Most people engaged in agricultural activities use a hand scythe. It is used for mowing grass for hay, animal feed, leveling the lawn.
For security and long service, it is necessary to know how to mow and care for the hand with a hand scythe.
Device and main components
The hand braid consists of: a knife, a kosovishche, a handle, a wedge and a ring. 
Did you know? The knife can make a sound that resembles a bell.
Canvas
The blade is a long blade, bent to the bottom. Made of tool steel (V8, V7). There is a classification depending on the length of the knife: 50 cm - 5, 60 cm - 6 cm and up to 9. The most common number 5. It consists of: cloth, pick, tip, spout, heel and barb. 
You can distinguish a high-quality blade from a spit by the following features:
- no damage and irregularities;
- same blade thickness;
- deep sound when struck;
- good elasticity.
Knives have another name - Lithuanian or linen.
Often gardeners and gardeners have to deal with weeds. There are many devices for the mechanical removal of the enemies of cultivated plants. Among them - Fokina flat cutter. Ploskorezom can be cut and pull weeds. It should be noted that this manual cultivator is quite capable of making it yourself with your own hands.
Kosovishche
A kosovishche, or kosiye, stalk, is the long wooden base of a hand braid. Length - 1.7 or 2 m. It should be without damage, elastic, smooth. A good material is the trunk of spruce at a height of 2 m. For manufacturing: remove excess elements (knots, bark), give the desired shape, dry in a vertical position, grind, can be impregnated with a wax solution. 
To start making a hand scythe for grass, you need to know how to put the scythe on the tail; make an incision at the end and a small hole for the spike of the heel of the blade. For mowing on uneven terrain, the cut is 35 mm, on a flat 10 mm. 
Lever
For a more convenient mowing, there is a handle or a bow. For fastening: cut a square in the back, hammer in the spike of the handle, wedge it, can be strengthened with screws or wood screws.
Distinguish motionless and adjustable. The first ones are stable and reliable, the second ones are more convenient if they are used by many people. 
Wedge
The wedge is a wooden device for fastening the blade to the tail plate. Made of dry wood. It is important that the mount is reliable, because integrity and security depend on it. 
Rings
Rings - the second element attaching the knife to the handle in the form of a bolt. Used together with a wedge. 
Allocate narrow and wide, with a key and without a key. Rings with adjustable bolts are called "clamps."
Twine
Twine is a special kind of strong thread. Required for an adjustable handle. When bending to them or with wire, they connect the two ends of the onion from a flexible type of wood and fix it with the help of the grooves cut on them. 
Types of braids
Depending on some different details, such types of braids are distinguished: Lithuanian, pink and serpan.
Lithuanian
Lithuanian - the most common manual spit for grass. It has a long, straight, straight handle, kosier, canvas, a wedge with rings. 
Pink salmon
Pink salmon - with a short curved handle. It is intended for mowing grass in very uneven areas and difficult places, for example, around hemp, etc. 
The disadvantage - you need to use a bent state.
A lawn mower is best for leveling the lawn. There are electric and gasoline models, and in modern lawn mowers there is also a mulching function.
Serpan
Serpan - with a short blade (up to 35 cm). Used to remove solid species of plants (bushes, thickets). Consists of linen, extension, handle and nut-lamb. 
Important! The choice of scythe should depend on which plants you are going to mow. If used improperly, it will quickly deteriorate and the desired result will not be achieved.Serpan in complex form is safe to transport.
Preparation for work
There are several ways to prepare a manual scythe for work: sharpening, beating and finishing the loose surface, let's take a closer look at each of them.
Beating
To know how to beat off the braid at home, let's see what a beat is. Hitting is the process of cutting, cutting off the blade with a special hammer with a sharp end to thin the knife along its entire length and the appearance of cutting serrations. Before kicking off, leave the blade in the water for browning, so that you can clearly see the cut-off zone. Beating is carried out in the heels of the canvas to the spout. 
New ones are usually already cut off at the place of production, but you can do it yourself.
For convenience, use a special chair with legs of different heights. Near the high legs is the grandmother. A device for riveting a scythe is called a grandmother - a narrow, small anvil. You can make it at home from a file or material with a hardness of 57 HRC. You can use kosootstvu - advanced grandma, easier to use. Blows should not be strong, all along the line of the knife.
Lapping rivet surface
The blades are made using a bar for undercuts and musat - a special metal rod for leveling the knife. Sharpening need only the part of the blade that is lighter.
Sharpening
Sharpening is done before beating. To do this, use a fine-grained abrasive wheel. The basic rules of how to sharpen a scythe: cool the blade with water, rotate the circle slowly. Sharpening starts from the bottom to 1.5-2 cm.
How to mow?
Use your left hand to take the kosier above the handle, the right hand to hold the handle, the right foot to the front, and the left one back. In this position, make circular swings from right to left. Turn the torso slightly and tilt forward. The spout should be raised a little so that the grass is cut off evenly and it does not dig into the ground.
Important! When mowing, it is necessary to follow the safety rules and be extremely careful, as it is very unsafe!When mowing, the blade can be damaged, so you should wear a whetstone, steel rod with you.
Spit selection rules
The choice primarily depends on the type of plants that need to be removed. For ordinary grass - Lithuanian, for mountainous and uneven terrain - pink salmon, for solid plant species - serpan.
To choose a quality braid, you need to pay attention to:
- No damage to any of the elements (blades, rings).
- Kosovische, knife must be flexible.
- The mount should be strong.
- The knife should make a distinctive deep sound when struck.
The height of the Kosovische should be chosen in relation to growth. There is a classification according to the size of the knife, No. 5 - standard, "for the house"; the larger the number, the larger the area of capture, but the heavier it is and the more effort must be applied.Care and maintenance
Keep the hand braid out of the reach of children, as it is very dangerous.
Did you know? The hand braid in mythology is an attribute of death.To spit served for a long time, you should:
- Store in a dry place, without direct sunlight.
- Sharpen and beat correctly.
- Monitor the safety of the mount.
