Best budget machete

not2sharp said:
Machetes take a lot of damage from impacts with rocks, concrete, and metals that tend to hide unseen under brush.
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This is my experience as well. The machete is often used to reclaim areas overgrown with brush. There are things you don't see, things left over from previous used of the land. I've hit wire lots of time, barbwire, fence wire, even old telegraph wire. Then's there's old rusty metal fence posts, t-posts or round. I've found old galvanized plumbing pipe all bent up and hidden in the brush.
 
I always examine a spot before taking a swipe at it, so rarely end up making a cut where I hit something I didn't expect. A hook made from a small branch where it joins the trunk can be used in the off hand to gather and tension the material you're cutting, and this also gives you a chance to check for obstructions before making the stroke. If cutting low to the ground around obstructions you can often tilt the edge slightly upwards and deliberately bounce the spine off the ground, using it as something of a depth gauge of sorts, though this is easier to do with some patterns than others.

It's certainly possible for the circumstances to dictate that cutting HAS to be done in areas that are inherently prone to damaging a blade, and in those cases it's especially nice to have a dedicated "beater" that can be used instead of your usual main user. I do the same with my scythes, and have a blade that I use when "scouting" areas that I've not mowed before. I rarely damage it, even then, but the greater likelihood of it happening means that rather than have my favorite blade possibly take a hit and consequent wear I'd rather use a "sacrificial" blade that can get used up and not worry about it. But when I'm in familar territory or in favorable mowing conditions I'll go with my favorite blade every time because everything is just so with it, and it makes a difference in the performance. The overall experience becomes that much more pleasant as a result. I consider machetes actually easier to avoid damage in most settings due to the nature of the kind of growth they're usually tackling.

Grasses are the circumstance most likely to truly obscure damaging obstacles, in my experience. Among brush and saplings it's pretty easy to see what you're doing. But even if you do hit something hard with your "nice" tools, it's best not to purchase anything you can't afford to use up anyhow. Beaters will extend the life of the fancier tools by taking the brunt of "high risk" cutting, but tools are tools, and meant to be used. I've had my nicer machetes take damage before and I've always just ironed it out and gotten back to work without complaint. :)
 
cj65 said:
I like my Collins machete the most. Unfortunately, it is spray painted gold. It needs some scraping and elbow grease. Problem is, I live in suburbia and don’t have much need for a machete, but I love them. They are hard to resist purchasing at garage sales. After Christmas, I am allowed to throw the tree at the curb whole, but I always whack the limbs off and cut the trunk in half and put it in the green waste bin. This occurs out front and the neighbors always look at me funny for awhile.
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Maybe don't wear that mask this year?
 
crbnSteeladdict said:
Has anybody tried to make a beater machete out of old, rusty Disston Crosscut Hand Saw? Too springy?
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I made a mini machete from a 1950's Craftsman hand saw a year or two ago that I use all the time.
I used the section without broken teeth so I could sharpen them and have a real saw on the back. I call it a garden machete because you can hack weeds or trim small bush limbs...ect.

If you've got a disston with broken teeth and stuff you could make a small one and even a fillet knife or two but they are too thin for a regular sized machete.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I made a mini machete from a 1950's Craftsman hand saw a year or two ago that I use all the time.
I used the section without broken teeth so I could sharpen them and have a real saw on the back. I call it a garden machete because you can hack weeds or trim small bush limbs...ect.

If you've got a disston with broken teeth and stuff you could make a small one and even a fillet knife or two but they are too thin for a regular sized machete.
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You made a garden machete out of a saw, aaaaaaaaand? o_O
 
Hickory n steel said:
I made a mini machete from a 1950's Craftsman hand saw a year or two ago that I use all the time.
I used the section without broken teeth so I could sharpen them and have a real saw on the back. I call it a garden machete because you can hack weeds or trim small bush limbs...ect.

If you've got a disston with broken teeth and stuff you could make a small one and even a fillet knife or two but they are too thin for a regular sized machete.
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Thanks. That is what I thought. I also have much thicker 2 man crosscut saw that looks like somebody used Dremel and cut off all rakers (I bought it for handles). I just have to double check if it is not some kind of obscure, 19th century (before rakers got invented) saw.
I have bunch of machetes: French Coup Coup , El Salvador made stainless steel Corneta, Japanese Nesco(might be military item) , very long Liniero but I really like the idea of making my own beater one.
It looks like you use your little garden machete very often. Once again, thanks for sharing.
 
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crbnSteeladdict said:
Thanks. That is what I thought. I also have much thicker 2 man crosscut saw that looks like somebody used Dremel and cut off all rakers (I bought it for handles). I just have to double check if it is not some kind of obscure, 19th century (before rakers got invented) saw.
I have bunch of machetes: French Coup Coup , El Salvador made stainless steel Corneta, Japanese Nesco(might be military item) , very long Liniero but I really like the idea of making my own beater one.
It looks like you use your little garden machete very often. Once again, thanks for sharing.
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It's possible that the El Salvadoran Corneta-marked machete may be nickel-plated rather than stainless. I could be wrong, since Imacasa does make some stainless machetes, but to the best of my knowledge they only ever did that under the Condor line, not under the Imacasa line, and they do make a number of machetes with nickel-plated finishes.
 
