Minimum Scythe Set (blade 80cm or longer)
£140.00 – £164.00
A basic scythe set with a choice of long blades.
These blades perform at their best with regular peening.
A Minimum Scythe Set (without peening equipment) may be what you need if:
- you want to have a go before you invest in all the maintenance tools
- you already have peening equipment
- or you plan to use a blade peening service.
Scroll down for help deciding which options to select.
Description
Minimum Scythe Sets contain the basic necessities needed to get you mowing.
A snath, a blade, a sharpening stone and a stone holder.
These blades, especially the two meadow blades, perform at their best with regular peening.
They are suitable for an experienced mower, as they need experience and skill to get them set up and mowing well.
FAQs
We offer a choice of a Luxor 85cm or 90cm or a Rasierschnitt 95cm for meadow / lawn mowing; or an 80cm Falci 177 “Dragon” if you need a long blade for mowing heavier meadows, large areas of bracken etc.
These blades, especially the meadow blades, perform at their best with regular peening.
They are suitable for an experienced mower.
More information about each blade can be found under their individual scythe blade listings.
- One Scythe Blade
- An adjustable wooden snath (inc movable hand grips, clamp and wedge)
- A whetstone holder (for carrying the sharpening stone whilst out scything)
- A natural Sharpening Stone (for regular sharpening of blade when scything)
- A Quick Set up Guide.
Snaths are available in four lengths. The length needed depends on your height
Your Height———Snath Number
Less then 5ft ———-Size 1 (small)
5ft – 5ft 10————-Size 2 (medium)
5ft 8 – 6ft 4————Size 3 (long)
6ft 2 and taller——–Size 4 (extra-long)
Each size of snath has adjustable handle positions so it can be fine tuned to suit your height and mowing style.
If you are at the edge of the height range you may not be sure which snath length to choose.
If your legs are long in proportion to your body length you should choose the longer snath. If they are short in proportion to your body length choose the shorter snath. This should give you the most useful range of adjustment of the handle positions.
La Saurat
As standard, we recommend a La Saurat sharpening stone as we find this stone offers a good compromise – it is easy for a beginner to use, yet is fine enough that it does not wear away the peened edge too quickly.
Rozutec
As you gain experience with sharpening the finer Rozutec stone will enable you to achieve a good sharp edge whilst removing even less metal, increasing the length of time a peened edge will last.
Each set comes with a printed copy of our Quick Set Up Guide.
Additional instructional books you can add to your set:
Learn to Scythe by Steve Tomlin
We highly recommend adding this comprehensive instruction book to your scythe set. It is clear, informative and easy to read. It’s the next best thing to going on a scythe course!
£10.50Add to basket
Managing Grass with a Scythe by Simon Fairlie.
Newly revised and extended edition, this excellent book contains guidance on how to manage grassland with a scythe, everything from hay making to mowing the lawn.
£8.00Add to basket
All new blades should have the lacquer cleaned off the cutting edge to prevent it clogging the sharpening stone.
If you are an experienced peener, you can peen the blade before your first mow.
See this guide for further details.
With basic preparation as outlined in the FAQ “How do I prepare my new blade?”, you can mow with your blade from the box.
Peening is part of the subsequent maintenance of the blade.
Benefits of peening include:
- work hardening of the edge, which allows it to hold a longer lasting sharp edge
- the drawing out of new metal to replace that worn away by work and sharpening.
- the ease and effectiveness of mowing with a really sharp blade