Any love out there for big Condor choppers?

I have a few and ALL needed a LOT of work to get a good edge on them. :( FortyTwoBlades says they have improved, however, I would only buy them from Forty (Baryonyx) since he refines the edge at no charge. :thumbsup:
 
Cool. I'd be interested to hear about how exactly he does that. I have one of those ko worksharp grinders, and the convex edges are easy to sharpen up on that. The scandi grinds on the discord and kukri machete are a little puzzling though. I did put a little work into flattening out the sides of the rounded wooden handle of the Kukri too. For me personally, I'd rather put a few minutes into making it how I want than a ton of extra cash.
http://imgur.com/gallery/OPl8ipN
 
I like my Duku Parang, it came to me with a very sharp edge.

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katanas said:
I have a few and ALL needed a LOT of work to get a good edge on them. :( FortyTwoBlades says they have improved, however, I would only buy them from Forty (Baryonyx) since he refines the edge at no charge. :thumbsup:
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Man, I bought their Kephart. More like Kep-Hah! Nice sheath, the edge was non-existent, the finish was terrible. I sorted it out and never used it.
 
Great tools, just generally a bit thick in/behind the edge. Once thinned out, they're lovely. Some models are better than others in that regard--they do a pretty good job of being consistent from example to example within a particular model, but they're pretty inconsistent from model to model. That is to say, Model A might usually come with a pretty okay geometry, and almost every example of Model A will have that good geometry, while Model B might be thick as a cold chisel, and almost every example of Model B will be like that.
 
Condor is my favorite value machete. I have the Golak, 18" El Salvador, and the Bushcraft Parang. I like to use the El Salvador for light yard work. The other two I mostly just admire. The craftsmanship is great for what you pay. Does anyone know why Condor's leather sheaths are so loose?

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When they first came out I really liked them for the low price, the nice leather sheath, interesting designs, and tough steel.

I still like all the above, with the exception of the price hikes. The fit and finish have never been perfect, but IMHO acceptable before the price increases.

I have the Khukuri and agree with the comment above about the handle being too round. The blade would always twist on impact. It works good as a batoning blade. I stripped off the coating also. I really like the sheath too.

I have two Hudson Bays and they are great knives for use as a small heavy machete or batoning as well. One has a nice sheath with perfect retention and the other is cut different and too loose.
 
If I had to pay the current price for my Condor Golok, I probably would not own it, which would be too bad, because I have cut a lot of brush with it, and chopped down a couple of trees. I would like to try it with a thinner edge. It might slash better than it does, but I wonder if it would throw chips the same way. I’m not going to spend the money to find out.

The Baryonyx machete is another one that I have found very effective. It relies on its weight and thinner blade to bite deep rather than throwing chips. Iit is too heavy for me to make snap cuts. I have to get my whole arm moving, and leave the wrist out of it. I think of it as a smatchet with a bill hook, effective against a broad range of vegetation.

I think I am going to like the Mini Duku Parang from the little I have seen of it. OTOH, I have not really bonded with the Pack Golok; I am not sure why.
 
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mwhich50 said:
Condor is my favorite value machete. I have the Golak, 18" El Salvador, and the Bushcraft Parang. I like to use the El Salvador for light yard work. The other two I mostly just admire. The craftsmanship is great for what you pay. Does anyone know why Condor's leather sheaths are so loose?

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Loose sheaths? I suspect they wear loose and there is probably a reasonable amount of variability during the manufacturing process.

I don't have the Bushcraft Parang. But I do have the Pack Golok and Village Parang. The 18" wood handled El Salvador is my favorite overall. But honestly use the discontinued 14" Puerto Rican and 16" Swampmaster more because I keep one of those in each vehicle. I loved the standard 14" Golok at first (have two), but over time I shifted to the other machetes for the kind of cutting I do. My Viking machete and the longer Parang never got used other than when I first got them. Just more comfortable with a shorter machete length.
 
I have the Condor Sequoia primitive knife and its a beast. The edge chipped a little on the first few uses but I think im past the brittle edge and into the good steel. Its got a razor edge on it right now.
 
Henry Beige said:
The Baryonyx machete is another one that I have found very effective. It relies on its weight and thinner blade to bite deep rather than throwing chips. Iit is too heavy for me to make snap cuts. I have to get my whole arm moving, and leave the wrist out of it. I think of it as a smatchet with a bill hook, effective against a broad range of vegetation.
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Get a real good "curl" to your arm/the machete (a position almost as if you're about to throw a dart, but holding the machete with the point towards the rear, instead) and lead the snap with the elbow. The the weight do the work in this case, rather than the fingers--they just clinch that snap. ;) It's definitely not a light finger/wrist flick design, but it can definitely snap-cut! Just takes long-blade technique like you'd use on a ~24" weight-forward machete.
 
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