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Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:35 pm
by Wonderboy
I have had these two "Weapons of Grass Destruction" kicking around in my garden shed for several years, and after looking at them closely I believe that both are handmade by someone, somewhere, with some blacksmithing skills. They both look too crudely finished to be factory made, and I've never seen a left-hand grass cutting sickle before.
During my college years I had a summer job working in the Construction Department for a large gold mining company which owned most of the town. One of the jobs for us young guys was to keep the vacant lots around town cleaned up, so the boss would take us out with a hand sickle, a file, a canteen of water and our lunch bucket and put us to work. Usually he would check in on us once a day and pick us up at quitting time. We worked 8 hours a day, six days a week for $1.59 per hour. If we put as much as we could in the bank, in three months we could save almost enough to cover college expenses for a year at a local state-supported college. We could just about wear out a sickle in a summer of work.
The sickles we used were always right-handed, probably made by Ames or True-Temper. As a southpaw, I learned to use a right-handed sickle with no problem and could use either hand pretty effectively. A left-hand sickle feels really strange now, even though I'm left-handed.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:40 pm
by Mumbleypeg
I’ve spent many an hour using one of those, or more likely a long-handled version. The blisters are long gone as are the calluses. When my boys were growing up I put them to work with those also - for some strange reason the sickles (and hay hooks) seemed to disappear frequently.
Ken
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:04 pm
by knife7knut
Nice old hand sickles! I acquired this one years ago as more of an oddity than anything else. I cannot verify it's usefullness(or lack thereof)as I have yet to try it out.Manufactured by the N.Wayne Tool Co. of Oakland Maine under the name,"Lawn Razor",it uses old double edged razor blades inserted in a crescent shaped housing as a cutting edge.They are easily replaceable(or turned over)by unscrewing the housing wing nuts. The guard over the edges when not in use folds out to act as a safety to keep the handle from closing.
This was likely made in the 1950's although it might be pre-WWII as there were many devices that utilized used razor blades for other than shaving.I have several old utility knives that used them.Anyway I thought I would add this to the pile.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:40 pm
by orvet
Wow Ray that looks nasty!
Though it is not chain, it would be the perfect cutting implement if someone was going to remake the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies without using motors!
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:06 pm
by knife7knut
orvet wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:40 pm
Wow Ray that looks nasty!
Though it is not chain, it would be the perfect cutting implement if someone was going to remake the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies without using motors!
That was the reason I bought it Dale;it is so bizarre looking!Goes great in my accumulation of oddball cutting devices.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2020 2:57 am
by 1967redrider
Ray, your collection never ceases to amaze me. That thing could take out yard rodents as well!
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:35 am
by knife7knut
1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 2:57 am
Ray, your collection never ceases to amaze me. That thing could take out yard rodents as well!
Thanks for the kind words but I must correct you:I do not,"collect";I,"indiscriminately accumulate"
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2020 2:19 pm
by 1967redrider
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:01 pm
by GSPTOPDOG
Here is a True Temper.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:41 am
by zzyzzogeton
knife7knut wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:04 pm
Nice old hand sickles! I acquired this one years ago as more of an oddity than anything else. I cannot verify it's usefullness(or lack thereof)as I have yet to try it out.Manufactured by the N.Wayne Tool Co. of Oakland Maine under the name,"Lawn Razor",it uses old double edged razor blades inserted in a crescent shaped housing as a cutting edge.They are easily replaceable(or turned over)by unscrewing the housing wing nuts. The guard over the edges when not in use folds out to act as a safety to keep the handle from closing.
This was likely made in the 1950's although it might be pre-WWII as there were many devices that utilized used razor blades for other than shaving.I have several old utility knives that used them.Anyway I thought I would add this to the pile.
Being curious, I went looking for info on this thing. I found a "1951" No. 117 catalog for the North Wayne Tool Company and it is not in it. Another reference said that catalog No. 117 is 1941. One of their lines was the Little Giant Scythes.
http://site.baryonyxknife.com/blog/2017 ... og-no-117/
The company was in business from 1879 to 1969.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:50 am
by knife7knut
zzyzzogeton wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:41 am
knife7knut wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:04 pm
Nice old hand sickles! I acquired this one years ago as more of an oddity than anything else. I cannot verify it's usefullness(or lack thereof)as I have yet to try it out.Manufactured by the N.Wayne Tool Co. of Oakland Maine under the name,"Lawn Razor",it uses old double edged razor blades inserted in a crescent shaped housing as a cutting edge.They are easily replaceable(or turned over)by unscrewing the housing wing nuts. The guard over the edges when not in use folds out to act as a safety to keep the handle from closing.
