From DAHenkel earlier post on the old forum:
Quote:
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I've also noted that I have not encountered antique pieces that have been kept sharp. This is not to say that they could not be sharpened but I rather doubt they were. The only sharp parang of this type I know of is a newly made one owned by Nik Rashidi. It is in form simmilar to the second parang shown (7th photo from the top). Rashidi is particularly fond of this parang and uses it especially for "belah kayu" that is, the process of roughing out wood billets for hilts and sheaths and also for butchering carcasses during Hari Raya Korban (muharram).
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On this example the blade is sharp. Thought it is not so sharp that you could use it to shave it does still have a very definite edge. The strange thing is that starting from the blades tip the sharp edge only extends two thirds of the way back on the curve. Measuring back from the tip along the edge the sharpened area is only 5-1/2 inches in length. Not much of a cutting edge, about what you might expect to find on an average sized modern hatchet. Just for later reference, this piece weighs in at one pound twelve ounces and is eighteen inches in length measured in a straight line from the tip of the blade to the tip of the hilt.
Regards,
Robert