Category Archives: Scytherspace

Ransome's lawn mower

Here is the sentence you thought you’d never read on scytherspace: I’ve got myself a lawn mower. This though, is no ordinary mower, it’s a Ransome’s Ajax push mower from the 1960’s with 12″ wide cutters, solid wood rollers and … Continue reading

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Saxon Peening Station

I’ve been sent some photos from Michael Stibane in Germany of his peening station which his great-grandfather, who was a cartwright, produced and sold. Peening is done on a flat anvil and by altering the string on the upright pole, the … Continue reading

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Peening hammer

The first stage of sharpening a scythe is to peen the blade, drawing out the edge to thin it and give the right bevel angle. When you start out, the peening jig designed and made by Schroeckenfux along with Peter … Continue reading

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Transylvania Haymaking Festival dates & Scythe royalty

I’ve just been sent the dates for this year’s International Haymaking Festival in Transylvania. The fourth festival will take place on 19-26 August 2012 in Gyimes, Transylvania. Last year’s festival was a wonderful week and the event grows and improves  year. … Continue reading

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Woman mowing wheat

It’s unusual to see old pictures of women mowing so this great photo merits it’s own post.  Note that she’s holding the snath by the shaft it’s made for someone taller than her and there’s no cradle or bow on … Continue reading

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Austrian Scythe Association end of year dinner

I’m in Austria this week and have just attended the Sensenverein Osterreich (Austrian Scythe Association) end of year dinner which Christiane Lechner and I were invited to by Walter Blumauer. The association has 220 members of which 31 turned out … Continue reading

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Koseni 2011 Czech Republic – pictures

The pictures from this years mowing fortnight in the Czech Republic are now online here. Great memories for me of the week that Christiane and I spent there, mowing and making hay with the other volunteers in a special conservation … Continue reading

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Where do you peen?

When I was living out in the sticks of North Devon, peening my scythe was never a problem. The nearest neighbours lived over a mile away and I could hammer away to my heart’s content. Now I live in a … Continue reading

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Hay rescue in Transylvania

During the summer, Christiane Lechner and I set off for the far east of Romania to attend the International Haymaking festival at Gyimes in the White Carpathain mountains of Transylvania. During the week we learned a huge amount about haymaking, … Continue reading

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"Mowing" by Robert Frost

Winter time and the mowing season is well and truly over in my neck of the woods, hence the smaller number of posts (why not check out my green woodwork blog SteveTomlinCrafts which gets more active in the autumn and … Continue reading

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