create that. I wonder if I can set it right and get it sharp enough by honing with a coarse whetstone..

You may file it top and bottom to a suitably thin geometry. While a hollow is ideal, what matters most is a low edge angle of about 7-9 degrees per side. Those Bartlett All Steel Scythe Co. blades are literally the only American blades I know of that were actually stamped construction. True Temper had some riveted blades but the tang and blade were still forged, just independent of one another.

There is some good info in this video about grinding and honing. It also contains a segment on how and why you might want to adjust the tang angle.

Hi Gabrielle,
Welcome to Permies.

Hey thanks for the welcome:)

and the information... I got the blade pretty sharp, although the top of the blade has a band that sticks out (doesn't seem present on the forged ones I've seen in photos) and makes it a bit hard to get that kind of angle.

I'm getting the idea of tang angles but have been practicing with this one as-is to see how it works before I do that type of adjustment. Sometimes I really find a groove but often the field is ending up with a really patchy haircut- I miss many strips that just lay down. It feels really good to use and incredibly efficient, just need some more practice with body mechanics of it I think.

Went to an estate sale today hoping to find a grass blade to try out and they had a scythe there for 3 bucks! Going to clean this one up and try it soon. After a little break. wore myself out in the sweltering heat trying to get the hang of this.

Looks like a No.105 snath, made either by the Eastern Handle Co. or Sta-Tite. The blade appears to be an Austrian-made American pattern blade produced for Seymour Mfg. by either Redtenbacher or Schroeckenfux.

Getting a low enough angle with a file often necessitates using the draw-filing method at just the tip of the file, or else you run into clearance issues.

On grasses you want the edge to generally be running about a finger's thickness off the ground. If the blade isn't lying that way on its own (and it likely isn't) then the tang will need adjusting. If you're not equipped to do it yourself a local mechanic or metalworker can probably do it for you (ensure they keep the heel of the blade cool with a wet rag and do NOT quench the tang after heating--allow it to air-cool!) or I do such work as a mail-in service along with grinding work.