Custom Machete

Newbeliever said:
Do you really dare me to show you that, because I can.

Listen guys, I know your all very knowledgable about knives and the like but it can be done. Here is a video by a CERTIFIED Master Blacksmith demonstrating some chopping with his custom machete, it is bit short for a machete but it somewhat perform as one and I bet it would give a wild boar one hell of a hair cut.

This blade is a Blue Steel#2 laminate, RCH 62 plus, hand forged and hammered.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM60prhzj_o
Click to expand...
and where did you see it is hardened to 62RC? didnt say anything in the video.
 
Newbeliever -

have you checked with Justin at www.rangerknives.com yet? i don't know if he makes machetes, but i was talking to him about building me a short sword (before i scored my Waki). if i needed anything built, he's the first person i'd check with.
 
An RC count in the low 60's can work as a chopper.... it's just not as forgiving. Everything must be balanced in knife steel. If its a high Rockwell you want, I suggest a thicker blade.

To me, strength and toughness are two different things. You can have a tough knife that's not strong (machetes are a prime example) Their geometry allows them to flex further that most blades but the fact that they flex so easily can also be their weakness. It doesn't take much force to bring them to catastrophic failure. Thats why machetes suck a prying or stabbing. (not that they were ever designed for that, in the first place) I wouldn't consider Murray Carter's Koshinata a machete. He may say its a "Japanese machete" but thats like saying a Naval cutlass is a "US Katana"... different beasts all together.

Other confusing words are flex and bend. Stiffness of the blade and how easy it is to flex is entirely in the cross section and independent of heat treatment. Bendability and how much and how easily the blade will bend and take a permanent set is more along the lines of what you do in heat treatment.

I generally get my edges around 58RC and if its a long bladed chopper, I draw the spine and half the width to 42-45RC. For me, that's a heathy balance between Strength (the resistance to deformation) and Toughness (the ability to deform without failing) you also have to consider impact. Sudden loading is nothing like gradual bending, and in larger blades we do need to balance our strength with impact toughness.


Rick
 
2000 buck machete is a foolish idea it is bordering on complete and utter insanity.

sandwiching a hard core with soft cladding works for kitchen knives but honestly for bush work and bone chopping you DO NOT WANT a high hardness supersteel knife.


I have a fair understanding of kitchen knives as that is where my focus is and even the hardest steels with profiles designed for cutting bone have problems with removing a head from even a 100lb tuna without damage. That is why in large fish butchery you switch to a saw for head removal to do it without messing up tools. Watch fish market videos examine the dismantling of tuna on a production level.

a machete, koshinata, khukiri, bone cleaver etc are all best left at moderate hardness to do the jobs they are intended to do. Just like a top shelf yanagi is hard and made out of shiro-ko and is solo steel to maximize feed back and the absolute sharpness attainable by that steel for the particular task of slicing raw fish.

also who in the hell wants to sharpen a 20 inch cowryx blade that chips to hell and will be a massive pain to sharpen.


hardness is not the sole deciding factor in the performance of a knife I am fairly certain I have had conversations with you about this very subject on kitchen knives over in knife forums through the private message system.

in the end spend money however you see fit but for a bush kind of knife you are throwing money away.
 
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Just one question for Mr. Newbeliever: Are you sure you want to try to kill a chargin wild pig, with a machete? I live in Panamà, a tropical country, with one of the densest rain forest in the world. We use cheap machetes every day (Tramontina, Incolma, etc.), and they do a terrific job. I bougth a Swamp Rat Waki and is a bit heavy for things like brush clearing, tree pruning and such. On the subject of wild pigs: we have smal wild pigs (pecaris), that nobody here tries to kill with anything but a gun (they are fierce when cornered or wounded; they are known to gore dogs).
Besides I understand that other tham firearms, in the States the hunters uses bow and arrows or spears to hunt the pigs, the point being, not to let the pigs come anywhere hear you.
 
Yeah you should save your money and just buy a bunch of tramontinas, they would do the same as a $2000 machete at a fraction of the price
 
Notice they guy in the video uses the knife , two handed ?

No one uses a machete like that do they ?

It'd get mighty tiring after a few meters of slashing i think.
 
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