Introducing Italian-made scythe blades

It will come as a surprise to many people -- in fact most scythe enthusiasts around the world -- when I state that the world's best scythe blades are presently made by the Falci company in Italy.

Apart from the fact that Italian scythesmithing was always first class, Falci also remained a step behind in the European scythe industry's inevitable process of "economizing". As a result, the Italian blades still have (in relation to their weight) lighter points and stronger necks than, for instance, the contemporary products from Austria. This provides them with the kind of balance that all well-made blades used to have, but now mostly don't. (close-up photos of the differences and more text to follow)

This opinion, by the way, I share with some of the knowledgeable old gentlemen from within the circles of the Austrian scythe industry and have expressed it to some friends on both sides of the Atlantic for several years.

What has now moved us to present Falci products via this website is a subject more complicated than alone the fact that their quality deserves international recognition. One way to put it may be that it is one of our attempts at "balancing the scale" -- albeit not only the one between the best of the remaining companies.
The essay Will Europe's scythe industry evade the Reaper's deadly swing? discusses those issues at greater length.