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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°

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) czcams.com/video/yK8KVgM7WAM/video.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.

Only if the grass is kept short, I'm afraid! If the grass is tall enough to use a fork on when cut, it's going to lead to thatch. We did have Japanese beetle grubs destroy a patch of the lawn, and I raked the mown material over it like a comb-over, and it did an excellent job of assisting its recovery. It's about 80% healed over the course of the season as a result. If mowing short stuff with patchy bits springing up, I mow the tallest material and just let it lie because the quantity is insufficient to develop thatch. Tall grass will result in large windrows that will smother the living grass beneath it and cause all sorts of problems when you return to mow the space next.

My favorite blade is unmarked but it's rare to come across a bad one unless it has condition issues. A 30" grass blade will handle 95% of most folks' mowing needs.

I really appreciate your response. any snath recommendations? I'm 5'8 but want to have others be able to use it. @@FortyTwoBlades

You would want to use one of our specially formulated grinding points for that work. The Manticore is a stone for bevel maintenance and field repair of damaged edges.

@@FortyTwoBlades Darn. I'm looking for a non-electric, non-grinding wheel solution. I don't care if doing it by hand is slow and tedious. I'm patient. But if it's actually not possible with the Manticore, then there's got to be some other non-technical method, I hope.

@@sethmoking you could use filing in blades soft enough to do so or use the Manticore but it would be a laborious process that would take many times longer and yield worse results. I cannot recommend it. If you need a manual option use the grinding point in a manual "eggbeater" drill or use a manual wheel.

You can use the flat face, but it will be functionally the same as using an American pattern scythe stone but with lowered consistency and control of your stroke pressure and therefore burr management. Simply drawing the curved face down the length will produce a constantly broadening contact angle and rapidly round over and thicken your edge, and will actually produce a convex edge of too thick of an angle. A rolling action of the wrist is *necessary* when using the curved face of the stone if you wish to avoid prematurely rendering your edge too thick.

@@FortyTwoBlades Interesting. Thank you!

I'm unsure what your confusion is about. This is an American pattern scythe. There are many different global styles, and this pattern is uniquely American, featuring developments primarily made in the 19th Century.

The next video that came up was ‘mowing with a child scythe’. So I could probably adapt my technique. And my arm-torso-leg-stance ratio may well work well enough for a no8 snath. None the less your input would be great!

@@Channel1rm the No.9 is also made by Seymour and is exported to the UK, where it is sold under a private label by the importing tool company, though I forget off the top of my head which one is doing it. Perhaps it was Bulldog? In any case, the length is nigh-identical to the No.8. If you cannot source a snath that is optimum for your measurements, it is, indeed, possible to alter your technique, as well as introducing a greater angle to the tang when heating/bending it, and rotating the nibs into a more upright position than they normally would be, along with a "dropped" stance.