Scythe?

[zard.livejournal.com]

Has anyone ever seen a real scythe for sale around here? I'm looking for the farming kind, not the "grim reaper HALLOWEEN BOOO" kind. I'm either looking for a full outfit or the blades and snath sold separately. I'm hoping to find a place with a person who knows about this kind of thing, as it's a potential gift and not for me. I'm open to driving somewhere if need be.

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

The people who I know who own scythes bought them in antique shops. You might try phoning around to antique shops in the general area.

[zard.livejournal.com]

Thanks. From what I've read, scythes have improved and you can buy different blades for one snath, so I'm looking for a new one. I know where to get them online, but I'd rather go and see them and support a local business.

[cnoocy]

I think they are usually at hardware stores. Try Shattuck or Wanamaker in Arlington, maybe?

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

I'd say check around metro northwest (up near westford/berlin, so perhaps not actually "metro") for actual farming/hardware stores. Those are the only places I've seen them. Hardware stores stock by demand and while scythes make amazing weed wacker substitutes, especially when vines are concerned, not a lot of people know that :)

[frotz.livejournal.com]

The giant hardware store in Billerica (O'Connor's) seems like a reasonable bet, as does any Agway branch (closest being Waltham, maybe?) The Aubuchon Hardware chain definitely sells a bunch of scythe stuff (including separate blades and snaths from a couple of different manufacturers) but I think they're more of a central/western Mass. chain.

The people who know about this kind of thing mostly seem to say to avoid hardware store scythes, though; I've handled a scythe from Scythe Supply at the far end of Maine and they really are nice, most relevantly due to both lightness and having been made to fit, but they're a pretty long drive. (Agricultural fair season is coming up, though, which is how I ran into the Scythe Supply people.) I'm not sure where it crosses the line from actually increasing utility to "pimp my scythe", though.

[zard.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the detailed post. I've read about Scythe Supply and they seem to really care about their work. One of my 2011 goals is to go to a fair, so I might just give them a call and see if they'll be local. I hadn't considered that option.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

Depending on the type of fair, you may not be allowed to carry a functional unsheathed blade on the premises. As someone who was recently and viciously assaulted by an apple corer, I am nervous about rubbing shoulders with someone who is carrying a large, curved, sharp object free about her arms!

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

...what?

that is a genuine, non-sarcastic, omg WHAT, btw.

but to me this is an apple corer, maybe you mean another kind?

[frotz.livejournal.com]

It's still not exactly close, but I saw them at the Common Ground Fair (http://www.mofga.org/TheFair/tabid/135/Default.aspx) in Unity, Maine, which is a fairly nonstandard sort of fair; it's run by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association) and is a mix of practical agricultural stuff, educational stuff, activism, and uncategorizable randomness. (But if that sounds interesting it's a lot of fun, and there are scythe workshops among many other things.)

Come to think of it, Johnny's Seeds (a big mostly-mail-order seed dealer) is also in Unity and sells, or at least used to sell, decent Euro-pattern scythes. A lot closer than Scythe Supply, but still a solid 3+ hour drive. (There's got to be someplace closer for nice scythes, though, right? With all the people pushing organic and sustainable farming around here somebody's got to be serving the market. Either that or the people that trash-talk the American style scythe don't have as good a thing with the Euro-pattern as they think they do. Except that I've only ever used an American-style and it was a godawful tank, and the Euro pattern scythes that Scythe Supply sells sure do fall into the hand nicely...)

[rosiewoodboat.livejournal.com]

Scythe Supply is usually at the Common Ground Fair, also.