Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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vegplot
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I couldn't find the finer of my two stones for sharpening the scythe this weekend. So after peening I used a set of three card diamond sharpeners I bought cheaply (less than £10 for the set of three). They worked a treat albeit being a little to wide but they put a very good edge on the blade.
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Dogwalker
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I finished cutting the grass this morning. I couldn't get it even but atleast it's cut. It had got to thigh high and alot of tough stems and nettles with hidden mole hills and rabbit holes. OK for a first attempt, I think I need to alter the set up a bit and learn to peen.
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gil
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Have you got an Austrian scythe too, Dogwalker ?
I didn't peen my blade at all for the first year I was mowing - just used the stones to hone it.
I am starting to think I peen too often - my blade has never cut quite right since I started freehand peening with the hammer and anvil. I may go back to just using the stones for a while.
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Crookham Farm
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I'm love with my scythe. not had it for very long, and anyone who watches would probably be rather unimpressed by my technique. In my defense our ground is all on a slope and really uneven so probably not the best way to learn!!!!
I haven't had to peen my blade yet, and to be honest I'm a little bit nervous about giving it a go!.
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gil
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For those wondering what's happened, I split Dogwalker's thread with the scythe joke link at the point where folk began to discuss sharpening and peening, and trying to peen for the first time.
As I said above, I mowed for a year and sharpened using stones only, until I was having to hone very very frequently, and the blade needed peening [bringing and thinning the metal forward to the edge of the blade, so a sharper, stronger and more lasting edge can be maintained - until the blade needs peened again].
Then I peened my blade on the jig for the first time, and the cut improved massively.
Since then, I think I may have peened too often - including using my blade for peening demos - and the blade edge is now too fine to get a good cut. However, as I don't peen with great force in each stroke [so the thin metal is still very strong], I haven't caused the usual over-peening problems : cuts and tears in the metal, ragged wavy edge.
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ksia
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| Crookham Farm wrote: | I'm love with my scythe. not had it for very long, and anyone who watches would probably be rather unimpressed by my technique. In my defense our ground is all on a slope and really uneven so probably not the best way to learn!!!!
I haven't had to peen my blade yet, and to be honest I'm a little bit nervous about giving it a go!. |
I could've wrote this!
Scything my meadow (I'm about half way) has been a real eye-opener. I'd recommend scything to anyone - despite taking the pad off a finger last week. (Lots of blood!)
I love my (borrowed) scythe. Am looking forward to OH collecting my new scythe from UK next week.
Big thanks to gil for an encouraging message a while back.
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Dogwalker
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Yes, I've just got an Austrian scythe,
the grass in the garden was very high and thick and hard work.
Got it raked up today, just in piles to rot, not made hay. No doubt I'll get some comments about that from neighbours but with a cottage to clean and decorate once the builders have finished and barns full of old hay and straw to clear and mend and all the other new holding stuff to think about I thought haymaking could wait till next year.
I haven't got the techniquequite right yet.One part I did felt better and that was finer grass and level, but I couldn't get a full arc. I cut OK at the start and til the blade came infront of me then it skimmed the grass and flattened it.If I tried to make sure that didn't happen it dug in halfway round.
I'm going to try another patch tomorrow when my son moves his tent, around that is the only bit I couldn't do at the weekend.
Any tips gratefully received, also a bit nervous of trying peening. I've got a jig.
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gil
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| Dogwalker wrote: | | I haven't got the techniquequite right yet.One part I did felt better and that was finer grass and level, but I couldn't get a full arc. I cut OK at the start and til the blade came infront of me then it skimmed the grass and flattened it.If I tried to make sure that didn't happen it dug in halfway round. |
When starting out, a 90 degree arc is fine, and don't worry about not being able to cut further round. As you get stronger/ more used to it, an extra twist at the waist and bringing your left elbow back and up/down [depends on blade set] should increase the width of the swath. To avoid digging the blade in halfway, put your thumbs on the handgrips and use them to steer/control, especially the left thumb.
| Dogwalker wrote: | I'm going to try another patch tomorrow when my son moves his tent, around that is the only bit I couldn't do at the weekend.
Any tips gratefully received, also a bit nervous of trying peening. I've got a jig. |
Jig peening : you don't need a lot of force. Just tapping with the force that the hammer would exert if you let it fall naturally from the height you'd raise it to. A series of even taps, maybe 2 or 4 at each point along the blade, evenly distributed without gaps. Don't expect to be able to feed the blade through the jig continuously - stop and move it along and reposition your hand so the blade is securely held. Keep the blade flat in the jig. You should see where you have peened as you move the blade along : a strip of shinier metal along the edge of the blade, about a couple of mm wide.
When you have done, you can feel the blade cautiously between thumb and middle finger pads to make sure it is evenly peened, but I would prefer to take a photo to show you what I mean [for safety], and my camera no longer works.
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Dogwalker
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Thank you for the tips.
All rained off for today but I'll try as soon as everything dries out again.
thanks
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Nick
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How long does it take you, Gil, as an experienced scyther, to cut, say, a half acre, or whatever size you'd do in one go?
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vegplot
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As a very inexperience scyther I can cut 1/4 of an acre in about 3 hours but that would lay me up for the next day as I don't do it very often. An experienced scyther, so I'm told, could be expected to cut an acre a day.
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gil
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That 'experienced scyther' mowing an acre a day was back in the days when folk did it for a living. I don't know anyone that cuts that much now.
Also, pre-fertilisers, the grass was thinner, like a sparse wildflower meadow, and a lot easier to cut. Friend of mine was saying that on that kind of sward, he can mow a huge swath with a very long blade - but on unfertilised grass and clover mix at the Festival, he broke his snath using the same blade because of the weight and tension of the grass.
I'm finding it hard to mow a lot this year, and take frequent breaks or do something else. Mowing the front grass started about two weeks ago, and is still not finished, though I did the square orchard in a couple of hours. My grass is very thick and tangled, and my scythe is not cutting properly this year. With a good scythe when fit, I could mow 5x5m in about 6 or 7 minutes.
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