Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Scything

I have wanted a scythe for a long time. I have a real aversion to loud equipment, especially if it vibrates a lot too. I like the idea of a gas powered trimmer but the noise and the vibration tire me out and just listening to it is annoying. Same goes for vacuum cleaners, dish washers, snow blowers, etc. If there is a hand tool to do the job I would rather use it. My husband is the exact opposite. He loves his power tools and motors!

Enter the scythe and snath. So you can't just use a scythe, that is only the blade. The snath is the wooden part you hold. This is the european snath from Lehman's. It is much lighter than it looks and is not tiring to use at all.
It makes a lovely quiet "swish" when it cuts. And no vibration! The rhythmic motion of scything is almost relaxing. My daughter likes using it too.
She scythed almost the whole orchard. Now we need to learn how to sharpen and peen it. There are great videos of the sharpening and peening processes on-line. This video is very informative on peening.  Scythe Supply appears to have the best selection of sharpening and peening supplies.



No comments:

Post a Comment