Sharpen your pick?

I wouldn't use a stone, for sure, but I often file or grind the points on my picks. It was common for a blacksmith, either one on staff or at least local to the mining operations, to reshape the points on picks by forging them back out to conserve material.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
It's worth noting that "dirt-sharp" isn't the same as "knife sharp" -- I sharpen my shovels but in doing so leave the apex about 0.25 to 0.5 mm thick.
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This ^^^ :)

I roughly reshape "sharpen" many such tools , that don't need a knife edge . Picks , splitting mauls and wedges , etc .

Coarse metal file , very large .
 
I would hope everyone would know not to worry about details they see in movies, unless they are educational instructional movies. Right? And nobody has to worry about sharpening a pick axe unless they are using one to make a living. For everyone else who is dragging one out once every year or two for light yard work, any pick there is will work.
 
I sharpen picks.

S

Thread 'Miner's drift pick restoration (pic heavy)'

Here's something a little different. I found this miners drift pick at a local estate sale last year. Restoring it has been a work in progress for some time. I finally hung it today.

Here it is as it came to me last year. Rather than grind away metal to re-point this pick I decided to draw out the points on the anvil.

Pick%201.jpg



Heat up the forge.

Pick%202.jpg



One point done.

Pick%203.jpg
...
  • Like
 
Square_peg1 said:
I sharpen picks.

S

Thread 'Miner's drift pick restoration (pic heavy)'

Here's something a little different. I found this miners drift pick at a local estate sale last year. Restoring it has been a work in progress for some time. I finally hung it today.

Here it is as it came to me last year. Rather than grind away metal to re-point this pick I decided to draw out the points on the anvil.

Pick%201.jpg



Heat up the forge.

Pick%202.jpg



One point done.

Pick%203.jpg
...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Nice job👌
 
Square_peg1 said:
I sharpen picks.

S

Thread 'Miner's drift pick restoration (pic heavy)'

Here's something a little different. I found this miners drift pick at a local estate sale last year. Restoring it has been a work in progress for some time. I finally hung it today.

Here it is as it came to me last year. Rather than grind away metal to re-point this pick I decided to draw out the points on the anvil.

Pick%201.jpg



Heat up the forge.

Pick%202.jpg



One point done.

Pick%203.jpg
...
  • Like
Click to expand...
I found this one in Pike county, Ky. at a small flea market and it’s just been sitting in one of my storage buildings. IMG_6919.jpeg
 
Plenty of people that actually use shovels sharpen them. Farmers that actually use shovels are probably the most common people to sharpen a shovel. I would suggest that using a pick all day would warrant a good sharpening, I have used them on very hard dirt and after it glanced a few times I thought I should have sharpened it beforehand.
 
thebrain said:
Farmers that actually use shovels are probably the most common people to sharpen a shovel.
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The Forest Service, wildland firefighters, and trail maintenance crews all sharpen their shovels and pulaskis. When sharpening mattocks or the adze end of a pulaski you should leave the edge about half a millimeter wide. They're gonna hit rocks and anything sharper would just roll the edge.
 
Definitely those emergency and forest service members Square_peg1 mentioned are very interested in tool maintenance as it may cost them their lives. My pick needed maintenance and under normal condition I would have done so in advance. I was burying a beloved pet in frozen ground in the middle of the night. 30 inches of frost in the ground and a ice storm makes for a long night after saying goodbye to my little buddy.
 
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