How to use a riveted blade type scythe
Things you will need; a scythe, a sheath for the blade, a grinding stone, a finer stone, a steel.
A scythe.
When you swing the scythe the tip of the blade and the heel of the blade must be able to go through the same point in space. If that is not the case the scythe will need reset.
On the shaft you need at least a handle for your right hand.
A sheath for the blade.
People might think a scythe is quint and harmless, that is not the case. The blade should be covered at all times when not in use. I use a sack tied up with string.
A grinding stone.
The grinding stone I am using is a round oval coarse stone 11.5 inches long, intact, don't use anything shorter without proper instruction.
A finer grade stone.
Again the stone must be intact, don't use anything else without proper instruction.
You will need this stone if you are to achieve the swing demonstrated by Steve Tomlin.
A coarse edge may cut at a lower speed but it is harder to push.
A steel.
The knife steel I use is quite old and smooth. There were never any ribs or teeth on it. I thought it was effective because it was a special type of metal but that is not the case. I have found a chrome plated screw driver or the blade of a wood chisel works equally well.
This will be used every few minutes while mowing. Just one or two strokes, the length of the blade, on each side does the trick, it is very quick about eight seconds for this job and that is taking your time.
We will start by grinding one side of the blade.
If you are right handed and you want to grind the top side of the blade put the tip of the blade into the ground so the blade is standing vertical.
. Get behind the blade so when your hand with stone moves towards the blade it will be hitting the back rib first.
When we are grinding we will be applying pressure on the forward and back motion of the stone. Even though your hand when it encounters the blade will be hitting the back of the blade first it is important that no part of your hand with the stone goes over any part of the blade, if it does stop immediately and reassess the situation.
For cutting grass we will keep the stone more or less flat against the blade.
When we grind we are trying to achieve a tiny bur on the other side.
Just do an inch or two at a time and check with your finger or finger nail if you have achieved that bur. Make a comparison between the part you are working on and a part you haven't done yet.
When we get down towards the point that is in the ground, we turn the blade around, so the point is pointing upwards.
Put the thumb of your left hand on the bottom side of the blade near the point. The pressure of your thumb and the pressure of the stone will hold the blade in place. The palm of your left hand will prevent the stone from rolling off over the point.
A scythe.
When you swing the scythe the tip of the blade and the heel of the blade must be able to go through the same point in space. If that is not the case the scythe will need reset.
On the shaft you need at least a handle for your right hand.
A sheath for the blade.
People might think a scythe is quint and harmless, that is not the case. The blade should be covered at all times when not in use. I use a sack tied up with string.
A grinding stone.
The grinding stone I am using is a round oval coarse stone 11.5 inches long, intact, don't use anything shorter without proper instruction.
A finer grade stone.
Again the stone must be intact, don't use anything else without proper instruction.
You will need this stone if you are to achieve the swing demonstrated by Steve Tomlin.
A coarse edge may cut at a lower speed but it is harder to push.
A steel.
The knife steel I use is quite old and smooth. There were never any ribs or teeth on it. I thought it was effective because it was a special type of metal but that is not the case. I have found a chrome plated screw driver or the blade of a wood chisel works equally well.
This will be used every few minutes while mowing. Just one or two strokes, the length of the blade, on each side does the trick, it is very quick about eight seconds for this job and that is taking your time.
We will start by grinding one side of the blade.
If you are right handed and you want to grind the top side of the blade put the tip of the blade into the ground so the blade is standing vertical.
. Get behind the blade so when your hand with stone moves towards the blade it will be hitting the back rib first.
When we are grinding we will be applying pressure on the forward and back motion of the stone. Even though your hand when it encounters the blade will be hitting the back of the blade first it is important that no part of your hand with the stone goes over any part of the blade, if it does stop immediately and reassess the situation.
For cutting grass we will keep the stone more or less flat against the blade.
When we grind we are trying to achieve a tiny bur on the other side.
Just do an inch or two at a time and check with your finger or finger nail if you have achieved that bur. Make a comparison between the part you are working on and a part you haven't done yet.
When we get down towards the point that is in the ground, we turn the blade around, so the point is pointing upwards.
Put the thumb of your left hand on the bottom side of the blade near the point. The pressure of your thumb and the pressure of the stone will hold the blade in place. The palm of your left hand will prevent the stone from rolling off over the point.
Next we use the finer stone.
