Who else uses a scythe?

I believe you'll find that's an Austrian-made blade rather than Australian. :)

Looks like a common Seymour No.1 snath with one of their VIC-branded blades made in Austria by either Schröckenfux or Redtenbacher. Pre-90's production at a bare minimum because the collar looks to be properly oriented on the snath.
 
I picked this up at the flea market for a dollar, I just could not let a sharp hunk of steel lay there. Now what do I do with it? I don't have a snath nor do I have any idea how to use a scythe.
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I also found on the same dollar table a North Wayne Tool Co. Lawn Queen, what attracted me to it was the fuller that runs the entire length of the blade. I gave it a quick test in the garden and it cuts like butta. This is a tool I can use.

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Ooooooooh...good snag on the Lawn Queen! Those are some great heavy-duty grass hooks! The VIC blade is a fairly recent (post-80's) Seymour blade, and pretty common, but still a good usable one.
 
Yes they did. They were exported in fairly great quantity to the UK and Australia. Some were even exported to Sweden and other nations. A Swedish scything community I follow recently shared a few photos with me of some late 19th century (by my estimation) American snaths that a couple of members had.
 
Some excellent news. While Seymour (for some baffling reason) decided not to follow my suggestion to correct the collar orientation on their No.1 wooden snaths, they've agreed to sell me unassembled ones so I can put them together properly myself. This actually works in my favor on a number of levels. In addition to being able to offer properly assembled examples of the snath, I'll also be able to set the tilt on them for a little lateral offset for better balance with long blades, and use the individual components to assist in my restoration work with vintage snaths. They'll be getting more details to me soon. I should be able to have some in hand before the mowing season is fully out.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Some excellent news. While Seymour (for some baffling reason) decided not to follow my suggestion to correct the collar orientation on their No.1 wooden snaths, they've agreed to sell me unassembled ones so I can put them together properly myself. This actually works in my favor on a number of levels. In addition to being able to offer properly assembled examples of the snath, I'll also be able to set the tilt on them for a little lateral offset for better balance with long blades, and use the individual components to assist in my restoration work with vintage snaths. They'll be getting more details to me soon. I should be able to have some in hand before the mowing season is fully out.
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That is great. I've been meaning to ask you what is the problem with the collar orientation? I've been very happy with the current configuration since adding the crowned blade and using a more sweeping/pendulum hybrid stroke. I can see that with a flat blade and a level arc and going for the widest possible swath width, possibly mowing a lawn or cutting grain, the current config might be awkward, but none of my mowing conditions in the hayfields work that way anyhow...either the terrain is too uneven and rough or the grass is too heavy, sometimes both!

I suspect the orientation is aimed to support more general use and accommodate rougher use. Possibly it was originally paired with a crowned blade? Just curious. I will look forward to buying and trying one of the Maine assembled snaths someday if you think the revised orientation will improve things for me.

Just as an aside, the problem this season up until recently has not been cutting enough hay but rather getting a reasonably credible forecast long enough to make hay!
 
The orientation on the No.8 and No.9 aluminum snaths is correct, but the orientation on the No.1 wooden snath has been about 20° or so out of alignment for well over a decade, probably closer to 25 years at this point. Sometime around the early 90's by my best guess, the collar started getting installed so that, when held with the collar square with the ground, the arch of the snath bowed out towards the user. This gives zero advantages whatsoever, and causes the arch to strike the thighs and knees during the stroke. The one I received over a year ago that I ended up giving to my father had this problem, and I had to adjust the roll of the tang (as in pitch/yaw/roll) to compensate for it, which then skews hafting angle adjustment.

