Painted Scythe Miniatures

 We are a family of board game players. I think I've mentioned this before. But we all love it. That extends to my brother and sister as well and their families. 

A couple of years ago I got my brother-in-law the game scythe. It's quite complicated, but each time he's down we try to get together to play it. It's fun, and never seems to play the same twice. We all love it. for his birthday this year I thought I'd get him the expansion so more people could play. 

I also thought it would be fun to paint up the miniatures the set uses as well. 

Scythe Over Strimmer

 It's been a few years now, and I still prefer the scythe over the strimmer. But I must say there are a few things to consider that could make it harder. 

When you damage your scythe edge, you need to deal with it straight away. this can be very annoying when you just want to knock down a few weeds. I'm tempted to have a spare blade ready to go. 

Sharpening has to be right - if it's not then it just doesn't cut very well. You need all the tools to get this right, from peening to the stones

Setting has to be right, this can be annoying. I probably don't use it enough to be able to tell at a stroke of the scythe if it's set right or not, I end up messing with it quite a bit. 

Storage - you need to keep it in good condition. The blade's shape makes it hard to protect without making something yourself. 

But being able to use this in the cool of the evening or early morning is still glorious as it doesn't make the noise a strimmer does. You're far more likely to come across and notice wildlife this way as well. 

A harder tool to learn, but one that will make you feel like you're doing the right thing.  

Time for an upgrade - Austrian Scythe

 So for a long time now I've been thinking about upgrading my scythe. 

This owes me nothing, but its not the easiest to use

I have an old English one, and although it's great for knocking down a few nettles it is quite heavy to use for a long period of time and I've never managed to cut grass in a tidy way with it. Probably as I'm a good six inches taller than whoever had it before me! 

Time to buy a different one.  

Scythe Over Strimmer?

The road to self sufficiency is built on a slippery slope.
You start looking at everything a little differently after a while. And when trying to start my strimmer I thought there must be another way and took a step back. 

I don't do huge amounts of strimming here, but I do like to knock back the clumps of nettles and docks on the edges of the fields rather than using sprays if I can help it. to replace it I'd still have to buy a fairly professional machine if I was to get another one (one that would start and work every time), as it's far more than what the average person needs in their garden. That's more money than I can justify. What's the self sufficient alternative? 

A Scythe!

£10 - bargain?

Spurred on by both Sunnybrook Farm and Vera at Snippets From Labartere, who use a scythe frequently, I decided to give it a go. I got mum to look out for one at a flea market and she came back with this little beauty for £10.

Handles are completely adjustable to wherever you want them

It's an Elwell one so I know it's good quality (I've a few old axes of the same make and the steel is top notch and holds an edge great), its got fully adjustable handles and the blade has four settings depending on your height.

Elwell stamped on the blade, so its a good old make.

The blade has four slots for adjustment depending on your hight.

The blade needs a lot of work to get it back cutting well, but for the moment it knocks down a patch of nettles in the same time as a strimmer does. 

Patch of nettles before...

And after!

The only difference is I can do this at 10 o'clock at night and not upset the neighbours! It uses no fuel, oil or strimming wire, hasn't got an engine to start or keep running, I can wear my shorts and I don't need goggles or ear muffs. A lot going for it at the moment!
Although when I think about sharpening it I do keep thinking back to my geeky teenage years and the Terry Pratchett book Reaper Man - 
"thinking he might fight back against the New Death, Death (Bill Door) sharpens a scythe blade. First on a grindstone, then on an oilstone, then on a steel. It was too blunt. Miss Flitworth supplied, from her rag bag, satin, then silk, finest white silk, never worn (from her wedding dress). It was still blunt. Then it was sharpened on cobweb. Then on the breeze at dawn. Finally, on the light of the new day"
Anyone else secretly turning into a Luddite? Sometimes things designed to save us time cost us more in the long run.