Tool Talk

I just snagged this little gem at the swap. No markings on it I can find. Just about 4" long and the openings are both about 1/2. Could it be a snath wrench?

(http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae275/thejafe/whatsit/100_2774.jpg)

(http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae275/thejafe/whatsit/100_2775.jpg)

I saw some snaths slowly sneaking surreptitiously somewhat southward sometime sunday....

Supposedly seeking several sharp shiny scythes.

Sweet looker!

I could also be a wood stove tool, I have seen tools like that to remove the round top to put a kettle on, and "stove bolts" are often ½" square.

I'm liking the stove bolt wrench theory.  It does look like an old wood stove tool.

Whatever it is, it's a real looker.  If I owned it, it would be sitting on my desk so I could look at it any time the mood struck.

Quote from: lauver on May 10, 2011, 05:18:08 PM
...  If I owned it, it would be sitting on my desk so I could look at it any time the mood struck.

Seems we think alike on this subject lauver. It is sitting on my desk next to the little brass anvil, two snath wrenches and the neat little mower wrench I got from Bus at Wrenching News.

Thanks for the responses. I will be referring to it as the stovebolt wrench from this point forward.

JAFE,

I gotta ask... what the hell is a snath?

The adjuster for a blade on a scythe.

If I am not mistaken scythes were used to mow grass before the lawnmower was invented. Sounds like a very labor intensive and unpleasant job to me. But then so does harvesting a crop with one. No wonder the grim reaper is so grim.

Here are a couple snath wrenches these live on my computer desk next to the newly acquired stove bolt wrench. I am really taken with them for some reason.

(http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae275/thejafe/100_1250.jpg)

(http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae275/thejafe/100_1251.jpg)

Quote from: Papaw on May 11, 2011, 07:42:35 PM
The adjuster for a blade on a scythe.

Ok ime gonna sound super stupid here but.........

So me being only 16 I have no idea what a scythe is. Whats a Scythe.

Sounds like a sickle sort of, does it have anything to do with that.

Quote from: Nolatoolguy on May 12, 2011, 07:36:03 PM

Quote from: Papaw on May 11, 2011, 07:42:35 PM
The adjuster for a blade on a scythe.

Ok ime gonna sound super stupid here but.........

So me being only 16 I have no idea what a scythe is. Whats a Scythe.

Sounds like a sickle sort of, does it have anything to do with that.

i was under the impression a sickle and scythe are same thing... all i know is a scthe is what the grim reaper  carries :D

Quote from: Nolatoolguy on May 12, 2011, 07:36:03 PM

Quote from: Papaw on May 11, 2011, 07:42:35 PM
The adjuster for a blade on a scythe.

Ok ime gonna sound super stupid here but.........

So me being only 16 I have no idea what a scythe is. Whats a Scythe.

Sounds like a sickle sort of, does it have anything to do with that.

You are not going to sound stupid at all.

A scythe is a two handed mowing/reaping tool. As Dustin21 said, the Grim Reaper is often characterised as carrying one. The item in the attached pictures is a scythe.

A sickle is a one handed reaping tool.  There was one, along with a hammer, in the top left hand corner of the old flag of the U.S.S.R. If you need a picture of one (a sickle, not the flag) let me know.

You would need a snath wrench to adjust the angle of the scythe blade.

A sickle:

(http://darkash.no-ip.biz/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Sickle.jpg)

As opposed to a motorsickle:

(http://www.motorcyclesp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/indian_motorcycle.jpg)

I think I would like one of those motor"sickles" in my collection. It looks a bit alright to me.

Quite the nice Indian!

Not mine just posted the pic because it is so magnificent. The other sickle isn't mine either.

Quote from: J.A.F.E. on May 12, 2011, 10:51:53 PM
Not mine just posted the pic because it is so magnificent. The other sickle isn't mine either.

Well that's a bit of a pity! But it was worth posting, though.

Here's all the different snath wrenches I could round up. The last two pictures are a salesman sample snath on part of the scythe handle with the attached snath wrench. The snath fastens the scythe blade to the handle.

Quote from: Bus on May 13, 2011, 02:40:26 AM
..............................Here's all the different snath wrenches I could round up......................

That's a swag of them. alright. There can not be too many of them left out there for the rest of us.

Well I have learned something from this thread. Thank you for starting it, J.A.F.E.

I have several scythes but I did not think of the probability of there being a particular style of spanner to go with them. I have never heard of a "snath" wrench. I must go through some of the boxes as I suspect that there may be one or two spanners there that look remarkably like those in Bus's picture. Maybe I have some snaths.

Oh God, a ridgid frame. Makes my kidneys hurt just looking at it. Wouldn't stop me from ridng it tho.

EvilDr235

 

Cool thanks for clearing my confusion up

Thanks for posting the pics Bus. I have to admit I have a serious case of snath wrench envy after seeing those pics.

My wench has a very nice snath the tonge tied person said.

Thanks guys, now I know what they are.

1934 Indian Chief on my living room wall

Why is that Indian on the wall??

Hopefully it is only up there until he gets a tyre for that front wheel.

Donny B.

I believe that a snath is the actual handle of the scythe.

the long snaky looking wood part.

Skip

I was looking up scythe wrenches and found this thread

Silly snaths snatched some sickles sometime saturday. 

Even though the area of Mexico I live in is still rich in manual farming processes, there are nearly no old agriculture related tools to be found.
   I have seen new scythes for sale in a few older style stores but they all have built in levers now for the adjustments.