Scythes & Scything

[Kai Vido <kaivido AT yahoo.com>]

The tool shown is a type of sickle, not a scythe. All sickles are used
in one hand - when harvesting grain, the user grasps a handful of stems
and chops them off with the sickle. It is much slower and more
strenuous (think lower back pain) than reaping with a scythe, though it
wastes nearly none of the precious grain. If harvesting rice in a wet
paddy, the scythe may be impractical because the grain and straw will
be on the ground in a windrow when cut.

A scythe always has a longer handle, with one or two short handgrips,
and is used with both hands. 

For more than you probably ever wanted to know about scythes, check
out:
http://scytheconnection.com/adp/contents.html

Kai Vido


--- "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl AT intrex.net> wrote:

> 
> Vietnamese/Southeast Asian rice harvesting scythe - finally found a
> picture of one at:
> 
> http://www.musarium.com/stories/vietnaminc/main.lasso?-SkipRecords=4
> 
> talk about an obscure website ...
> 
> I had heard from someone visiting Thailand about the rice harvesting
> scythes made and used in that region of the world
> and always wanted to see a picture of one. I may try to fabricate one
> of these in my shop.
> 
> Anyone familiar with this handtool?
> 
> LL
> -- 
> Lawrence F. London, Jr.
> Venaura Farm
> lfl AT intrex.net
> http://market-farming.com
> http://market-farming.com/venaurafarm
> http://venaurafarm.blogspot.com/
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech
> 
> 
> 
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