How to maintain a machete

[acwire_2125]

I have recently ordered a machete and wanted to know before hand how to maintain it. I will be using it for Jungle baching and clearing of wood! The knife of mine is the Becker BK1.

 

[yam]

I have a cheap machete I have been keeping a decent edge on with a round (puck shaped) Norton crystolon coarse/fine grit axe & hatchet sharpening stone, cost me around $8.00 I think. Basically, it's like the Lanksy Puck. Seems to work nicely, fits nearly anywhere as it's only 3" diameter and 5/8" thick. If my machete edge really takes a bad hit and gets nicked up I use a double cut file on it first just to smooth it out a little before using the stone. I use mine dry which seems to work ok, though you could use water or spit if you wanted to.

 

[acwire_2125]

ok, generally, how sharp should a machete be?

 

[buckg]

You should keep the original angles on the edge. You don't want to try to turn it into a knife because the thinner the edge gets, the more easily it will break. It should have a fairly obtuse edge, but that will still allow you to get it pretty sharp. I've got a Cold Steel two-handed machete that can chop down trees just about as good as a light ax even though I keep it pretty sharp. Run your finger down the edge and it'll cut you. But it's an obtuse edge and it can't shave.

 

[clt46910]

I been using a machete for camping for a number of years. I found that a six inch mills file works best for me to keep a good cutting edge on a machete. Just make sure it is a mills file and not a bastard or crosscut file.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

ok, generally, how sharp should a machete be?

As sharp as you can make it, same as any other knife. The finishing grit depends on application and method. If you are clearing mainly light vegetation and you use a draw on the cut, you can benefit from a decently coarse edge, even a file will work well. However if you are chopping instead of slicing, and doing a lot of heavy wood work then you will benefit from raising the polish.

Most machetes can benefit from reducing the origional edge profile, it depends again on what you are doing and your skill. The softer the vegetation you are cutting and the better quality the steel and the higher your skill, the lower you can reduce the edge angle. With most machetes, unless you are using them for hard end dead woods, you could cut the origional angle nearly in half.

Generally, even in the worst conditions, the angle would benefit from a relief which means to reduce the angle down but leave say 1/16" to 1/8" of an inch of the edge at a more obtuse angle to prevent it from rolling. It takes a pretty severe wood, or a really bad steel, to want more than 15 degrees per side in that last little bit.

I normally carry a bastard file and 600/1200 DMT diafold to keep machetes sharp.

-Cliff

 

[Dog of War]

Because machetes are soft they're easy to sharpen, and like Cliff said, you don't want to take the edge down so much that it rolls.

I like sharpening machetes (hatchets and other choppers as well) with a rubber sanding block and emery cloth.... we're talking like only a $5-$7 sharpener here. The rubber block will convex the edge a bit, so it winds up more obtuse at the very edge to resist rolling, but more acute for relief behind the edge for better penetration and generally less binding. The emery also will work a damaged area pretty fast, so it makes a good field sharpener.