I don't mow my lawn any more

I don't mow my lawn any more.
These days it is more like dancing in the field...

https://www.youtube.com/v/SCjySdobDfk&hl=en_US&fs


https://www.youtube.com/v/SCjySdobDfk&hl=en_US&fs

This is a really sensible idea. I have one of these, but I need to find someone who can show me how to sharpen it properly. Thanks for this video. It shows how much ground one can cover in a short time and the ease of movement when one is doing it correctly.

Cheers

Carmen

Fantastic! That looks awesome.

Carmen,

I can sharpen anything but I don't have a scythe.

I would like an Adz too.

Last week I was using a power tool driven auger to bore 16mm holes in some 200x50 sleepers, I was wondering if I could find an old fashioned brace and bit.

Old muscle powered tools are fading out really fast.

AJ..

I believe this is good exercise too .
Thank you Baggywrinkle .

Love from me
mudra

There are two types of scythe. The Austrian scythe is feather lite and is formed and sharpened by peening to a razor edge. The American scythe or
misery whip is drop forged and sharpened like a mower blade. Comparing the two is not apples and oranges but more like a cream puff to a brick.

https://www.youtube.com/v/k2RtQZrCqh4&hl=en_US&fs
https://www.youtube.com/v/k2RtQZrCqh4&hl=en_US&fs

The finishing edge and touch ups in the field are done by honing. You can almost shave with the finished edge and it is a joy to use. When he wipes
the blade with grass you can hear how thin this blade is.

"https://www.youtube.com/v/usb055-5ex0&hl=en_US&fs
https://www.youtube.com/v/usb055-5ex0&hl=en_US&fs

The old techniques still work and are highly appropriate for the small holder. Grow wheat in your back yard? Why not. Notice the basket attached to
the scythe handle. This gathers the sheaves so his Frau can properly stook them for drying. These techniques are thousands of years old.
This video is a good opportunity to practice your german.

https://www.youtube.com/v/cNw1Bg9UmTo&hl=en_US&fs
ttp://www.youtube.com/v/cNw1Bg9UmTo&hl=en_US&fs

This video is priceless for the techniques offered. Give us this day our daily bread. This is how you will do it when there is no fuel for the tractor.
The techniques also highlight the community nature of this activity. The entire family-ney-the entire town (!) participates in the harvest from
the very old to the very young.

Your ancestors would pack a lunch and make a day of it. There is something for everyone to do. No one is excluded and children are valued
members of the work crew. Harvesting your daily bread brings family and community together. Turn off your television and go grow some wheat.

https://www.youtube.com/v/zfqXjVSlXlg&hl=en_US&fs
https://www.youtube.com/v/zfqXjVSlXlg&hl=en_US&fs

This was the origin of the tall tales and liars club - the gathering of old duffers who tell stories to die kinder

https://www.youtube.com/v/OpQOYA6i8eQ&hl=en_US&fs
https://www.youtube.com/v/OpQOYA6i8eQ&hl=en_US&fs

I enjoyed very much following these episodes baggywrinkle.
You remind me so much of my childhood and the many days
I spent on the nearby farm.
I could almost smell the straw freshly cut and the feel of it on
my hands.
You are a breath of oxygen .

Thank you

Love from me
mudra

Thanks for the info here Baggy. Mine is an Austrian scythe and I have a long and shorter blade for it. I also have a peening thingi!!! But Im a bit nervous about doing it correctly. I have noticed in our local small newspaper a German guy who gives workshops on using scythes, but havent as yet, succeeded in contacting him. I will persevere though. Thanks again for the videos. They are great. They say that scything is faster than whipper-snipping (powertool) and slower than a big lawn mower. It will suit my property very well as some areas arent smooth enough for a mower anyway.

Cheers

Carmen

Ps My scythe is soo blunt now, it would be faster chewing the grass off!!!!!!

Anchor wrote:Fantastic! That looks awesome.

Carmen,

I can sharpen anything but I don't have a scythe.

I would like an Adz too.

Last week I was using a power tool driven auger to bore 16mm holes in some 200x50 sleepers, I was wondering if I could find an old fashioned brace and bit.

Old muscle powered tools are fading out really fast.

AJ..

Woodworkers supply of New Mexico stocks two sizes of adze. I also found a nicely priced german adze on Amazon (U.S.)
I have had varied luck shopping Ebay for hand drills braces and bits. Rock bottom prices for grandfather's prize tools. Some were in
excellent shape and some were rusted junk. There are new units avalable from the likes of GarretWade but the prices are very dear.
Where I live such tools are available and a good boatwright can still cut a rolling bevel into a timber with a shipsaw.
You might enjoy this link from your neck of the woods
http://www.toolexchange.com.au/Stanley%20User%20Tools-11.htm

I obviously have not been looking hard enough.

Thanks!

AJ..

I live in a rural area;recently bought a "bat box" and welcomed bats to come to our garden. Two months later we had our roof re-done; when they took out one section of the roof, dozens of bats flew out. And they stayed in the area! Love my little batty-boys & girls - we now have an organic garden with NO insects - thanks to our batty-kids. That completes our 4-D organic garden - bats, birds, butterflies & bees- you gotta love'em!

I love this thread! Our issue is those leaf blowers...the gasoline powered ones that are so loud, so polluting, and prevalent among landscape service crews. What amazes me is that we have neighbors who will pay a crew to remove leaves from their driveways with those screeching machines. Then, they go pay a fortune to go "work out" at the fitness center. If they just picked up a broom and swept the driveway, it would cost nothing...no landscaper bill, no drive to the "gym" with exorbitant fees, and no polluting the air and the ears. Brooms cost ten dollars. Doh!

Baggy: the American scythe is called a "misery whip?" For some reason the term makes me laugh.

Meant to say "4-B garden "- sorry (I'm Canadian).