This was likely made in the 1950's although it might be pre-WWII as there were many devices that utilized used razor blades for other than shaving.I have several old utility knives that used them.Anyway I thought I would add this to the pile.
Being curious, I went looking for info on this thing. I found a "1951" No. 117 catalog for the North Wayne Tool Company and it is not in it. Another reference said that catalog No. 117 is 1941. One of their lines was the Little Giant Scythes.
http://site.baryonyxknife.com/blog/2017 ... og-no-117/
The company was in business from 1879 to 1969.
I clicked on the link you provided and the Lawn Razor IS LISTED almost at the end of the sheet. Thanks for finding that;I appreciate it very much!
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 6:57 am
by zzyzzogeton
I'm not sure how I missed seeing that full page ad for the Lawn Razor.
Looking at the document again, one of the pages (5 below the Lawn Razor page) is a full page ad for the Stetcher Scientific Swing Easy, which lists it as a NEW item, patent number 2,718,700.
Looking up this patent number, this patent number was issued 27 September 1955.
That means that the references on the other websites that Catalog 117 is from either 1941 or 1951 are incorrect.
The catalog must be from late 1955 or early 1956.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:16 pm
by GSPTOPDOG
Here is Scythe I picked up over the weekend.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:35 pm
by GSPTOPDOG
Here is a scythe I am going to clean up for my "Old Tool Display"
I found that beer helps to clean old tools. Now, I am not using beer to clean them but it helps the cleaning process..
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:19 am
by Ripster
GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:35 pm
Here is a scythe I am going to clean up for my "Old Tool Display"
I found that beer helps to clean old tools. Now, I am not using beer to clean them but it helps the cleaning process..
Glad you cleared up that cleaning process . Nice Scythe there G dog . We’ve got a few long handled and odd stuff in the shed . No electricity in there so will try to remember to dig them out and get pics when light out this week sometime.
The old tools are kind of neat. Always been drawn to them .
The one you posted from Australia sure traveled a long way .
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:28 am
by GSPTOPDOG
Ripster wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:19 am
GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:35 pm
The old tools are kind of neat. Always been drawn to them .
The one you posted from Australia sure traveled a long way .
I am a sucker for old tools. Maybe it an "Old Guy" thing. I see them there young'ens sitting around with their faces jammed in a phone 24/7 and I think nobody will care about the old tools someday in the future... think about the barns and fences and sheds and houses that were built 70 or 100 years ago or more, with some of these tools that we find in a dark corner collecting dust and rust. I think they have a story to tell...
if somebody cares to take a look at them...
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:03 am
by Captain O
GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:28 am
Ripster wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:19 am
GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:35 pm
The old tools are kind of neat. Always been drawn to them .
The one you posted from Australia sure traveled a long way .
I am a sucker for old tools. Maybe it an "Old Guy" thing. I see them there young'ens sitting around with their faces jammed in a phone 24/7 and I think nobody will care about the old tools someday in the future... think about the barns and fences and sheds and houses that were built 70 or 100 years ago or more, with some of these tools that we find in a dark corner collecting dust and rust. I think they have a story to tell...
if somebody cares to take a look at them...
I, too, appreciate the kind of work these tools accomplish as well. I have always admired old scythes, sickles, even grass whips. A well-built grass whip can mow down quite a bit of out-of-control lawn growth without having to drag out an electric-powered "weed-eater". It simply requires a bit of muscle and concentration.
We had to use them when we were children, and they're still useful today.
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2021 10:22 pm
by GSPTOPDOG
Captain O wrote: ↑Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:03 am
GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:28 am
Ripster wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:19 am
We had to use them when we were children, and they're still useful today.
And someday in the future when the US Govt has outlawed all gas and electrical lawn tools due to "un-fair" and "excessive" carbon emissions we will have to use them again...
Re: Weapons of Grass Destruction
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:56 am
by GSPTOPDOG
Time for some cleaning!
