As a new scythe owner/user...

[PlowGirl]

I just bought two new scythes from Marrugg. I bought the curved snaths with one bush blade and a post horn blade on the other. Obviously, I have more weeds than actual grass.

Anyways, I watched the youtube video of the little hippie girl doing an awesome mowing job. I saw that she wore her whetstone holder against her back and would periodically stop mowing and field hone the blade on the scythe. I was quite impressed and sought to do just like her, except with shoes.

Now, my question. How do you keep the water from the whetstone holder from running down your back everytime you have to bend over for something? Am I putting too much water in it? I've essentially dribbled several cups of water down my back/backside trying to work the kinks out of the system, but I'm not having any real luck here. I just end up looking like someone has p..d on my back.

Leaving the whetstone and holder laying elsewhere also presents it's own set of problems. I need to be able to prop it up against something, and then I'm usually quite a distance away from my supplies when I need to hone the blades again.

Please tell me how you deal with wearing the water holster?

[coup]

never used water,,just whetted it till it felt good.

[Maura]

You only need a couple of inches in the holder. When you use the whetstone, your hand is over half of it. Also, I don't put it on my back but to the side.

[debbiebofjc]

I've had that problem too!
Just a few inches of water in it, and wear it on your side.
or sometimes I will hook it onto my water bottle (I made a
crocheted "sweater" for it to keep it cool), so then I will
remember to get a drink every time I sharpen.
I love my scythe (mine's from scythesupply.com).
I like the way the cuttings are in a neat row, not chopped up
and thrown all over like with a brush-hog or weed eater.
Much quieter too of course. And good exercise!

[Freeholder]

I've been wearing my whetstone more on the front (if I was facing north, the stone is on my belt at about ENE ).

Kathleen

[Sparticle]

I was having the same problem till i started bending at the knees more instead of the waist when bending over to pick something up. That was the only time it kept dribbling on me so I stopped doing it. I go very slowly though and can't come close to mowing like the girl on utube, too stressful and the arms are supposed to swing more freely from what I've read. So maybe you guys go faster than me and it splashes? I also don't put very much water in. I'm tired of the red rubber plastic thing and saw that there are some better sheathes to cover the blade with. I'd like to get one.

My only problem is the back swing putting a little stress on my right elbow. I'm not doing much of anything but keeping the blade slightly above the ground with my right elbow for a brief moment till the momentum of the left swing powered by my waist and hips takes the weight. I don't know how I could use my right arm any less and still work with the scythe. Maybe I'm using it too much. Any advice?

[Rick]

I hayed myself a path through our field, so I could see the terrain a coming. It was hard- mainly on my sore wrist/palm - I have abused the poor thing. The part that made it worthwhile was raking the harvest into piles a few days later. I'll have to brush hog some of the field soon, but I'll get as much hay as I can before that.

I just propped the sharpening stone and cup on a stick, and it wasn't too far to walk back and move it and my drink every 20 feet.

Who can advise on sharpening techniques? One source said to run the stone flat against the blade- heel to tip in the back, and tip to heel in the front.

Does anyone have a link to the mindlessly shoeless hippy girl?

Rick

[Toads tool]

I don't like my big clunky yellow whetstone holder. It's about twice the size it needs to be, and I couldn't fit two stones in.
I've got access to copper and want to try and fashion my own holder, like they say they did in the old days.
The man-made whetstone will snap real easy if you drop it on gravel, %@&$, a little glue and it's good as new.
I still preffer using the natural stone.

Every morning I've been going out and cutting fresh greens for my chickens in a part of my yard I let grow up for this purpose. It's great I can get some early morning choreing out of the way without waking everyone else up, this comes in handy since I get up around 4:30 am and have to find something quiet to do.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Rick

I hayed myself a path through our field, so I could see the terrain a coming. It was hard- mainly on my sore wrist/palm - I have abused the poor thing. The part that made it worthwhile was raking the harvest into piles a few days later. I'll have to brush hog some of the field soon, but I'll get as much hay as I can before that.

I just propped the sharpening stone and cup on a stick, and it wasn't too far to walk back and move it and my drink every 20 feet.

Who can advise on sharpening techniques? One source said to run the stone flat against the blade- heel to tip in the back, and tip to heel in the front.

Does anyone have a link to the mindlessly shoeless hippy girl?

Rick

YouTube

All right, I apologize to the girl. It took 45 minutes to load, but I watched it all. She is not mindless at all.

She was sharpening the front and back of the blade, every 2 1/2 minutes or so, with flat, fast, short strokes, heel to tip, alternating strokes on the back then the front, back and front as she made her way to the tip .

Rick

[Wildcrofthollow]

I also wear the whetstone/holder on my side

I had to chuckle about the mindlessly shoeless hippy girl... Fairlight Vido (I think is her name) has had a scythe in her hands since she was very small. Her scything is beautiful to watch and should be emulated but with a few differences. She is an awful lot younger than me and could, I'm sure, cut circles around me. Consequently she is going waaay too fast for me. Her swath is a good bit broader than mine, which she can manage because she has a lot more stamina than I. So, when I scythe, I go a lot slower and more narrow than she.
It is well nigh impossible to cut your feet with your own scythe. I use shoes, but that is because i have tender feet and am allergic to grasses so it makes my feet itch abominably.

Sparticle, I actually let the scythe blade slide across the mown grass on the return stroke. I hardly lift it at all. could it be that lifting the blade and then trying to control it's stopping in the correct place could be putting strain on your wrist?

Rick,Yes, she does sharpen alternating sides, but it can be done by just whetting the one side and then only taking the burr off of the other. The way she does it is faster, but if you are just beginning to learn how to do it, you may find that it is easier to understand and do a good job by just doing one side and then just taking the burr off the other.

[Cheribelle]

That was Amazing!

[Rick]

Hi Wildcrofthollow

Thanks so much for the input. We peened our scythe tonight, and I went at the field for a while. I was happy with how it was cutting, but I sure couldn't keep up the pace that Fairlight did. (I apologized to the young lady in my second post). It is encouraging to hear you say you will never scythe like her.

[Sparticle]

Originally Posted by Wildcrofthollow

Sparticle, I actually let the scythe blade slide across the mown grass on the return stroke. I hardly lift it at all. could it be that lifting the blade and then trying to control it's stopping in the correct place could be putting strain on your wrist?

The stuff I'm cutting right now doesn't lend itself to resting on the grass. For the little bit I cut in the yard that works, but I'm clearing a field that is full of swamp milk weed, it's up to my arm pits, and prickly vines, and cutting thick stalks mixed in with grass. I should be using a brush blade, but couldn't afford the additional $$$. So I keep my grass blade peened, hone frequently and it cuts great. I can only cut about 1/2 an arc of the thick stuff. This is a field that hasn't been cleared for years and just walking through it is hard.

Aman in WNY was cutting his grass in the rain with a scythe this weekend and was struck by lightning. The last I heard he will live.