Bank Blade?

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Nov 9, 2019
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So a good friend of mine brought me a sharpening project. It’s a a cultivation tool called a Bank Blade. Also I’ve heard them called a brush Axe, Banking Blade, and a few other names I can’t remember. It’s a wide 16 inch hawkbill style blade on the end of basically an axe handle.

The handle was rotten, so he removed it cleaned off all the rust painted it black. He bought a new handle.

It’s about as sharp as a baseball bat. I’m going to have to regrind the bevel. It’s used to clear thick brush up to 2 inch or so saplings. However you can use them to chop through much thicker trees. With that said I’m going to use a belt sander as I’m gonna have to take off a lot of metal. I’m probably gonna convex it.

Any clue what kind of angle to grind it to? I’m thinking I’m gonna grind it like I do my machetes. Not even sure how high of a grit I’m going to take it as this is a tool he is planning on using. Just glad he did not install the handle yet. It’s like 35-40 inches long. Anyway how would you sharpen it?
 
I would probably rough it with the belt grinder and then finish with something like a bull thistle scythe stone for an aggressive cut to better establish the edge and a final with the arctic fox scyther stone, both stones are available from baryonyx and the work nice on hooked or recurved blades.

I would run the grind thicker, something closer to an axe than a knife. Convex is a good idea but whatever gets it sharp.

The USDA forest Hand Tool Guide suggests sharpening them with a file for removing a lot of material then a whetstone to finish. Page 24 and 25. No edge recommendation, so estimate and make it sharp. It's a rough use tool so I certainly wouldn't go real thin with it.
https://www.bchmt.org/documents/education/HandtoolsforTrailWork.pdf

Edit: FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades probably has the answer for you if he has the time to answer. He seems to be the expert on some of the old-school hand tools like machete, scythes, and axes, along with how to maintain them.
 
have used them a bunch in survey work. only ever hit them with a file on occassion, no clue on the angle - always eyeballed it, I would guess somewheres around 25 dps.
they see all kinds of rough use and damage so there is no need in spending too much time getting it just right.
 
About 15° per side works best. It should hold up fine at that angle and will have a nice, penetrating geometry that will chop and slash well.
 
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