Good stainless for a machete?

[jimbowie7]

Used O1 before, which worked pretty well.

Anyone recommend a stainless steel for making a small machete? 440C? ATS-34? Blade length will be approx. 10" to 12".

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

For cheap,440C. A bit better would be ATS-34. Best would be S30V or S3V.

 

[mete]

www.agrussell.com makes his out of 440B which is a good choice.

 

[cmd]

Why use stainless at all for a machete?!? Toughness is so much more important in my experience and brittleness is deadly.

 

[J.Wade]

For cheap,440C. A bit better would be ATS-34. Best would be S30V or S3V.

couldn't said it better. But S30V is expensive.


cya
jimi

 

[Steve Hayden]

CPM 3 V is not stainless.

 

[durbanposion]

wouldnt the s30v be brittle in that role?

what hardness would u use s30v for such an application?

 

[S.Shepherd]

Jerry is the guy to ask about s30v and big choppers

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

shgeo - Mea Culpa,you are right.I was thinking of alloys that would work,and added one that was tough and hard,but not stainless.Thanks for the catch.

 

[Chiro75]

I have a machete made by Ross Aki in Hawaii that is 1/16" ATS-34 with a convex edge and it is incredible. When he started making these years ago everyone said he was crazy, but he sent several out for reviews, including mine, and the thing was killer (it was his Straight Back Machete which was intended for soft materials). He made heavier machetes for woodier stuff. Wish he was still making knives.

 

[dfarmerknives]

Didn't the Machete Man get sick? I think that is what his website said a few years ago.

 

[Chiro75]

I was under the belief that he suffered an injury that took him out of the game, but I'm not sure. He was just getting away from machetes and making the sickest cane knives and more regular style belt knives, too. He was a great guy. At one time I had a big collection of all his stuff from pictures I'd downloaded, but they've been lost since.

 

[dfarmerknives]

I wish he would make a comeback. I was not able to buy any pieces before he "retired". He had some nice stuff. It was ATS-34 he used. The knife magazine gave his work a very good rating.