Spear & Jackson4731SL Razorsharp Little Giant Grass Hook

I decided to devote half my garden to perennial wildflower meadow (sown with a mix of UK native grasses and wildflowers) to encourage wildlife. I wanted a tool for the main cuts in early spring, and late summer, after which I can use a push-mower. The main summer cut (August – September) involves cutting quite long grass and wildflower stems and it needs to be a clean cut (i.e., not shredded and spread over the ground like a strimmer would do). I don’t have a large enough garden to need a full sized scythe, so I went for this tool and I love it!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.

So the Razorsharp Little Giant Grass Scythette is not a giant scythette that is little nor is it a little scythette that is giant, it is a standard sized scythette. Also the Razorsharp name is confusing a lot as it doesn't come fully sharpened. I get why it isn't fully sharpened but they could have chosen a better product name smh.You will need a carborundum sharpening stone, but good luck if you are hand sharpening to start, it is hardened steel and it will take a fair bit of work; but that is a positive as it shows the quality of the steel. I ran mine along my grindstone and it took just a few minutes to get it sharp. Once sharp I am doubting it will take much to keep it sharp.

Didn't realise i would have to sharpen this garden scythe myself, found it difficult to sharpen.

I bought this scythette after reading the reviews. I was not expecting something with lethal sharpness but was expecting something with an edge to it. The blade comes blunt. There is no edge to it. It would have been better to have taken one of my kitchen knives out into the garden to cut down the weeds.Due to the structure of the blade it is also very difficult to put an edge on. At the rear of the blade there is a ridge that runs from tip to handle, this ridge stops the ability to clamp and put a good edge on.The product does not work like a scythe either. The motion you use is completely different. There was no benefit to having the item.

I got this to maintain a wildflower lawn.It came blunt, as expected, so you need to spend some time sharpening it with a sharpening stone (a separate purchase).I was able to get a decent edge with circular motions with a rounded scythe stone. The instructions recommend embedding the end in a bench, but I just held it with one hand and used the other to sharpen, moving my hand away from the blade with each stroke (so no risk of cutting myself if I slip). It's probably safer to clamp the blade, and don't listen to me, I'm just some random on Amazon! That said, I'd definitely avoid doing the thing you see of running the stone down the entire length in one stroke.It did a good job cutting the plants down to size with steady, firm swings. I didn't get it razor sharp, but it was fine with grass and green flower stems.

This is sharper than I imagined but great at the jobs in the garden

This is a tricky review to write. If you're the sort of person who likes to open the package and use a tool straight away this is NOT the tool for you ! You'd be better off with a strimmer ! However, if you're prepared to put the work in, this can be a very rewarding tool to use. To address some of the criticisms in the other reviews I've read, firstly, it is true it is blunt on arrival. Due to the curved shape of the blade most sharpening systems are useless. To sharpen this blade you need a cigar-shaped sharpening stone (Amazon sell a variety) . Here I do have a personal criticism of the tool - the blade has a coating all over it and the only way to get a sharp edge is to remove it from both sides of the cutting area which is a pain. Once you have sharpened it you will be holding a very dangerous tool, handle with care ! You will find the blade loses it's keenness fairly quickly, say after half an hour of continuous use, and it will need a few light strokes with the sharpening stone to restore it. This is normal I'm afraid. If after reading all that you're still not put off then you're probably the sort of person who will get a lot of satisfaction from learning the techniques of sharpening and using the sickle and you'll get some good exercise using it into the bargain !

I have yet to manage 😩 sharpening it correctly. It handles well, there is promise to be an efficient tool if I can manage to sharpen it correctly... at the moment I'm stuck with it!