This was the video I had sent them to illustrate the problem, along with a relatively recent vintage No.1 snath (most likely from the 80's) that had correct orientation, like all No.1 snaths did up until then.
[video=youtube;WsOaUBsrS08]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsOaUBsrS08[/video]

No American snath manufacturer in history, including Seymour, has ever purposefully produced a snath with the arch facing the user. Their aluminum snaths are still properly oriented. Why they would choose to keep the collar incorrectly oriented is really beyond me. I was hoping to get them fixed so that every current retailer of the No.1 snath would have them properly oriented, but I guess I'm getting the rare distinction of being the only retailer to have them put together right. :p My thanks to their VP engineer for at least being gracious enough to make the components available to me.
 
42,
That's strange. My no. 1 and no. 9 seem to have roughly the same angle as each other at first glance, although they are setup a little differently from each other nib-wise at this point. I remember when I got the no. 9 I just set it like the no.1 was at the time, but I've tinkered with the no. 1 a lot since, as I spend more time with it, and they are used differently. Maybe the no. 1 is really old stock or they could both be wrong. I'll try to take some useful pictures, as I would guess you can see things I can't. It could be as simple as I have short legs and long arms, much like an ape!
 
Holy Crow, this is my stuff! A little bit to get started... The blade is called a scythe, as is the whole unit put together. The curved part is called the snath. The handles are called nibs, and are movable upon the snath to fit the particular user. There are long, slender grass blades ranging to short, stout brush blades. Snaths are traditionally ash, but have been available for the last 40 years or so in aluminum.
 
BG_Farmer said:
42,
That's strange. My no. 1 and no. 9 seem to have roughly the same angle as each other at first glance, although they are setup a little differently from each other nib-wise at this point. I remember when I got the no. 9 I just set it like the no.1 was at the time, but I've tinkered with the no. 1 a lot since, as I spend more time with it, and they are used differently. Maybe the no. 1 is really old stock or they could both be wrong. I'll try to take some useful pictures, as I would guess you can see things I can't. It could be as simple as I have short legs and long arms, much like an ape!
Click to expand...

I have images of both offending and correct examples as well--I just need to upload them so they can be posted to the thread. When looking at the snath in top-down orientation, the snath should look like it has only one simple bend to the left (as referenced with the collar as your "starting point" and coming back towards the user) while current production No.1 snaths have their arch facing out to the right. It should be either vertical (like on the No.8 and No.9 snaths) or slightly to the left.

HammerGun said:
Holy Crow, this is my stuff! A little bit to get started... The blade is called a scythe, as is the whole unit put together. The curved part is called the snath. The handles are called nibs, and are movable upon the snath to fit the particular user. There are long, slender grass blades ranging to short, stout brush blades. Snaths are traditionally ash, but have been available for the last 40 years or so in aluminum.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the thread! You may find some of the further definitions in this document of mine interesting. :)
 
Glad you like it! I still have a lot of writing to do on it, but haven't had time in a while. I'm working on a video on how to grind American blades right now.
 
Here's the new video on grinding and honing American pattern blades. This applies to English blades as well.

[video=youtube;yK8KVgM7WAM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK8KVgM7WAM&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
I have one that I don't use. I bought mine on a whim at an antique store. My property is mostly wooded and I really have no use for it. I tried selling it at a few yard sales over the summer, but had no bites.

I'd love to trade somebody local who could use it for a few knives or something. They are a really neat old tool though and I could only imagine how many of the old ones are rusting away in some out building somewhere!

I'll try to post a few pics of it!

Neat thread, thanks for posting.







 
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Looks to be a Sta-Tite "Success" snath in decent shape, and while I can't positively ID the blade without a mark it looks to be one of good make. If you really want it taken off your hands, drop me a line. :)
 
Just placed the first order for a batch of unassembled Seymour wooden snaths. This should be a fun little adventure. :)
 
Found this scythe at the flea market this morning, the edge is pretty rough but I should be able to learn with it. All I know is that it is 28" English blade in a Seymore #1 snath. Now I'm going to read this thread from the beginning and see if I can find links or advise on how to adjust handles, where to adjust them and which blade angles are best for what I will be attempting to use the tool for.

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