 I sometimes peen scythe blades for local scythe people that don't want to peen their own. I see a lot of damaged edges doing this. Most damage occurs when the blade is dull and the owner compensates for that by swinging harder and chopping at the grass. The leverage on the tip of the blade from this force, often pushes the tang to the back of the ring, which opens up the tang angle all the way, and then the full force of the blow hits the edge of the blade straight on, instead of the acute shearing angle it was meant to. If the edge hits a rock straight on like this, you can cause considerable damage, as shown in the picture above. If you keep mowing with this kind of a crack, the crack can snag on an object, and increase the damage.
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 I just read on another website that The Scythe Book by David Tresamer, is still considered the "Bible" for scythe users. If that is true, it is mainly because it's still the only book in print, in the English language.
Surprisingly, this book is actually responsible for a lot of confusion with Austrian scythe users. I live in an area with many organic gardeners, and the area is saturated with mail-order scythes and The Scythe Book, Mostly the first edition. When I mention that I sell scythes, and teach scythe workshops, they proudly tell me that they've had a scythe for a long time, and that they already know how to use it, and that they love it. When I ask them what they mow with it, they admit "Oh, I don't use it that much really. Just for weeds, now and then. It works great for that." When I ask them how they sharpen it, they proudly pantomime their interpretation of using a whetstone. When I ask them if they've ever peened their blades, they say " No, I never did figure out how to do that. I probably should." |
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