Condor Steel

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
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I just got a Condor Parang and it was pretty dull. I took it out and hacked a dead limb anyway to check it out. When I got back I saw a small bit of the edge had rolled. So I took out the Lansky kit and had at r'. I like the look and feel of this machete but I'm not sure about it yet. I'll have a better opinion after I put a better edge on it and re test. What do you think about Condors German 1075 High Carbon steel and heat treat?
 
Their 1075 absolutely fantastic providing it didn't come from a bad HT batch. Condor usually runs their machetes on the harder side, so when there's an HT problem it's more common for it to snap rather than be too soft. Perhaps the section that rolled had a slightly soft edge from the factory sharpening. Sharpen it a few times and see if it fixes it at all. If repeated sharpenings don't fix it, get in touch with Rick Jones at Condor and he'll fix you up with a fresh one. :):thumbup:
 
Thanks for the info bud. It did seem to be a dichotomy to have a little edge roll while the steel itself took a lot of work to sharpen. It does seem quite hard.
:confused:
 
Like 42 said, sometimes in the factory the final grinding gets the edge too hot and the edge gets messed up. Until you sharpen past that section, you can't really tell what the properties of the blade really are.
 
knarfeng said:
Like 42 said, sometimes in the factory the final grinding gets the edge too hot and the edge gets messed up. Until you sharpen past that section, you can't really tell what the properties of the blade really are.
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Thank you for the confirmation, this makes sense.:thumbup: I'm cleaning up a natural bush site up north next spring and I wanted a heavier machete for that purpose. A hawk is too light and an axe is too heavy. Three guys and gear, one canoe, across a major river. So far two of us have opted for machetes.
 
Ought to work nicely for you! One thing I'd suggest with it before taking it with you on the trip is to thin out the shoulders of the edge. I've noticed that while the edge is (usually) nice and sharp from the factory and slices through green vegetation no problem, the stock edge geometry can make the blade bounce off of thick wood on the first blow because of the shoulder thickness. Thin the shoulder transition out with a file and it ought to bite nice and deep. :thumbup:

Providing it makes it into production (it's in consideration for Condor's 2013 line) then my Baryonyx design would do nicely for that kind of work--the circumstances you describe are pretty much exactly the kind of work I had in mind when I dreamed it up. I used my prototype last weekend to fell a few birch trees that were bent over in the snow storm we got. :)
 
Yes I have been working my coarsest Lansky stone across the sides at 20 degrees. I considered my axe file but it was in the car trunk and I was tired. It took a lot of back and forth to grind the shoulders down and it's still not finished, but that's ok. I get to play with a new blade. I took the Parang out today and it performed better than out of box. It didn't take much to down 2-4 inch diameter brush. Yes I also have to watch the chop down angle as the thick blade will give the occasional glancing blow. I sure wouldn't have to worry about battoning that big thick blade though.:D
 
I had an issue with the blade geometry on my Condor Boomslang. After 3 or 4 sharpenings, it chops like no tomorrow. I did it by hand as well. I have since bought a HF 1"x30" belt sander, while on sale & also used the 20% off coupon. It is cheap for sure, but it works excellent for me & saves me a LOT of time & also saves my Gatco sharpener from wearing out so fast.
 
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I bought a Condor Hudson Bay knife recently and used it to chop some small logs and a good 2-1/2 inch section of the edge is now very rough and bumpy as if it got a bunch of tiny micro chips in the blade. The rest of the blade is still sharp but this kinda shocked me. I tried to hand sharpen it with both a coarse and smooth stone and nothing happened. I assume a grinder should be the next step
 
My experience with a new Parang was this. The advice given above worked like a charm. I took my axe file and shallowed out the shoulders over a couple of sessions, then resharpened. The Parang is a different entity altogether now and chops like it means business. I did not experience any rolling after working the edge and it doesn't glance off as easily now. And right or wrong I put mineral oil on the wooden grips. The first wipe got sucked into the wood within minutes. Then second oiling was absorbed over hours. I can actually see some mild wood grain highlights now which are attractive. I'm glad that I didn't give up on the Parang, the more I use it, the more I like it.
 
I have found that my Golok does not like to cut rocks or concrete blocks. Remember that. :D

So far I have only sharpened my Golok a couple of times and I used a file type DMT sharpener on coarse and fine. Worked like a champ. Repairing chipped edges is another matter.
 
TwinStick said:
I had an issue with the blade geometry on my Condor Boomslang. After 3 or 4 sharpenings, it chops like no tomorrow. I did it by hand as well. I have since bought a HF 1"x30" belt sander, while on sale & also used the 20% off coupon. It is cheap for sure, but it works excellent for me & saves me a LOT of time & also saves my Gatco sharpener from wearing out so fast.
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Nice score on the Boomslang.:thumbup: And good info, thanks.
 
brewcitymike said:
I bought a Condor Hudson Bay knife recently and used it to chop some small logs and a good 2-1/2 inch section of the edge is now very rough and bumpy as if it got a bunch of tiny micro chips in the blade. The rest of the blade is still sharp but this kinda shocked me. I tried to hand sharpen it with both a coarse and smooth stone and nothing happened. I assume a grinder should be the next step
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Another interesting knife.............. Reminds me of the buffalo hunting days. They did a fairly reasonable reproduction of it.
 
22-rimfire said:
I have found that my Golok does not like to cut rocks or concrete blocks. Remember that. :D

So far I have only sharpened my Golok a couple of times and I used a file type DMT sharpener on coarse and fine. Worked like a champ. Repairing chipped edges is another matter.
Click to expand...

I use smaller knives to make fuzz rocks. :D
 
I think the Parang is an awesome piece.
I love my Condor Kukri too.
Maybe I got lucky with my purchases. It appears that somebody took a lot of time and effort to sharpen both of my Condors from the factory, or maybe the dealer.
In any case, the edges I got are terrific, and they are polished like a mirror. And they are sharpest edges that I have ever gotten out of the box on any kind of knife, ever. These things make a Spyderco edge seem average. I couldn't believe how dangerously razor sharp mine were when I took them out of the boxes. They will definitely cut you easier than a straight edge razor blade, and take my word for it because I bled with the slightest contact with the edge of the Kukri on the way out of the box. And I mean slight contact. I didn't even realize that I had even touched the edge until I saw the blood droplets on the floor.
 
I have 6 non-Condor Imacasa products and 8-9 Condor knives and machetes. All of the Condor products came shaving sharp out of the box, some with too thin a profile for a beater. That convex grind is super sharp but leaves the edge really thin. I tend to thicken up the edge a bit when I get it, and then polish it back up to shaving. Whence that is taken care of, they all take a good amount of abuse and clean up with little effort.
 
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