How to Use a Scythe

Up until about a century ago, virtually every small-scale
farmer knew how to use a scythe. The hook-bladed
implements were used for cutting fields of hay, grain, and
weeds. But when the horsedrawn mowing machine–and,
later, the petroleum-powered harvester–became
popular, scythe usage dropped off sharply. In fact, today,
many folks consider the cutting method to be little more
than a “quaint folk art.”

But hold your horses (and tractors). The
scythe is beginning to make a comeback, and with good
reason too! More and more small-farm-holding folks are
discovering that the centuries-old implement is the perfect
tool for many homestead tasks. After all, a person wielding
one of the muscle-powered mowers can harvest an acre of hay
or grain a day (more, if he or she is skilled), cut
weeds in small orchard plots and along fencerows, or
even–if the user is really adept–mow the front lawn!

Scythes are first-class cutters, but make no
mistake, there’s a knack and a good bit of hard work
involved in using them. I know, because I’m 74 years
young and I’ve been around the implements since I was a
boy.

Back in those days, the first morning task, come haying
time, was to sharpen up the family scythe. Being a stout
lad, I was usually chosen to turn the handle of our
grindstone while my dad honed his blade to just the right
thickness and angle. The tool had to be precisely
sharpened–indeed, some special-purpose thin grass
scythes are honed until you can deflect the blade with a
thumbnail!–so this task always seemed to me to take hours
(actually, the job probably lasted little more than 15
minutes).

Dad would carefully run the blade up and down on the
grindstone, working on the underside of the tool to produce
an upwardcutting edge, and using an overthe-wheel drip
bucket to keep the metal cool. The scythe was considered
ready when the edge could cut, effortlessly, through a
wheat straw.

After my father gave the blade its final touches with a
whetstone, we headed off to the fields for the day’s work.
Dad would start down in the left-hand corner of a plot,
adjust the two grips (these “nibs” can be set to whatever
positions the mower desires) so that he could stand upright
while his blade hovered just off the ground,
and–keeping his feet close together–turn his entire
torso back to the right. He would then swing the tool
around and across his body … so that the blade sliced
(not chopped!) a thin swath. After that, he’d arc the tool
back, step forward about half a foot, and slice again. Each
quarter-circle so cut would be about a yard across and only
six to eight inches deep.