Spear and Jackson 4731SL Razorsharp Little Giant Grass
Spear and Jackson 4731SL Razorsharp Little Giant Grass Scythette
| Dimensions: | 40.49 x 8.99 x 4.5 cm; 450 Grams |
| Model: | 4731SL/09 |
| Part: | 4731SL/09 |
| Manufacture: | Neill Tools T/A Spear Jackson |
| Dimensions: | 40.49 x 8.99 x 4.5 cm; 450 Grams |
I thought from the advertising that it would be sharp but no. It will rip the grass as it is, but to cut the grass it requires sharpening. Still have not managed to sharpen it, bought a scythe sharpening stone after much effort it is still not sharp what to do??
Understandably, the sciccle was supplied blunt. I have a sharpening stone but it would have taken me several hours to get a decent sharp blade. I used my electric drill with a grinding stone fitted to take most of the metal away to give a sharper place and then finished it with the carborundum stone. Works quite well when sharp.
This doesn’t need sharpening, it needs completely reshaping before sharpening. A grinding with the Dremel to get the black coating off the underside first, as i like my flat side mirrored, then a good hour with several files before i even attempted getting an edge.
It’s quite soft metal, i presume to prevent shattering when encountering the inevitable stone or wall etc. I thought at times it was laminated it was that soft but i managed eventually to get a reasonable cutting edge with different grades of diamond stones. it definitely needs oiling afterwards as it’s prone to rust. Not bad for the price.
This grass-hook (scythette) is solid, well-made and should last a lifetime. It reminds me of the tools hanging in my granddad’s shed when I was a kid. The handle is solid and fits my hand nicely. The blade is well made. It is good steel, well protected against rust and is not warped (I’ve seen some badly warped blades from another manufacturer). The blade has a primary bevel ground on one side (the underside), and is ready for sharpening.
It is fairly easy to achieve a good edge from that state just using stones. Work on the bevelled side, hold the blade bevel up, with the beard (widest part) towards you and stroke the stone away from you along the blade to the toe (point). A couple of strokes on the other (non-bevelled) side every now and again will remove the burr and give you a good edge suitable for tough weeds, bracken and brambles.
That said, this tool is a traditional hand-tool and requires some traditional skills if you want the absolute best from it. As the name ‘scythette’ suggests, this blade is essentially a smaller version of a scythe blade and ideally, should be treated the same, especially if you need a very fine edge which is best for cutting long grass and fleshy stems of weeds or wildflowers.
When I got this tool, I peened the edge before honing it (as you would with a scythe blade). Peening thins and work-hardens the metal at the edge. Helpfully, it also removed the protective coating from the un-bevelled edge, which made honing easier and stopped the coating from clogging my stones. After peening, I honed the edge using medium and fine scythe stones. I can literally shave the hair from my arm with this tool now. This is the perfect edge for long, soft grass and fleshy stemmed plants.
Peening a new blade takes quite a few passes but, once done, re-peening only takes one or two passes and should only need doing again after the equivalent of a full-days’ mowing (i.e., 6 to 8 hours), so probably only once a year for my use. Peening is not necessary to get a really nice edge on this tool, but I think it’s worth it because a peening the edge makes it much thinner and also work-hardens the metal. This means that honing is easier, because less metal needs to be removed with stones, and is also needed less often because work-hardened metal stays sharper for longer.
Please be aware: This tool is not sold sharp and it does say on the packaging; “Sharpen before first use.” I did, and mine will shave hair now. If the manufacturer were to sell these tools sharpened like that, you could expect to pay much more than they cost now. Any blades sold ready sharpened (say, kitchen knives) have to undergo several stages of grinding to set the bevels and then hone the final edge. That costs money and even cheap kitchen knives of reasonable quality cost more than this tool.
If you don’t know how to sharpen a blade and don’t want to take the time to learn, this is not the tool for you. Trying to cut soft grass using a dull blade will just make you crazy (think rubber drill-bits and chocolate teapots). This tool is essentially a blade on a stick and even if it did come honed and ready for use, sooner or later you would have to re-sharpen it, as with all edged tools.
Using traditional edged tools does take a little skill, which needs a little practice but, once you have it, doing the job become a genuine pleasure and infinitely more rewarding than just plugging in a strimmer and thrashing long grass to a soggy mulch. This is not least because you get to feel really smug that you can do very cool, environmentally-friendly things in your garden by using your own skills! Using this tool, you can mow your own moral high-ground 🙂
I tried to give some idea of how sharp the edge is in the images, but a phone camera and flash aren’t really up to it, I’m afraid. It is really very sharp though.