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Finally finished modding my Nicholson/Collins machete!

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
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Just pictures/brief descriptions for now. I'll do a review when the circumstances present themselves since I'm unfortunately not in an area right now where I'm at liberty to swing a big blade.

To start with, I picked up two of these things since they were only $6.00 a piece. Here they are as they arrived.
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These were labeled on the packaging as Nicholson machetes made by Cooper Tools. Of course, as you might expect, it recommends sharpening it with a Nicholson file!
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However, you'd better make it a pretty coarse one to start! Here are a few macro shot of the "edge" :D
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Here's a shot of the spine. Hard to tell it and the "edge" apart, eh? :D
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In spite of this whoever was at the grinder still had managed to round the point pretty badly.
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To be continued...
 
In spite of the whole Nicholson/Cooper labeling, here's a shot of the blade stamp.
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A few close-ups of the handle. Notice how the scales encapsulate the tang. I found this rather interesting, given that it's not injection molded to the tang.
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After a LOT of friggin' hand sanding (I'm in a small loft-style apartment and don't have appropriate power tools) I was able to smooth and round the spine and ricasso, put a point back on it, convex the edge, and bring the whole thing to a satin-mirror finish. It took FOREVER, even starting at 60-grit, given how rough the original finish was.
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MUCH better. This is gonna' be one hell of a sweet chopper. The steel has a real nice firm flex to it, so in spite of being so long it doesn't flop around. Felt nice and hard under the file as well, so I'm guessing that edge retention will be pretty decent. :cool:
 
I was going to ask about your superhuman level of patience for doing such an outstanding job by handsanding - then I noticed the bottle of "scrips". Glad to see I'm not the only one!:D
 
ifihadaboat said:
I was going to ask about your superhuman level of patience for doing such an outstanding job by handsanding - then I noticed the bottle of "scrips". Glad to see I'm not the only one!:D
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Those are my fiancee's thyroid meds. I keep my stuff on the dining table.:p And trust me, it taxed my patience plenty. :D
 
Dang, that thing's looking SWEET! Did those things come with that nice leather sheath for $6? If so, that's gotta be one of the deals of the century. If not, $6 is still pretty amazing for a Collins!

As for the factory edge, I used to think Tramontinas and Cold Steel machetes came with horrendous edges- until my box of Imacasas came in today! The edge on your Collins looks like a razor compared to those things! I'm gonna need to invest in a grinder or at least some good files to get even a rough working edge on those. The Guarizama, with a 28" blade- is gonna take some work!
 
That's sweet, 42B, and I mean sweet! I can imagine how much work that took just judging from the amount of work it took me to mod one of mine, and convex the edge — and I didn't even try to get mine looking that good. I shudder to think of how many hours that must have taken.
 
Good Lord! I'm very impressed with your work there. Needs a new handle. If you wonder, replace the handle. You obviously have the patience for the projects. I'd have never stuck to sanding that thing out.
 
Wow, that was the edge it came with? Great job! I think I'll wait patiently and get a Condor that is sharp and ready to go! :D
 
Splendid improvement! I think Fiddleback is right though. Pull those handles off (which will allow you to finish the bottom of that blade properly) and put something you KNOW will respond properly. Really nice work!
 
Just copy the handles onto some nice wood or a 2x4 or something, pop out the brass pins, make the handles and then use screws and bolts to put it back on in case you need to replace a handle or something. I'm sure you could turn that 6$ machete into one of your favorites, it's half custom now, go all the way with it!
 
moonwilson said:
Dang, that thing's looking SWEET! Did those things come with that nice leather sheath for $6? If so, that's gotta be one of the deals of the century. If not, $6 is still pretty amazing for a Collins!

As for the factory edge, I used to think Tramontinas and Cold Steel machetes came with horrendous edges- until my box of Imacasas came in today! The edge on your Collins looks like a razor compared to those things! I'm gonna need to invest in a grinder or at least some good files to get even a rough working edge on those. The Guarizama, with a 28" blade- is gonna take some work!
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Nah, the leather sheath was cheap enough but it didn't come with machete. I would invest in a good grinder anyway, but my recommendation for sharpening a long blade from scratch like that would be to get a saw vice and then draw file the edge with a double-mill garden file. Trust me--the edge was the easy part! :p

Fiddleback said:
Good Lord! I'm very impressed with your work there. Needs a new handle. If you wonder, replace the handle. You obviously have the patience for the projects. I'd have never stuck to sanding that thing out.
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Coming from you I take that as quite a compliment! I just need the supplies and I plan on replacing the scales on my Condor Viking as well.

Ironically the supplies would cost about four times that of the machete, and with paying out for Christmas as a college student I think it'll have to wait until after the holiday season before I pick them up. It's on the agenda though! :D

11x11x said:
info on the leather sheath?
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I picked it up HERE, along with the machetes. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Ironically the supplies would cost about four times that of the machete, and with paying out for Christmas as a college student I think it'll have to wait until after the holiday season before I pick them up. It's on the agenda though! :D
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and that my friend is why I just can't bring myself to do a ton of work to Tram's and Cold Steel machetes!!!!! I gave a tram bolo to a friend to help her deal with brambles on her 1 acre property here in the Commonwealth. She asked about a sheath, and I suggested taped up cardboard. The machete was 5 bucks, any decent sheath would be 2-3 times the amount. Even Cold Steel matching sheaths often cost as much as the blade itself! My feeling is that these tools are the ideal, they don't really cost more than they are worth and you get all the utility out of them that you could possibly need.
 
Honestly, as cheesy as the handle looks it's not bad comfort-wise and it feels like it should stand up to some abuse. I'd still love to put some canvas micarta scales on it, though. ;)

Edit to add: Hey, Moon, throw up some pics of that new Imacasa! I'm compiling a wish list for this summer. :p
 
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One hell of an improvement!!! Excellent work Bro and hand done to boot...
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Edit to add: Hey, Moon, throw up some pics of that new Imacasa! I'm compiling a wish list for this summer. :p
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Which one? I got three! :D I'm digging the 14" "Pata de Cuche" the most right now. Mostly 'cuz that's the one that has an actual edge on it- after 1.5 hours with a coarse diamond file. I don't have a camera here, but this is what it looks like

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This is the image Imacasa has on their site, but it looks like an 18", rather than the 14". The 14" has a very nice profile. I think I prefer it to my 12" Tram, which I adore. I'm going to round off the back of the handle at the butt, as it is, it digs into my hand a bit when I swing through with it. I think most "latin" style machete handles are designed for dudes with smaller hands than mine.

I got these two as well- the "Guarizama" and "Colima" models, respectively.
Both came dull as hammers.
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The Guarizama has a 28" blade. So it's a beast- long, heavy and flexible. Not for use in tight spaces! The hooked guard on the end will be very useful, methinks. I can't wait to get it sharpened up and see what it can do! The Colima is very cool- it's pretty stiff for a wide 22 incher.

I also picked up a 22" Tram, which suprisingly came with a very good, workable factory edge. It looks almost identical to your Collins, except it has a weird "crocodile skin" pattern molded into the grip, which is quite comfy. I like Tramontinas. :thumbup:

This is the one that's #1 on my list next- the "Burriquito":
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