Faulty Machete ????

T-BAG

T-BAG

Joined
Dec 1, 2006
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577
I was laid up for a few months and my backyard started to look like Cambodia after summer monsoon season. I sent away for a Cold Steel Latin Machete and it arrived yesterday. I have a 60 ft Chinese Pepper Tree and a Jacaranda in my backyard...something is always growing or falling off or smelling flowery in my backyard. I undid the packaging on the machete and proceeded to wack away at overhanging branches like Indiana Jones on Crack.

Now after watching numerous movies about jungle branches falling like deadwood as the machete did it's terrible deed I was unimpressed by myself as the branches just moved out of the way and the machete did not cut...Anything. Fearlessly I stood my ground and took full swings at the overhanging branches....but nothing happened. They just moved out of the way and came back. I made sure I was using the sharp side...and then asked my wife to come out and watch me. She and my daughter came out and were laughing hysterically after about 5 minutes as I swung and sweat but to no avail. I did manage to cut a couple small 1/2 inch dead branches but I think they just broke off from the blunt force.

I went in ands watched Predator and Princes Bride and sure enough those heroes just lightly swung at 2 inch vines and they melted away like butter on a hot grill. I went out again and mirrored the same movements but just got tired. I'm starting to think maybe the movies used special effects to make the vines dissapear and my morale is truly down the tubes as I feel the movie industry has caused a great diservice. Not only do I look like a wuss to my family but found out Hollywood has been lying to me all this time. What a buzz kill day !! I finally went to Home Depot and got a 16 inch chain saw and will try that next weekend. If that doesn't work I can always use it scaring kids on Halloween and wearing a hockey mask. I'd use the machete but they'ed just laugh at me. :D
 
Not sure of the material's thickness, how it is supported and how sharp is the machete. Sometime you are better off with pruning shears. I sounds like light material, a chainsaw may not be you best bet, hedge trimmers would be better.
 
out of the package most machetes need some edge development, they are usually very dull when first received, most folks use a file to sharpen them this will give you a better edge to work on your undergrowth with. i suggest you take a file to that edge and have another whack at the brush.

alex
 
You need to get your machete blessed by elves.

Try cutting the vines near their bases so that there's some inertia. The plant roots will provide some resistance for your chops.
 
I'm kind of shooting in the dark here, but I see 3 possibilities. 1st, you may need to do some work on the edge of your machete. 2nd, machetes are more suited to cutting softer material. If the stuff you're swinging at is woody and/or dry then a machete may not work as well. 3rd, movies have you brainwashed. ;)

Once you're sure you have a good edge on the machete, try cutting toward the base of the branch or vine so that it can't move around and absorb the impact as much, or if that's not possible, hold the target steady with one hand and chop with the other. Just be very careful so as not to chop off your own arm/hand/finger! Last bit of advise. . . Especially on thinner, soft and/or springy material, try to use part of the blade as close to the tip as possible. That's the part of the blade that moves fastest when you swing, and that speed will let you cut the stuff instead of just knocking it away.

Disclaimer: It's been years since I used a machete. Most of this advice comes from things that I've read and limited use of a khukri for clearing brush. (I usually use the khuk more as a hatchet than anything else.)
 
I use a kukri too but it's much the same . The blade is best when cutting at about 45* from the plant axis. Resiliant things like vines are best cut by holding the vine with one hand as you cut with the other .Sharp works better !
 
I would also add, while cutting at the 45 degree angle, as you chop also slash at the same time. Chop n draw the machette as you strike the branch like a slicing chop motion. Practice a bit.
 
You need to have the machete sharp enough to cleanly slice paper or cardboard. Cut at 45 degrees to the plant. Be very careful with where the blade winds up on your follow through. Mac
 
I use machete a lot,and have found that 45 angle and slicing chop is the best,but that need some practice.Hornbeam is the hardest wood in Croatia, but 2" can be easily cut with16" Tramontina in single blow.With blackberry angle is most important for it`s soft and at wrong angle it` just moved away
 
Maybe after watching Indiana Jones, Predator, and the Princess Bride, it was dark outside and you couldn't see well enough to know what you were hacking. :) Just hackin on ya.
 
