Machete: My favorite now, 21"

Hairy Clipper said:
I may have had a stroke of good luck this morning. I just came in from mowing the lawn to rehydrate and grease my gizzard and while doing so I checked my email and there is an email from a local area online auction house about a dozen miles away. Having scrolled through the items that close today I found two lots for sale that have two scythes and in each lot one of the scythes looks like a near new blade and the other older with the usual rust accumulation. Each lot says the wood is in good condition! The wood is usually either dry and badly cracked with slivers in hands likely or falling apart on the ends. After I finish the mowing I am going to the auction house for a little pre-bid inspection. Two lots and no bid yet on one of the lots ... do you feel lucky punk? well, do ya? I think feeling lucky may be an afterthought rather than a premonition of outcome of future events.

I must confess, I have never heard of a ditch bank blade, although I may have seen one and did not know what it was called, or a slasher. I have used a bush hook in my youth.

This thread is an excellent example of continuing education! Old dogs, new tricks!
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The blades will need grinding (even new old stock blades need a bit of work) and the tang angle will almost certainly need adjusting. Also check the nibs (side grips) to make sure they aren't seized in place. They usually use a left-handed thread, so it's righty-loosey, lefty-tighty. Check the hardware to make sure the fit is still tight, and if it isn't it may need building back up. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The blades will need grinding (even new old stock blades need a bit of work) and the tang angle will almost certainly need adjusting. Also check the nibs (side grips) to make sure they aren't seized in place. They usually use a left-handed thread, so it's righty-loosey, lefty-tighty. Check the hardware to make sure the fit is still tight, and if it isn't it may need building back up. :)
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Great advice! I used to help my father out at his garage 1960's & 1970's and the people at Chrysler Corporation got me trained to look for left hand thread when I was changing customer cars to "snow tires" in the fall and "summer tires" in the spring. I am a little bit surprised that more auto makers didn't do the same. By the way, I did get the mowing finished. Quite nice for working outside today with the temperature @77°F. and dew point @34°F. with mostly sunny skies and a NW wind @16 gusting to 25. Well, I am going to head out a inspect the scythes for sale and decide if I will bit on one or both lots. Maybe pick up some take out ??? for supper tonight.
 
fwiw, I ended up getting a 1075 3mm thick, 22" ontario ct5 machete - it's heavy compared to a typical machete, but easily ranks as having hand axe power
ct5-22-machete-8294-8291__32488.1618934070.jpg
 
not very much ;) if any (honestly, I don't think there is any distal taper, at least not by eyeballing it)

it's a tank... description says: "The .125" blade is ground to a full flat taper with a flat bevel."
weight is 1 pound 8 oz (I guess 24 oz)
 
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