Photos Bowie Machete mod

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kwackster

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Dec 23, 2005
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A few days ago i bought a few Cold Steel Bowie Machetes from a Dutch forum member, and today i changed the plastic grip of one of them a bit more to my liking with the use of a coarse wood rasp.
The contouring makes for a much more comfortable grip when compared to the original handle shape, and snap cuts can now be done much easier and without handle shift.
The rough surface structure left by the wood rasp also offers a much more secure grip, but only prolonged use will show if it needs more smoothing.





The factory edges on these South African made versions had some burring left, but that was an easy fix on the Tormek leather wheel.
The edges are slightly convex, and each apex currently fits in the 45 degrees inclusive slot of my Tormek WM200 AngleMaster.
A bit overkill i think, so some thinning will probably follow later.
 
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;) Nice . Great idea . Looks a bit like something chewed the handle , but I can see it would be improved for grip and comfort .:cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Looks good. May be able to smooth it out with fine sandpaper, unless you like it like that for extra grip.
 
The rough finish as it currently is would probably work very well when using the Bowie Machete as a pig sticker for hunters and also for home defense, but i still have to find out how it works for (sustained) chopping purposes.
If need be some sanding linen would make a finer surface in no time.
With a measured blade thickness of 2.75 mm the knife is actually quite rigid, certainly not flimsy or wobbly.
 
Ivegot a pair of these for $16 each at amazon, great blades for the money. Can handle all but the heavy chopping tasks.
 
kwackster said:
A few days ago i bought a few Cold Steel Bowie Machetes from a Dutch forum member, and today i changed the plastic grip of one of them a bit more to my liking with the use of a coarse wood rasp.
The contouring makes for a much more comfortable grip when compared to the original handle shape, and snap cuts can now be done much easier and without handle shift.
The rough surface structure left by the wood rasp also offers a much more secure grip, but only prolonged use will show if it needs more smoothing.





The factory edges on these South African made versions had some burring left, but that was an easy fix on the Tormek leather wheel.
The edges are slightly convex, and each apex currently fits in the 45 degrees inclusive slot of my Tormek WM200 AngleMaster.
A bit overkill i think, so some thinning will probably follow later.
Click to expand...

How did you do this?
 
With the help of a half-round coarse wood rasp & a light touch, and below are some pics of a few Cold Steel Kukri Machetes i'm currently working on.
Now the handles on these are made from PVC, on which the fuzziness disappears after some use, and what is left is a hand-friendly yet grippy surface.
The Bowie Machetes have handles made from noticeably harder polypropylene, and on that material the fuzzy surface seems to last much longer.

Removing the chequered handle surface with a coarse wood rasp to give it a much more "handpalm-friendly" finish.



Right after the wood rasp treatment on the right, and one that has already seen several days of use on the left.

 
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This is how the second Bowie Machete looks at the moment, with the fuzzy finish coming out a bit more even compared to the first one.
Obviously the edges still need to be reprofiled & sharpened.
(You can click each pic 2 X for a bit more detail)







 
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