Barbara Carter

Just to follow up on the soap scum issue in drains...

I have been making soap for over 10 years and am only just now learning about chelates and how they help reduce the soap scum that comes from using homemade soap with hard water. We've been battling soap scum gumming up our drains for years, so this is a huge revelation to me.

The best articles I've found are by DeeAnna Weed, PhD:

DeeAnna Weed's soapmaking articles

The particular article that talks about what chelates do in soap: What is a chelator?

And fyi, "chelate" is pronounced "KEE-late"

David F Paul wrote:

Barbara Carter wrote:I just got my first scythe from Scythe Supply, and am a bit disappointed. The collar is very loose; it twists around on the snath and torques the blade when I tighten it down. It actually forces the blade into the "wrong" open angle they warn you against, in spite of my best efforts to hold the blade at the correct angle. I've sent an email, we'll see what they say about it.

I have had this problem as well, so what I like to do is get everything tight enough on both screws that you can still just barely move the blade, then put the blade in the correct position, then tighten each screw a quarter turn at a time alternating between each screw each time.not a big fan of the square key they send, or the snath. i reccomend the smaller rings from one scythe revolution, they are a regular hex key and the screws are in a diagonal arrangement instead of one on top of the other, which helps. also the construction is much nicer, not sure about yours but mine from them had spotty welds, and a lot of burrs on all the parts like they didn't take the time to finish them correctly.

Thank you for the One Scythe Revolution tip, I didn't know about them. Their products look great. I'm glad to see there's some competition out there.

I never heard back from Scythe Supply. They sent an email saying they'd call me but they never did.

We've been having a terrible heat wave so I haven't scythed lately, but I did try re-tightening the ring and it looks like it may be settling in a bit. I still can't get it to maintain a closed angle, but I can now get it tight at a middle position, which is a huge improvement. It looks like I just have to work at it over time. Like you, I am not impressed with the quality of the workmanship on the ring.

Thanks everyone!

I just got my first scythe from Scythe Supply, and am a bit disappointed. The collar is very loose; it twists around on the snath and torques the blade when I tighten it down. It actually forces the blade into the "wrong" open angle they warn you against, in spite of my best efforts to hold the blade at the correct angle. I've sent an email, we'll see what they say about it.