Finally bought an Austrian Scythe (Fux) last year in France from Emmanuel Oblin, a gentleman recommended by Simon Fairlie. Whilst it did come with some good and simple instructions with useful photographs,I was grateful to Simon for supplying his very detailed booklet in English.
Selection of the 'snath' or handle (manche) was done simply by reference to my height- they come in three lengths. The blade (lame) recommended was 60cm general purpose blade, the shorter 50cm blade is for hacking undergrowth and the longer 80cm for grass. Sharpening the blade caused a lot of confusion, which is why I am writing this, although it may be obvious to some. In the end I bought a natural Pyrenees stone (La Royale) which turned out to be a good buy.
The snath was sealed with Danish oil (can't buy that here) as recommended, but not the handle grips. The paint was taken off the edge of the blade with stripper and the whole thing assembled to instructions. This worked out well first time as, after experimenting, I ended up back where I was.
A lot is written about hammering the blade to sharpen it and realistically that needs a special tool set. But it became apparent that a super sharp blade like that would be great for grass, but when out cutting hay in our fields it would be wrecked immediately by anthills. There seems to be three grades of edge, the coarse one for undergrowth is a greater angle produced with coarse stones only (100-200). I sharpened mine using a coarse wetstone followed by a fine dressing with the Royale, which I would say is about 400 grit or finer. It does produce a fantastic edge on anything that needs to be sharp- shaping axe, sickle.
One thing I did learn quickly was that a whetstone needs to soak in water and stay soaked, otherwise it blocks up- which is what happened to me and was unblocked by leaving it soaking until the steel rusted out. I do need a proper stone carrier.
The scything technique is pretty simple if you don't overstretch yourself and try to replicate the YouTube videos! I found a 2 metre cut was really my limit. Hay can only be cut when damp with water acting as a lubricant, so before the dew has burned off. After that the stem juice sticks to the blade and the blade just drags the hay down, rather than cutting through it.
Great exercise it was last year and lovely to be out at first light for an hour or so. So peaceful. 4000m2 cut last year and laid over weed patches with great effect as the areas are ready for reseeding now. I did have a donation of an English 4 tyne pitchfork, which was essential and for which I am very grateful as our two tyne was useless for gathering up. Now looking forward to this years hay, which we cut very late to help the wildlife.