Clearly spoken as someone who hasn't used it. It chops excellently and is designed for it based on extensive experience with machete design and use. An 1/8" thick prototype was tested during the design phase because of people who thought it should be thicker. The 2.2mm thick example chopped better and weighed almost half a pound less while doing it.

You don't need to produce a hollow grind--an appropriately low edge angle and backing geometry is the important thing. About 7-9° per side. While this is a VERY aggressive hyper-coarse bonded abrasive stone, it is not as fast as the grinding point is. Once beveled properly, proper sharpening techniques, occasional touchups with a very coarse stone like this or the Manticore Continental-pattern scythe stone to reduce thickness at the shoulder, and avoiding edge damage through accidental impacts can help drastically extend how long you can go before having to regrind it. The Seymour scythe blades or our Meadow King grass blade are soft enough that a file will readily cut them while still being harder than even harder examples of European style blades by about 5 HRC. You might enjoy one of those if looking for a blade that lends itself well to non-electric beveling without the need for a manual wet grinding wheel. The grinding point is just much faster.

@@FortyTwoBlades I don't know what brand my scythe blade is. It's an antique I got off of Ebay and restored. But it does seem to be doing better since I used the grinding point on it. But I really don't like the dependence on electricity. I would happily spend more time pleasantly sharpening manually. I see your Seymour grass blades are sold out. I''m looking at the Meadow King grass blade and the Seymour weed blades. You would feel confident grinding those blades with this Manticore abrasive file? And I'm also curious, should I be using the "American" whetstones you sell or the "Continental" whetsones? I've been using the continental shaped stones for honing my american scythe blade, but now I'm wondering if those are mainly meant for European scythe blades and that I should be using the American whetstone shape on my american scythe blade. Whew! Learning curve is steep. I'm able to cut grass now with my American scythe, but when I see Slottergubben and his Nordic snath and European (peen) style scythes, I'm very tempted to make the switch. I want to cut grass as easily as he does, but as of right now, the level of sharpness that I'm able to get on my american scythe blade, plus the weight of my old, heavy, snath is just not capable. Thoughts? Have you watched Slattergubben's videos?

The Grim Reaper and Father Time are depicted as carrying scythes because of the way that harvest with a scythe (reaping) must be done at the right time. Much as crops (whether grain or hay) must be harvested at the correct time, so too is it their duty to harvest souls when it is THEIR time.

The blades are curved a bit on the short axis, so even when you place it directly on the ground, the edge won't dig in. From there, it's just a matter of taking a short stroke and paying attention to the ground as it changes. You might have to come at the same patch from several angles, like he did as he circled around the burdock, but scythes cut best down at the ground level because the ground is helping to hold the plant in place. If you tried cutting higher up the stalk, the plant would just bend out of the way.

As Threeriversforge1997 mentioned, the blade "smiles" somewhat, allowing you to get down into hollows. The flatter the blade, the more even a stubble it leaves, and the more of an inverse crown the blade has, the less even a stubble it leaves, but the better it's able to navigate undulating terrain.

Total elapsed time under 5 minutes. Not slow at all for the space cleared.

The alternative is to string trim and then come back with big shears, it's technically faster just more labor intensive

@@cheyannei5983 if not actually trying to save a plant, it'd be much faster! Very easy to plow right through burdocks and grass like that; but this was just a demonstration of how you can selectively mow to help preserve certain desirable plants!

As we mention in the description, we weren't actually trying to save this plant! With one we were actually trying to save, obviously we wouldn't have then cut it down. 😉

This one was made by Falci, but we do also carry the Rinaldi one, which is a little shorter.

Propane doesn't do a good job of heating the metal quickly to prevent the spread of heat into the cutting portion of the blade. If using propane, we'd suggest taking steps to ensure the blade stays cool in the process, such as by submerging it in a water tank while doing the heating, using a coolant mister (with a shield in place to prevent overspray onto the heated portion of the tang) or thick soaking-wet felt blocks laid over the edge. Otherwise, it would be better to use an oxy-acetylene torch. Most folks without the means to DIY it or purchasing through us have had success with having a local mechanic do the job.

What method are you using to set the bevels? They should only be about 7-9°per side, so a quite thin geometry. Many find the grinding points we sell to be a good economical way of getting blades back in proper shape.

I'm not sure what you're asking here...both are forward-weighted tools and neither of them are at all prone to rolling in the hand. The Giustina model has a more forward balance, but this is due to its longer length. Neither is inherently more or less balanced than the other, merely balanced differently.

It's due to the manner in which it's designed, not due to any faults inherent to standard American snath design! Standard American snaths will typically comfortably fit users up to 5' 11" tall while the Longfellow us designed not only for very tall folks, but also for people who intend to share the snath between users of different heights, since users of any height will use the same tang angle thanks to the arrangement of the hands in use. Unless you're taller than 5' 11" it's most likely the trouble you had was due to poor tuning and fitting! American blades need to have their tang angle set for the unique combination of snath, user, and mowing conditions. The shank of the tang is heated with an oxy-acetylene torch or induction heater and bent to the correct angle needed for that user to bring the edge appropriately low to the ground. For most users that ends up being somewhere between 10-15°

@@FortyTwoBlades My height is 6'3" which is what I meant by understanding why I have a hard time with a normal size snath. Would you recommend staining or sealing the longfellow snath before using it?

