An older scythe

[gben]

A pretty old cradle-scythe, older than most found laying around today. Possibly from the mid-1800s to 1900. The blade on this scythe is a full four-feet, or 121cm long. I initially got information on dating scythes from Eric Sloane's book A Museum of Early American Tools which was published in 1964, I will scan and put up a page out of it when I get a chance. Some of the information in it may be outdated with newer and more research now....

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Actually, cradles were offered with the option for either wooden or iron stays, with iron simply being the more expensive option. The ring-and-wedge method of fastening perpetuated in grain cradles long after it had been abandoned in grass scythes, and a single nib is the norm for cradles, as the butt end of the snath is bent to form the upper grip. And solid wedge-fit nibs remained on cradles long after the twist-to-tighten type supplanted them on grass scythes as well. I'm not 100% sure why the older approach lasted so long with cradles where it didn't with grass scythes, but do have some theories. My guess on the time period of your example is somewhere between 1860 to 1910.

Here's a catalog page from the personal collection showing a few different patterns and their purchasing options:

 

[gben]

My guess on the time period of your example is somewhere between 1860 to 1910.

Thanks for the guess. Can you tell us what differentiates a cradle-scythe with wood supports, a wedge holding the blade on, and a tang-handle made 1850 and earlier from one made with wood supports, a wedge holding the blade on, and a tang-handle made 1860 and later? Thanks.....

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Twist-to-tighten nibs were invented around 1838 and the initial form of the band on the nib iron mimicked that commonly seen on wedged nibs of the time. Because wedged nibs don't use the cinching action that twist-to-tighten ones do, they benefited from having a more tube-like flare to the band so there was more contact area to wedge against, sort of like wedging an axe handle relative to the depth of the eye and the effect that has on the security of the fit. This is an example of an early wedge-fit nib.

Side view, showing the flare:

Looking into the band. Note the fairly thin wall thickness.

Top, showing the projecting tang of the nib iron.

Looking at the junction of the loop and grip. Note that the wood is carefully shaped to mate snugly against the shaft of the snath, and there's no space in the top of the loop for a cinching action like on a twist-to-tighten. It's just a neat loop.

You can compare and contrast the overall form of the above wedge-fit nib against the form of the first-form twist-to-tighten variety shown here. Note how the nib block (the brass ferrule) follows the same shape that the wood itself does on the old wedge fit nib. If taken together with the wooden grip, it strongly resembles the shape of the grip on the wedge fit nib. The band is a lot narrower, but still flares at the bottom.

Later wedge-fit nibs on cradles often have a more simplistic form to the band, having drawn much of their shape from the then-current form of the bands of twist-to-tighten nibs, which were avoided on a lot of cradles because of the extra long length of the grip making such an arrangement trickier to make work right. The long grip was needed for balance purposes due to the weight of the cradle, and it was used off the ground, unlike a grass scythe, which is why cradle snaths often seem so short.

 

[gben]

Good info. Here are photos of another cradle-scythe hanging from the ceiling of my garage. It has metal rods supporting the cradle, and what is interesting is that it has little tapered tubes with collars that are wedges to hold the metal rods in place. They are like little long-taper funnels with a collar on top so they can be tapped tight. Has to be a good story behind them.

I have a third cradle-scythe, but the cradle was smashed when I found it in a pile of rubble and all I could save was the handle, nib and blade.

 

[Square_peg]

It has metal rods supporting the cradle, and what is interesting is that it has little tapered tubes with collars that are wedges to hold the metal rods in place. They are like little long-taper funnels with a collar on top so they can be tapped tight. Has to be a good story behind them.

That's pretty cool!