Is there somebody using a scythe to mow the lawn? This is ordinary
mixed lawn-length grass, not wheat or anything.

I've done an acre a couple of times, and fooled around on odd corners;
there's a couple questions. Here's one.

How easy grass is to cut depends hugely on what kind of grass is growing
in the particular area, and on time of day (moist and cool is easier).

The universal failure mode, though, is that the blade edge (razor sharp
though it is) picks up clumps of grass as it travels from right to
left, so the grass on the left (final) edge of the cut doesn't see much
bare blade and is not well cut. The right edge is cut cleanly to the
ground, as it should be.

I can't find a swing style (different haft angles, different blade
angles, different toe to heel pressure of the blade) that eliminates
this effect, short of deliberately cutting above the ground entirely,
so that not so much grass gets hit (sort of levelling the grass, like
a rotary mower).

Can somebody diagnose the clogged blade-edge problem? When grass
adheres to your blade edge in growing clumps as the swing progresses
from right to left, you should ... ?

I use Austrian blades, sharpen every 5 minutes or so (it's better
when sharpened), European style scythe; not the American stamped
blades. A lot of lengths, 22" to 36". Which one does best at
a particular time with particular patches of grass also varies
mysteriously.

Taking a sharpened blade, any of them, and running them idly along
some bit of grass with no speed or pressure, causes the grass to fall
onto the blade satisfyingly. The trick is to get the grass to do
that for the length of a real swing, somehow.
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 21:35:14 GMT, Ron Hardin
wrote:

Is there somebody using a scythe to mow the lawn? This is ordinary
mixed lawn-length grass, not wheat or anything.
snippity snip

Hi Ron,

It has been awhile since I last searched for scythe info.
The following site popped up and looks interesting. They
even have a Quicktime video. Maybe it will give you some
info, provided you haven't already came across it.

http://www.scytheconnection.com/adp/contents.html

My grandfather was the scythe expert, long since deceased. I
was too young to appreciate him and his knowledge back then
He even mowed his lawn with it, especially when the lazy
grandson didn't get it done with the new fandangled mower in
a timely manner...
--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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