The action of the finer stone is demonstrated well by Forty Two Blades, except instead of using the curved edge we will use the flat surface of the stone.
Normally you do not have any part of your body in front of a sharp blade, here I am going to contravene that principle so extreme care has to be taken.
The pressure is only applied when your hand is being drawn away from the blade. No pressure should be applied when your hand is moving toward a sharp edge.
Follow the the actions of Forty Two Blades in the video above, only use the flat surface of the stone and keep the stone more or less flat against each surface of the blade.
You don't need to clean the blade to grind or to steel but you do need to clean the blade to use the finer stone. Use some cut grass and be very careful. Cleaning the blade is shown in video below but do it slower and more careful.
Use of the steel.
The scythe is now ready to cut grass.
After cutting for a minute or two you should run the blade with the steel.
Put the steel against the edge of the blade at the snath side, the angle of the steel to the blade should be almost flat and run the steel towards the tip. The steel just runs straight from the heel to the point of the blade. If the edge of the blade is touching the steel a quarter way down from the end of the steel when you start at the snath side, when you finish at the point, the edge can still be a quarter way down from the end of the steel.
If the blade has been freshly sharpened with the stones, two strokes will do, one on each side of the blade and the angle of each stroke can be almost flat against the blade. The last stroke must be against the bottom side of the blade. The bottom side of the blade is the side that touches the ground while mowing.
Soon we will use four strokes to steel the blade.
Of the four strokes there is only one that makes the blade cut grass, that is the last stroke. On the last stroke the steel should be held at about a thirty degree angle to the blade and again run on the bottom side of the blade. The bottom side is the side that touches the ground when mowing. The other three strokes is to keep the blade in good order. The first stroke on the top side of the blade is almost flat, the second stroke on the top side of the blade has a slightly elevated angle. The third stroke on the bottom side of the blade is almost flat and the fourth stroke has the angle of about thirty degree.
Sometimes when you steel the blade you may feel blemishes on the blade. You can put the steel over the blemish and draw the steel away from the blade and you can do this several times. If that cures it, good enough, if not and you think it needs sorted use the stones. Start with the grinding stone as described and finish with the finer stone as described.
After about an hours mowing the quarter of the blade from the point back may need done with the stones again or if you have run the edge against rocks or scooped up some barbed wire you may need to do the full length of the blade with the stones.
Swinging a scythe.
A scythe is a very delicate piece of equipment. If you push the base of the snath towards the point of the blade you shouldn't damage the structure of the scythe.
Get a piece of wood about five feet long.
Lay the wood on the ground in front of you so that if you stretched out your arms sideways the wood would be running parallel to them.
Hold the scythe by the nibs and run the bottom of the snath along the length of the wood.
The bottom of the shaft should be touching the wood and the point of the blade should be about ten inches at the far side of the wood.
Slide the bottom of the scythe up and down the wood several times keeping the point at a constant ten inches away from the wood.
Try it now without the wood several times.
Now try it on a piece of grass.
The grass should be long. If the grass you are going to cut has fallen over, it should be fallen away from you, don't worry about walking on the grass to get behind fallen grass.
When you cut grass aim to cut the smallest amount of grass with each stroke. When the snath comes up against uncut grass, stop and take another stroke.
Keep the blade close to the ground and the ground will act as the second blade in a shearing action.
Take your time, when you master the technique you can go at it hard.
Steel the blade often.
If your right arm gets sore, let the left arm do the work. If your left arm gets sore, let your right arm do the work.
Below are some videos, study them and try one feature of their technique at a time.
The action of the finer stone is demonstrated well by Forty Two Blades, except instead of using the curved edge we will use the flat surface of the stone.
Normally you do not have any part of your body in front of a sharp blade, here I am going to contravene that principle so extreme care has to be taken.
The pressure is only applied when your hand is being drawn away from the blade. No pressure should be applied when your hand is moving toward a sharp edge.
Follow the the actions of Forty Two Blades in the video above, only use the flat surface of the stone and keep the stone more or less flat against each surface of the blade.
You don't need to clean the blade to grind or to steel but you do need to clean the blade to use the finer stone. Use some cut grass and be very careful. Cleaning the blade is shown in video below but do it slower and more careful.
Use of the steel.
The scythe is now ready to cut grass.
After cutting for a minute or two you should run the blade with the steel.
