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Garden scythe Grim Reaper style

Vinny said:
Cup of tea and some biscuits or a piece of cake?

I am not far from Asby-d-l-z.
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Piece of cake I can manage. I hate tea, always have :eek:

Quite a nice drive from there, so long as you're prepared to overtake and know the road fairly well. I could also advise you on a little known back road from the outskirts of Buxton to Tibshelf. It is literally one car wide in places though.

I need to finally catch up with some essential household cleaning before I can accommodate guests :) I've just managed to clean the bath of soap scum with the help of some bicarbonate of soda and some vinegar, as recommended on the BBC Clean it, fix it. Leaves your bathroom smelling like a chippy though :D

Thanks very much for your kind offer, really, and I'll be back in touch if I need to. Incidentally, this is the same piece of grass that is feeding all those Cinnabar moths that you identified in a previous post :) If you're a collector you're more than welcome.

I'll even fire up the stereo if you like :D
 
The problem with using a mower is all the bending over it inevitably involves. The IBS has swollen my large intestine into a taut bag down from under my ribs to my pelvis.

I need to avoid compressing this too much as this is a good trigger. This is why cleaning the bath was such a problem, I couldn't bend over to scrub away at it.
 
2ManyBoxes said:
I've just managed to clean the bath of soap scum with the help of some bicarbonate of soda and some vinegar,
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I use one of the cheap own-brand trigger spray bath cleaners, diluted to 50% so that I can be liberal when using it.
Get out of the bath/shower and spray it around, and leave the spray in the bath - as a reminder!!!
Next time, use a heavy cleaning/floor/dish cloth and it isn't hard work at all.

Otherwise, every time you use it, get a cheap squeegee and use it.
 
Pete MB&D said:
I thought they formed the edge to a sharp edge. It’s often described as a tool to sharpen a surge.
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How long is a piece of string?

At some stage you'll not be able to sharpen a blade without peening, but peening only produces an edge that can be sharpened using a stone, unless the relatively poor edge produced by peening is enough, which it isn't for a scythe blade.
 
-alan- said:
A majestic tool when used properly, but bl**dy hard to get anywhere near as smooth and effective as this chap:


Couple of thoughts - was wondering whether that swinging action with the load on your core impact your IBT possibly ?, and the other is, that while ok for large areas, scythes wouldn't be great for smaller areas, or up close to walls, fences etc.
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I get a certain joy from watching this as I watched my father using a sythe when I was a kid. He was born on a farm in the 20’s when the main equipment were a Shire horses and hand tools.

Having recently had my lawnmower pack in I resorted to strimming the approx 200 m2 which was a pain in the neck (and arms and back). I suspect if my technique was up to it this would gave been preferable.
 
I agree with @Vinny re the Austrian scythes - they are light, adjustable to the individual and easy to handle, with a variety of blades for different jobs.. Takes a while to get the knack (I still tend to hack too much, especially on rough stuff) but it's certainly effective.
This may not be much help, but there's a course in Sheffield soon
28, 29 & 30 July 2023: Learn to scythe course Regather farm Sheffield. £70.00 /person/day. Join us for a comprehensive scything course. 9:30 - 16:00 Book at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/learn-to-scythe-weekend-tickets-556967012327
I do volunteer work with the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, who Danny (the course tutor,https://www.handpowered.co.uk/) used to work for. Great bloke and very enthusiastic.
Vinny may well be your answer though.
 
Pete MB&D said:
It’s good for white walkers as well.


Pete
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I gave up after book 3 or 4, can't remember. Too many characters for my old brain to keep track of. I do watch the odd clip on YouTube so I think I've seen what you're referring to :eek:

I guess obsidian will behave similarly to flint, so you can chip an edge off if you're extremely skilled. I can't see them being cheap to buy though bit hard to mass produce :D
 
Not sure what size area you have to deal with. If substantial, 3ft of growth would have me borrowing/hiring a brush cutter (a kind of heavy duty strimmer).

Leave scythes to the Grim Reaper.
 
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