From everything I have read the "American made scythe blades" are not at all comparable to the ones that were/are made in Austria and Germany. If you look at the blades on the sites I posted above you should be able to see some major differences between these scythe blades and what has typically been used in this country. In addition to the construction of the blades there is an "art" to sharpening a scythe blade. The masters of this art insist that one must peen the edge of the blade before sharpening, to get the required cutting surface. The issue is more than how sharp the blades are. Peening causes a slight curve and some other dynamics in the edge that optimize cutting efficiency.

Better scythes are designed to be pulled across (shearing) the material they are cutting instead of chopping or hacking at it. To be graphic, kind of like we might see a throat being "slit" in a horror flick. The better blades also excel at picking up severed material and depositing it at the end of the swing range in a neat continuous mound. As demonstrated in the video above, there is more technique and leverage involved than strength.

Cheers,

Mick