Put the steel against the edge of the blade at the snath side, the angle of the steel to the blade should be almost flat and run the steel towards the tip. The steel just runs straight from the heel to the point of the blade. If the edge of the blade is touching the steel a quarter way down from the end of the steel when you start at the snath side, when you finish at the point, the edge can still be a quarter way down from the end of the steel.
If the blade has been freshly sharpened with the stones, two strokes will do, one on each side of the blade and the angle of each stroke can be almost flat against the blade. The last stroke must be against the bottom side of the blade. The bottom side of the blade is the side that touches the ground while mowing.
Soon we will use four strokes to steel the blade.
Of the four strokes there is only one that makes the blade cut grass, that is the last stroke. On the last stroke the steel should be held at about a thirty degree angle to the blade and again run on the bottom side of the blade. The bottom side is the side that touches the ground when mowing. The other three strokes is to keep the blade in good order. The first stroke on the top side of the blade is almost flat, the second stroke on the top side of the blade has a slightly elevated angle. The third stroke on the bottom side of the blade is almost flat and the fourth stroke has the angle of about thirty degree.
Sometimes when you steel the blade you may feel blemishes on the blade. You can put the steel over the blemish and draw the steel away from the blade and you can do this several times. If that cures it, good enough, if not and you think it needs sorted use the stones. Start with the grinding stone as described and finish with the finer stone as described.
After about an hours mowing the quarter of the blade from the point back may need done with the stones again or if you have run the edge against rocks or scooped up some barbed wire you may need to do the full length of the blade with the stones.
Swinging a scythe.
A scythe is a very delicate piece of equipment. If you push the base of the snath towards the point of the blade you shouldn't damage the structure of the scythe.
Get a piece of wood about five feet long.
Lay the wood on the ground in front of you so that if you stretched out your arms sideways the wood would be running parallel to them.
Hold the scythe by the nibs and run the bottom of the snath along the length of the wood.
The bottom of the shaft should be touching the wood and the point of the blade should be about ten inches at the far side of the wood.
Slide the bottom of the scythe up and down the wood several times keeping the point at a constant ten inches away from the wood.
Try it now without the wood several times.
Now try it on a piece of grass.
The grass should be long. If the grass you are going to cut has fallen over, it should be fallen away from you, don't worry about walking on the grass to get behind fallen grass.
When you cut grass aim to cut the smallest amount of grass with each stroke. When the snath comes up against uncut grass, stop and take another stroke.
Keep the blade close to the ground and the ground will act as the second blade in a shearing action.
Take your time, when you master the technique you can go at it hard.
Steel the blade often.
If your right arm gets sore, let the left arm do the work. If your left arm gets sore, let your right arm do the work.
Below are some videos, study them and try one feature of their technique at a time.
A Note on the videos on this page
A good example of using a finer stone.
Forty-two Blades http://www.baryonyxknife.com/
USA
Forty-two Blades has studied all aspects of the scythe.
He uses a blade called a crown blade.
If you are using a crown blade a point to note is; when using the grinding stone alternate the side you rise the burr, each time you use the stones. So if you put the burr on the bottom side the last time you used the stones, this time produce the burr up on the top side.
Steve Tomlin https://stevetomlincrafts.wordpress.com/scythes/
England The classes Steve Tomlin gives on scythes looks quite enjoyable. He also gives classes on woodwork. The blade he uses is different from the blade I use. It is called a European Style. I have had no experience with this type. Instead of grinding the edge into shape, it is hammered into shape. |
Peter Vido http://scytheconnection.com/mowing-technique/
Canada
In this video it shows young girls being very productive with scythes but it has to be stressed that their daddy is renowned world wide for his sharpening technique, his scything technique, and scythe design.
The scythe blade he uses is the European style.
I find the writing hard to read on his site, it is too small on my small computer. What I do is copy the text onto a word document and I can then make the text what ever size I want. Because of that I have designed this site so the small text can be enlarged without part of the line going outside the screen,
Canada
In this video it shows young girls being very productive with scythes but it has to be stressed that their daddy is renowned world wide for his sharpening technique, his scything technique, and scythe design.
The scythe blade he uses is the European style.
I find the writing hard to read on his site, it is too small on my small computer. What I do is copy the text onto a word document and I can then make the text what ever size I want. Because of that I have designed this site so the small text can be enlarged without part of the line going outside the screen,