Check our website for maintenance equipment and our links and reading section for the instructional material we have on our blog! We have detailed instructions for beginners. byxco.com/ site.baryonyxknife.com/blog/?p=6

You may find this more detailed video helpful, or the educational materials on our website (byxco.com or our blog under our links and reading section) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yK8KVgM7WAM.html

Chances are you're either failing to fully bring the edge to an apex, are rounding over your angle, or are creating an aggressively rolled edge. Check for any of those problems and it should solve the issue!

@@FortyTwoBlades Thank you! I’m grateful for your help because it’s my first time trying this.

They're Specialist II Work Clogs, or their predecessor, at least.

Cost depends on the particular snath (handle) and blade combination. Shipping to India may be very expensive, so we would suggest organizing a group order if you're able. You may peruse our selection on www.byxco.com and contact us from there regarding a quote.

We're actually the global specialist in American scythes! In addition to vintage blades, we also carry newly made ones like the Seymour Midwest model shown. To the best of my knowledge we're the only retailer doing tang angle adjustment and edge grinding.

This approach is faster, more precise, and more controllable, providing it's used with properly selected wood.

It's an Angelo B. "Abruzzo" pattern pennato (double-edged billhook.)

Because a hatchet doesn't penetrate into the wood as easily or allow for controlling the split of the lath. You use this with selected wood that has a good straight grain to it (or as close as you can find) during the course of stacking your wood, and you set those pieces aside. A hatchet is considerably worse for this very specific task, though certainly capable of the job. The splitting knife allows you to set the edge exactly where you want it and split off very thin, uniform laths that light and catch easily, to a fairly remarkable degree.

@@FortyTwoBlades preciate the answer.

~2.85mm, with a slight distal taper.

Rinaldi doesn't disclose their steel, as they consider it a trade secret, but it is some form of silicon-manganese spring steel heat treated to 57 RC. The thickness varies both due to distal taper as well as pattern, but are generally between 1/8" to 1/4" thick and can be thought of as "cleavers for wood."

As noted in the video description, it's our Arctic Fox series dual grit pocket stone! byxco.com/products/byxco-arctic-fox-pocket-stone

If anything it works easier in wet grass!

To slice open a hay bale??? Absolutely not.

@@FortyTwoBlades not to cut it in two but just to fork off enough to feed a couple of animals once or twice a day.

@@guernseygoodness forks are usually used for handling the sheets cut off with the hay knife. The ones left outside in this case were because the bale was too large to be rolled inside. The portion cut off initially served as the first feeding, and the remainder rolled inside. Subsequent feedings would then be cut off and dealt out with the fork.

The apex of the edge is where the bevels meet to create the edge itself. It's important for it to be centered in the blade's thickness, as many antique blades are laminated construction, being made of a layer of high carbon edge steel between layers of soft iron cladding. If your edge is ground lopsided on such a blade it will result in your edge being made of iron instead of steel. It's best to treat all blades as if they are laminated, as there is no drawback to doing so on blades made entirely of steel, and so then if you end up owning a laminated blade you are already well-versed in taking good care of it.

@@FortyTwoBlades thanks for the reply I believe I understand now

Specific form of the bevel matters much less than the apex angle being within the prescribed range of sufficient thinness (7-9° per side) though for most mowing a hollow is theoretically ideal. In practice most edges swiftly end up a bit convex, but without a meaningful degree of change in performance so long as the angles were kept thin and the edge apex kept centered in the web of the blade in the case of laminated examples.

The blades almost always need regrinding, which was done on the contact wheel of my 2x72 belt grinder with appropriate belts -- we recommend folks not already skilled in such work to use a slow-speed wet grinder instead or to send their hay knife in to us for regrinding. Once a properly thin bevel has been reset on the teeth and the point, it's maintained with a scythe stone, preferably before each use, as hay is often full of silica that blunts the edge if not maintained regularly.

American scythe snaths were made in both steam-bent ash and aluminum (as well as some made from steel) and the one in this video is a Seymour No.8 aluminum snath. Adjusting the snath to fit the user is extremely important for ergonomics and efficiency.

@@FortyTwoBlades Thank you and the American scythe is adjustable by the handles? It does not appear that the Austrian can be adjusted? You have a lot of information on scythe.

@@FortyTwoBlades I stand 5'8 what number would I want?

Joseph Jenckes made several notable inventions that were arguably the first steps of the American scythe's development and delineation from the English scythe. You will find sources that claim that he invented the modern curved snath, but my research suggests that this was only partly true, and that while the details of his original invention are lost, the innovation he made was the primary arch of the snath at the right hand, while Silas Lamson invented the further recurve bend of the neck of the snath. Loop bolt fasteners were invented by Pinckney Frost, while the twist-to-tighten nib was developed by Joseph and Erasmus S. Clapp. Notably, Jenckes also invented a method of welding an iron bar to the back of scythe blades to stiffen them, but it is unclear if this was the origin of the V-shaped stiffening rib along the back of American blades or not.