Ben Brownlow wrote:Hey y'all,
I couple months back I wrote a document introducing folks to some of the basics of using a scythe: applications, use, history and lore, and a bit of encouragement. My goal was to make the basics feel more accessible to beginners, and prompt potential mowers to consider if this is the right tool for them. I just thought I'd share it here as a way to get it out there... my hope is that it becomes easy for folks to find. While I love a lot of the information, like Peter Vido's Big Book of the Scythe, I do find it a bit intimidating/esoteric for people just starting, so my goal with this guide was to be a bit more... democratic in how we welcome folks to the world of traditional skills. Take a look and let me know what you think! Revitalizing the Scythe
I do love to see new educational works being put out into the world, and I especially appreciate your section on specific applications in which you have found the scythe helpful. The essay shines strongest when you are leaning into that aspect of the tool and I do commend your efforts in trying to break things down simply for beginners.
I do have a few notes that I dearly hope you'll consider as kindly and well-intentioned editorial advice:
•"The scythe" is used broadly in the opening paragraphs and the tool is described as being a "single beveled edge" and "The scythe’s upkeep requires just a small hammer and anvil" -- I would protest that the style of scythe a layperson is most likely to encounter in North America is the American style of the tool, which is double-beveled and can be badly damaged by attempting to peen them due to often being laminated construction and of higher hardness and thickness than tensioned continental European style blades. I would suggest specifying the style to avoid confusion. As an American scythe specialist I often get people who have found American scythes at antique stores locally and then relied on online instruction intended for the European scythe as guidance and have had to clear up the distinction for them. I have even had to repair the damage to blades that they attempted to care for by following material intended for the European version of the tool, and it is an unfortunate and avoidable situation if the distinction is simply made in works as to which version of the tool they pertain.
•You go on to say "perhaps a file or stone." -- I would argue that no good mower is likely to consider a honing tool optional. While there are people who exist who are capable of producing an edge good enough to mow by peening alone, it is more of a demonstration of skill in the art rather than a practical approach for regular mowing, and that edge will still need honing in the field, and often.
•Your statement regarding English steel being softer and the blades requiring less forging is incorrect. The steel used in Sheffield was of famously high quality and was of roughly equal hardness in the annealed state as any steel being made in or imported into Austria. It was forge-welded to iron cladding for toughness and heat treated to produce a highly hardened edge. Grinding was done extensively in Austria on scythe blades as well, not merely in England, because of the finish grinding being done on the blades to give them a bright surface and correct dimensions. The grinding of the bevels was the least intensive part of grinding English scythe blades, and it is only the difference in the beveling of the blades where there is an appreciable difference in this regard. This is objectively misinformation and I urge you to alter it. The problem of silicosis was because the grinding of all steel and iron articles at the time took place without any form of personal protective equipment, and was as much an issue in Austria as anywhere else. Nordic scythes also use laminated construction and hard steel, though their form is different.
•Regarding your note on left-handed blades, I would argue that while the scythe is an asymmetrical tool, it is not a "handed" one and uses both sides of the body in roughly equal measure, and that left-handed blades were made recently due to the perceived (rather than actual) need for them by potential customers, to which the scythe makers obliged in an effort to keep their doors open and their operations continuous. Folks who have had the opportunity to try both orientations of the tool have found that after only a few minutes to adjust themselves to the mirrored movement they had no trouble in using a scythe the other way 'round.
•You say American and English scythes are "very heavy, tiring, and challenging for the beginner, and they can be a challenge for novice blade sharpeners to deal with. They are typically stamped out of softer steel and may require a grindstone for sharpening" and while they average heavier than Austrian units and *can* be found in excessively heavy builds, the extra weight is not necessarily a bad thing, as it provides a flywheel-like effect in heavier mowing that lessens strain on the body during the stroke, a dynamic I'll not bother to go into more detail here for the sake of brevity. Better would be to simply state that you prefer to use the Austrian style of scythe and that it is the one in which you are most experienced rather than speaking poorly of an entire family of regional scythes that are no less effective when used properly and maintained correctly.
American blades are not stamped, but fully forged. The only stamped American blades I have ever come across were by the Bartlett All-Steel Scythe Company or another smaller firm that was using their patent under license for a very brief period. All others, including some economy blades of riveted-together construction were still forged. European style blades are generally about 45 on the Rockwell C hardness scale (HRC), which is about as soft as a common hardware store axe (not very hard) while American scythe blades average 55-60 HRC, with some laminated blades having been hardened to the point where they will skate a file. I do advise that people avoid starting off with a vintage American scythe simply because even with skilled and experienced labor and specialized tools, getting one tuned up and back to mowing readiness takes about 8 hours of continuous labor for a bare-bones restoration, and it is better to purchase a well-tuned unit to start so that the buyer has a mental benchmark of what they're shooting for.
•A minor error, but in describing whetstones you state "That said, the ovular shape of scythe-specific whetstones is key to their effective use." I believe "ovoid" or "oblong" would be more appropriate words, as whetstones are not the shape of an ovum.
•Hardness vs. softness in whetstones chiefly affects the cutting speed of the stone, but not the finish produced, and is a different performance factor than the relative grit of the stone.
•Narrow hammers are not meant to be used with narrow anvils, and getting your blows to land true is exceptionally difficult, leading to misalignments, which is why it produces the rippled effect you mention. Better to advise that people not even approach that method. Broad anvils are used with narrow hammers and narrow anvils used with broad hammers. A broad hammer is generally used with a broad anvil only when performing some repair work.
•Work-hardening of a blade is not a "compressing of the drawn out molecules" but rather a disruption of the steel's crystal lattice. The more it is disrupted the less it wants to flow and the glassier it becomes. Past a certain point it loses its ductility completely, and this is when cracks occur. The hardness gained by work hardening is different from that caused by heat treating, and only improves resistance to plastic deformation (the metal being pushed around) and does not improve its resistance to abrasive wear.
All in all, you did an excellent job covering a lot of specific techniques and strategies for commonly encountered mowing situations. I would just suggest easing back on or revising the "historical" portion and maybe rearrange the structure of the document to make it a little easier for folks to jump into the how-to of "here's the tool and its parts, here are the basic strokes, here's how you maintain it" and then go into the circumstances of use. All told, a very good start that a little editing will tighten up, and easily better than about 80% of the guides and articles I see out and about on the internet.
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