Hate to say it, but it's not special effects....If you can't draw the machete across a paper edge and let the weight do the slice, it's dull. (I know that's not very sharp - for a knife) A dull edge just takes WAY too much energy to get through anything. Also, use a file, not a stone - you'll need the serrations. As mariobab said, a machete needs to slice, not chop - hence the need for a reprofiling the edge to something a little more acute. Making a few feathersticks will show you the best angle to present the edge to the branch (about 30 degrees or so) With some modding to the edge and handles, the 18" inch Tramontinas are a pretty capable bush knife (for coastal BC anyway). You'll figure out the best grip soon enough...

Guyon, as always your post cracked me up. Everyone knows elves don't have vines at their bases!

Anybody know what steel Tramontina uses ? I read that it was 1095, but the source was questionable.
 
The problem was most likely that the branches knew you were using a Cold Steel.

Could you hear the trees laughing?
 
shotgunner11 said:
The problem was most likely that the branches knew you were using a Cold Steel.

Could you hear the trees laughing?
Click to expand...

I agree. Vegetation is scornful of CS.

You might try a Tramontina. :p
 
T, if you have a belt sander, take the sander to the blade, being careful not to sit in one spot for any length of time, always moving up and down the blade, holding the sander perpindicular to the edge, sanding against the edge. Hold the sander just above flat over the edge. I sharpen all my machetes this way, and after not to long, it will be very sharp...and I guarentee....it will cut after this...I have tried the file thing...its just a machete..don't worry about the file, you already have some sweat work once its sharp. Gene
 
There is big, big, big, difference between a sharp machete and one out of the box.
It also helps if you can round the edges at the top of the bevels.
For most of the machete work, you need speed. You can often hear it whir through the air.
The slicing stroke mentioned above can increase efficiency by something like 40%. That is why the guillotine had the 45degree angle on the blade, so it would slice rather than push cut.
Your story illustrates why many don't understand why a machete can be such a nice tool.
 
Any Cal. said:
There is big, big, big, difference between a sharp machete and one out of the box. Your story illustrates why many don't understand why a machete can be such a nice tool.
Click to expand...


SPEAKING OF TOOL...I THOUGHT I HEARD MY DAUGHTER SAY THAT ABOUT ME TO MY WIFE....BUT I'M NOT SURE....:D

I'll try the sharpening thing this week and If I don't chop my hands off I'll give the results.
 
yep sharpening is probably your issue.

i just got a machete, not a cold steel, but i new machete just the same, and i found that the bevels did not even meet. i hit it with my coursest file for an hour, and finally got it to cut decently. it still needs some work though in a couple of spots. maybe a belt grinder or bench grinder would have been a better idea for getting it started.
 
T-BAG said:
What a buzz kill day !! I finally went to Home Depot and got a 16 inch chain saw and will try that next weekend. If that doesn't work I can always use it scaring kids on Halloween and wearing a hockey mask. I'd use the machete but they'ed just laugh at me. :D
Click to expand...

Make sure to practice the proper swinging technique with that chainsaw by yourself, wouldn't want anybody to laugh at you again! For overhead branches, I find it works best to hold it one handed, give it full throttle, and whirl it overhead like a lasso. The branches will fall like rain!
:D:eek::D
 
Maybe the problem is that your tool isn't long enough for the job. You should ask your wife.:D

Seriously, unsupported vines and light brush needs blade speed to do the job. You should be using a thin 24" blade for this type of work so that the end of the blade is moving fast. Also angle your cut either towards the base of the stem (if it is pretty stiff) or towards the end of the stem if it is extremely flexible.

It also helps to reprofile the blade down to a very acute angle. I would expect the bevel on your edge to be about 3/8-inch wide after regrinding.
 
Cold steels machetes have the worst factory edge I have seen. Sharpen it and you will find it will work much better.
 
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