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Making Your Own Snath
using sawn lumber and a single handgrip
This design of "one-grip" straight snath is the traditional model from eastern Europe and the Middle East; millions are still in use in areas of the world where industrial agriculture has not yet obliterated the peasants' way of life. It is a very simple snath to make, yet more ergonomic and adaptable than a number of more complex designs on the market. (For further discussion of the merits and drawbacks of this snath, please click here.)
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1. Start with a 30x30mm./1 1/4" x 1 1/4" piece of hardwood (ash, oak, maple, hickory, birch, beech, or almost any other hardwood will be fine) the same length as your height. Check which end has better grain and fewer knots and choose that as the blade end. |
 Blade end  Grip end |
2. Find the centre and mark it "A". Approximately 5cm./2" up from the centre make another mark "B". With your shoes off, stand the piece of wood beside you. Point B should line up with your "hip joint" as shown at right. |
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If the snath you are making is for a shorter blade (under 65 cm) and thus for "trimming" work, centre the mortise for the grip at point B. If for "field mowing", make this mortise at point "C"--5cm/2" further from the blade.
3. Drill three 1/4" or 5/16" holes next to each other. This example shows the mortise being made at "B"--the setting for a trimming snath. |  |
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Remove wood between the holes with a small chisel or a stiff carving knife and square the corners. (The mortise should be 25mm./1" long. Draw the outline on the wood first; drill the two outside holes in the correct places and only then drill the third one in the middle.) |
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If you bought a grip from our catalogue, the tenon will be sized to fit in the mortise as described and pictured. You can also make your own grip of a similar shape from a section of tree limb, or saw the curved shape out of a piece of hardwood. |
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4. Insert the grip--it should fit tightly. The mortise may need enlarging if you used a 1/4" drill. Remove the grip, put a thin coating of weathertight glue (NOT cabinetmakers' glue; "" works well and epoxy may be the best) on both the grip's tenon and the inside of the mortise. Fit the grip and let the glue set for an hour before continuing. For extra strength you can drill a 5/32"/4mm. hole through the joint and put in a 35mm./ |  |
| 5. Drill a 5/16" hole 1/2" deep approximately 3 1/4 inches from the blade end of the snath. Square the hole with a small chisel or carving knife. This is the seat for the knob on the blade's tang. |   |
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6. Round off 12"/30cm of the top end of the snath with a drawknife or rasp and smooth the wood with sandpaper or a cabinet scraper. This part forms the upper grip. |  |
The finishing touch is to paint your snath with one or two coats of blended linseed oil and turpentine. This will protect the wood from moisture and rot, though the scythe should still be stored indoors.
Another option for making an ergonomic snath--more photos are on the way:
Use a tree sapling about 5cm./2" in diameter and follow the same procedure as above. There are two potential benefits with this method.
1) You can find a sapling with curvature near the bottom which works with any tang angle regardless of your height; i.e. you can make use of any blade model, provided the hafting angle is satisfactory.
Making a grip for the Eastern-style snath from wild wood.
| 1. Two "raw" grips cut from a piece of branch. |  |
| 2. The second stage: after a bit of shaping with a hatchet. |  |
| The grips finished with a wood rasp and the tenons sized. |  |
| A variety of possible shapes and sizes of grip. |  |
| The grip installed--a round hole is drilled in the shaft as a mortise. |  |
The tenon is easiest made with a 3/4" or 7/8" "tenon cutter", less than $15 each from Lee Valley Tools:
(Lee Valley warns that these are for use only in a drill press, but we have used them for years in a hand brace. You will need to grind or file down the round shank small enough to fit the chuck, and square or hexagonal so it holds tightly).
The round tenon can also be made with a drawknife, carving knife, wood rasp etc. The mortise is made with the appropriate size of drill or brace bit. The thickness of the main shaft of the snath at that point--approximately the middle of the sapling--should be greater than the 1 1/4" square stock discussed above.
Experimentation and creative thinking, along with an understanding of the physics and mechanics, are the key to success.
There is much to learn about the creation of a snath, and if one takes it beyond the rudimentary level more questions will arise as well as many answers...just like life...
15 Aug. 2006
Modified 01 Jan. 2010