52100 for machete?

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aarongb

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Nov 2, 2007
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Hi all. I want to make some machetes, and I'm a bit confused about which steel to choose. I have some 3/16" 1084, but thats a bit thicker than I want, and Aldo doesn't have 1075 in anything thinner than 1/4". Is 52100 a decent steel for machetes? Any other steels I should look for?
 
52100 wouldn't be my first choice, but would work, I guess. Myself, I'd use the 1084 you have. Your 1084 more than likely has some mill scale that will need to come off and will finish out thinner than 3/16".
 
I don't see any reason not to use 52100 other than possibly expense, and maybe the fact that it's not stainless (whether or not that matters is up to you). By all accounts it's good steel for large working knives - then again, so are 1084 and 5160 and CPM-3V and Elmax and CTS-XHP and... ;)

It really boils down to what you prefer in terms of edge-holding, corrosion-resistance, ease of sharpening, cost, who/how the HT will be dealt with - all the usual suspects. Obviously a machete needs to be tough (all the steels listed above have that covered), but beyond that you can build one lots of different ways.
 
I have never made/User/held a custom machete, however the machete I was given is only 1/16 thick. Now I know absolutely zero about machetes nor making machetes, so what is the average thickness of a machete?
Jack
 
At a rough guess I would say 1/8" max, with most being closer to 1/16". They're usually meant to be light and flexible - and dirt cheap.
 
Well, its seems like they are all over the place. I've seen them between 3/64" to a little more than 1/4" with a distal taper on a couple of Condors I have
 
Mine has a distal taper from 5/32 to an 1/8 at the tip. Thats not much taper but works great for a hard use machete. Out cuts any machete I have ever used and is tailored after the ones I used in Panama. Weighs 1.52 lbs which is same as my mil-spec machete I was issued.
 
I've always thought of a machete as sharpened sheet metal. Once you get into adding primary bevels and such, you cross into a bush knife. I have one I still need to get from the heat treater. It's S7 1/8" thick, 12" blade, 2" wide with a 10 degree per side bevel, but no primary bevel. I may decide to add one later, but at that point I don't consider it a machete anymore. I don't think there is a hard and true definition, but that's how I keep them separate in my mind.

52100 would likely work fine for a machete. 1095 has worked for decades. I find Cold Steel's 1055 is quite good, but sometimes you have to go with what you got. I've considered O1 for machetes, just because it has a better range of available thickness than just about anything else. If you're heat treating yourself, 52100 can come out of the quench screaming hard, so temper appropriately.
 
'Machete' has become a generic term for jungle knife for many. But there are a huge number of jungle knives out there with many names.
My genuine Columbian Collins machete is very simple ,1/16" thick and 24" long. They are typically sharpened with a file .There is no need of a high carbon steel for this type .1084 will work very well .5160 also.
 
FWIW I was at a gun show today and examined a US-made Collins 1945 machete that was a good 1/8" thick. It was somewhat heavy but still well-balanced and moderately flexible. I think if you go much thicker than that, it's really a different animal like bush knife or chopper. Just my opinion, of course.
 
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