Talk:Scythe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Scythe article.
Article policies
Agriculture
Agropedia Portal
This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Agriculture, which collaborates on articles related to agriculture. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
Assessment comments

Some explanation of the (non obvious bits in the) use of scythes would be useful. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Blades (talk • contribs) .

Contents

[edit] The Scythe was originally "invented" for cannabis cultivation?

That's the connection I'm finding on the internet. I'll let you good wikipedia people censor or research the matter~ Don't let me down. "Invented" by the Scythians in BCE times, rather than "appearing" in 12th and 13th century Europe. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.43.65.33 (talk • contribs) .

Sounds sketchy to me. I've marked the section as unverified. —Nahum Reduta 06:39, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sharpening techniques

There's a paragraph about sharpening scythes by peening. However, one of the most important — and hard — parts of working a scythe (as I've seen it being done) is the need to regularly stop mowing in order to sharpen the blade using a stick of hard wood made for the purpose (and analogous to the leather strop used for straight razors). Should this be in the article — or is it perhaps peculiar to the Nordic countries? JöG 18:42, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Popular Culture

I hate to rain on a couple of people's parades, so to speak, but the popular culture section of this article is massive. In fact, it appears longer (in rows) than the actual article itself, which contains pictures that artificially inflate its length. Perhaps some of the less commonly known 'pop culture' references could be removed? In fact, it looks like almost every video game that includes a scythe is listed here, and I think that is unecessary. Perhaps removing all but the most recognizable four or five video games with scythe references?

  • World of Warcraft
  • Castlevania
  • Pokemon
  • Devil May Cry
  • Final Fantasy (cite individual games under one topic: The scythe was used in Final Fantasy I, II, III, etc.)

This would remove 9 topics from the list, 10 if the general 'The scythe is also a commonly used weapon in a number of video games.', and 11 if the redundant 'In Final Fantasy XI the Scythe is among the strongest weapons of the game, mainly equippable by Dark Knights only, and is the best weapon a Dark Knight can use. They feature high delay with high damage.' is removed. Xiliquiern 12:24, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Are there any objections to this? No-one has spoken up.Xiliquiern 19:08, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
Perhaps they could be migrated to- "List: Scythes in Popular Culture". It's not like there aren't any more ridiculous lists out there, and it would prevent further flooding of the article in the future by an overzealous editor.24.53.130.233 05:48, 27 September 2006 (UTC)


I went ahead with this plan and moved the list to its own page and have left a little paragraph-style stub behind. Thanks to RHaworth for helping with the template. I'm learning as I go! -- Xiliquiern 17:56, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scythe listing ammendment/re-write

I would like to propose a major ammendment to the entry on scythes, based on the extensive work done by Peter Vido and his family. To include up-to-date info on the state of the tool and its use today.

Their site is listed in links but still the bulk of the text is, I think, really only relavent for historical reference.

There is a community of users who would be able to collaborate on a re-write, newly associated online, through an ibiblio list: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/scythe

I would like to know other users opinions on this subject.

Any balanced and factual expansion to Wikipedia is more than welcome, in my humble opinion. If there is a group of specially knoweldgable individuals, all the better. --Xiliquiern 02:54, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scythe Parts Identification

The article mentions parts of the scythe and blade without defining them. For example heel is mentioned in "Structure and Use", but the article never explains where the heel is. A picture like presented on Scythe Supply - The Beauty of Scythes seems like a good way to do this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.130.95 (talk) 12:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Upside down picture

Why is the featured picture an upside down scythe and why is there a 6 line long description for it?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.80.154.236 (talk) 20:11, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

I put the caption on, to try and explain the confusing picture. No idea why it's upside down – nor why edge-upwards. I'll try to take a better one of my own & substitute it.--Richard New Forest 20:27, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Military Use

I'm looking at the article for Fauchard. Both it and the "War Scythe" seem to be heavy blades sharpened on the inner edge and mounted to a pole. Any thoughts? Theblindsage (talk)

[edit] Contradictions

The article gives an old Englsih derivation for the scythe, impling use in the 11th cnetury or earlier, but then says it was introduced in the 12th or 13th century. It also refers to the Romans having scythes. These statements are mutally contrdictory. Can some one resolve the problem? My only contribution to it is that there were mills for the intial sharpening of scythes by the 14th century. Peterkingiron (talk) 00:59, 25 November 2007 (UTC)