Often discussions such as these focus on money. My personal approach is a little different. What I Iook for first is the basic building blocks that will give me the tool I want.
First the steel. Is the typical spring steel of a Tram suitable for field sharpening, occasional abuse, edge retention, and a fine edge if I want it? For me a Tram gives a nice balance of that.
Secondly can I modify the profile fairly easily to get it customized for usage?
Thirdly can I modify the handle to fit my hand and style of swing? Only wood or custom handles for me.
I have all these components in a Tram so I consider it a good deal that I can buy something economically priced and customize it to work well. Now if I don't have the skills or the time to customize it you can be sure that I'd be looking for a higher grade and maybe even a custom machete. I have no use for a Tram out of the box, so If I can't customize it I'm surely going to pay the price to get it set up properly for me.
I have no interest in tools that are not efficient and effective.
So in summary I see a need for both the economical and high end markets and I think a lot of it depends on whether you want a customized tool and if you can do it yourself or if you need it done for you.
A $20 out of the box machete is useless to me until it is customized.
 
Hickory n steel said:
And use it quite a bit, so what's your point ?

It's a small tool made to suit a purpose and it suits it well.
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...aaaaaaaand "Mecha may I offer a heartfelt apology for my presumptuous and r00d assertion that your titanium machete is nothing but a status symbol devoid of real value, and equating it to a fancy dog poop scooper." o_O
 
Mecha said:
...aaaaaaaand "Mecha may I offer a heartfelt apology for my presumptuous and r00d assertion that your titanium machete is nothing but a status symbol devoid of real value, and equating it to a fancy dog poop scooper." o_O
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Hickory n steel obviously is content with his steel machete choices. Maybe you could send him a loaner machete for a test drive. I believe only actual use of that tool would change his mind. He might like it or he might hate it; I am pretty sure he will write honest review of that tool.
 
Mecha said:
...aaaaaaaand "Mecha may I offer a heartfelt apology for my presumptuous and r00d assertion that your titanium machete is nothing but a status symbol devoid of real value, and equating it to a fancy dog poop scooper." o_O
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I will use my fancy dog pooper scooper daily, a machete maybe once a year. Demographically semanticism ittiz.o_O
 
crbnSteeladdict said:
Hickory n steel obviously is content with his steel machete choices. Maybe you could send him a loaner machete for a test drive. I believe only actual use of that tool would change his mind. He might like it or he might hate it; I am pretty sure he will write honest review of that tool.
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Not sure I can do that without a sincere and/or heartfelt apology.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
It's possible that the El Salvadoran Corneta-marked machete may be nickel-plated rather than stainless. I could be wrong, since Imacasa does make some stainless machetes, but to the best of my knowledge they only ever did that under the Condor line, not under the Imacasa line, and they do make a number of machetes with nickel-plated finishes.
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Thanks. You are probably right. It has never been sharpen (not useful in that form even as a letter opener) so I cannot see any color difference between edge and plated parts.
 
Yup! Looks like nickel plate. It's especially commonly used on machetes sold as tourist items since it's shiny and keeps them from rusting, but it does hold up fairly well when put to use. It just starts looking really ugly when it starts wearing and flaking. :thumbsup:
 
Mecha said:
Not sure I can do that without a sincere and/or heartfelt apology.
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If it'll help I'll apologize and try one of your titanium machetes. :D

I'm a little concerned that the light weight might be a factor. But I cut a lof of blackberries where speed is most important. I imagine a titanium machete would be pretty fast.
 
Square_peg said:
If it'll help I'll apologize and try one of your titanium machetes. :D

I'm a little concerned that the light weight might be a factor. But I cut a lof of blackberries where speed is most important. I imagine a titanium machete would be pretty fast.
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Bwahaha! :D It's a factor, but almost always a good one.
 
I'm a fan of inexpensive Central/South American machetes. I have a lifetime supply of Tramontina, Imacasa and Incolma machetes. I got these on various closeout deals at prices ranging from $3 for a 14" Imacasa and $5- $7. for the larger ones. I just got some 18" Trams with sheath at a big box store for $8. About the same price they would sell for in their country of origin.

I do have a few of the Marbles (Imacasa) ones with sheath and a stone that were $13 - $15. I even splurged and got two different new-old-stock Collins machetes for $25 each. There are still a few floating around out there.

They take a bit of work to get the right edge and some need work on the handles. They are expendable working tools that serve the purpose.

If I need to whack bigger, tougher stuff I have a few boxes of Thai and Hmong machetes and large knives hand-forged from leaf springs. Been collecting (accumulating?) them for 40+ years. At $3-$5 each, who could resist? I even got a few very serviceable older blades without handles at scrap yards for 50 cents to a dollar. Kind of like you can find quality hammer heads in the USA at flea markets for a pittance. (I only have about 60 hammers.)
 
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