I'm a cheap machete slut

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panoz77 said:
I have about a dozen South American machetes ... and a few craptastic chinese ones picked up along the way for about $3 each. But I got sucked in again on an assorted 5 pack... average at under $5 each.
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the PRC machetes are the people's "liberation tools".
in enough hands, it cultivates change.
machetes are a common enough agricultural tool.
US ontario and clyde machetes are heavy and thick
than an average latin american made machete.
which are thiner, lighter and flexible (if not soft).
great for hacking cane and shrubs.
agreed that having one just wouldn't do
my grail machete would be this fat belly puerto rico imacasa
41GgLjASoGL._SX463_.jpg
 
As a note, let's be careful to avoid hyperbole in regards to price. Imacasa machetes cost $5 in El Salvador but once shipped to the US you're not really going to find them for less than $12-ish unless someone has some kind of surplus/salvage deal going on. Machetes are cheap to make, but they're long pieces of steel, so getting them here kind of adds to the cost vs. domestic pricing in their country of origin, and Imacasa machetes cost more than many other Central/South American brands (and for a good reason.)
 
A few of mine taken a while ago, some more added since then ;)

L40sXpU.jpg


Martindale 49 made in England.
WW2 war department marked Whittingslowe, Adelaide, Australia.
Albainox, Spain
Another from Spain (can't remember the name!).
A bolo style I forged from Land Rover leaf spring with a hessian & resin handle.
British army "tree beater" sadly no longer made in the UK, stamped as "Martindale no2, reg in England"
 
Bought a 54” loggers saw specifically to build a machete. Any advice for me as it’s built? It’ll be used for clearing campsites of weeds and brush mainly. Best length and dimensions? Shape? Handle shape? Figure on getting 5-6 blades outta the $50 saw...
 
I'd say go with the latin shape. Go with wood handle so you can easily modify it similar to the pictures you see here (post #7, bottom machete). My 2 cents...

Seems like a lot of trouble when you could get a Marbles for $20 or something and not have to temper or make a handle.
 
dirtyphil said:
Bought a 54” loggers saw specifically to build a machete. Any advice for me as it’s built? It’ll be used for clearing campsites of weeds and brush mainly. Best length and dimensions? Shape? Handle shape? Figure on getting 5-6 blades outta the $50 saw...
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Nobody can tell you what shape/weight you will like as everyone is different, I can tell you that for general clearing the third up from the bottom in the image above is the one I use (Spanish D.Benito), it's also the thinnest & lightest out of them all.

I assume you're going to simply cut the shape out keeping it cool & leave the temper as is? Discs for cutting stainless steel are fantastic for this at just over 1mm thick, but don't let the steel get hot, same when grinding it sharp.

My advice would be to cut only one out at first & make it fairly big, make the handle & use it, trim it down a little at a time till it feels good to you, then use that as a template for the others.

I'm not puny but a big machete gets tireing quicky unless you're built like Popeye :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
As a note, let's be careful to avoid hyperbole in regards to price. Imacasa machetes cost $5 in El Salvador but once shipped to the US you're not really going to find them for less than $12-ish unless someone has some kind of surplus/salvage deal going on. Machetes are cheap to make, but they're long pieces of steel, so getting them here kind of adds to the cost vs. domestic pricing in their country of origin, and Imacasa machetes cost more than many other Central/South American brands (and for a good reason.)
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You are 100% wrong on this. I purchased 6 Imacasas for $31 shipped to my door, see my earlier post. You had choice of wood or poly handles.
 
panoz77 said:
You are 100% wrong on this. I purchased 6 Imacasas for $31 shipped to my door, see my earlier post. You had choice of wood or poly handles.
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I'm glad you're so confident, but I checked both of the websites you not-so-stealthily alluded to and could only find Gavilan machetes. Gavilan and Imacasa are not the same company, and so if you did buy actual Imacasa machetes (note--Gavilan/Incolma/Invermec is the current holder of the Corneta brand, not Imacasa) they were likely surplus, salvage, or closeout, as I mentioned.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I'm glad you're so confident, but I checked both of the websites you not-so-stealthily alluded to and could only find Gavilan machetes. Gavilan and Imacasa are not the same company, and so if you did buy actual Imacasa machetes (note--Gavilan/Incolma/Invermec is the current holder of the Corneta brand, not Imacasa) they were likely surplus, salvage, or closeout, as I mentioned.
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Sir, please. I know exactly what I bought, please refer to the picture below. Do you see the yellow and red sticker? That comes on all "IMACASA" machetes. I bought these about a year ago, so yes, they are no longer listed on my "Buddies" website. They were all on BOGO, meaning buy one get one. The 12" were two for $7.99 (i.e. $4 each), the 18" were two for $9.99 and the 22" were two for $12.99. Total was $30.97 shipped to my door and arrived in 4 days. In fact, after I ordered I saw that I overpaid for the 12" machetes on the BOGO because they had them listed individually for $2.99 each. I overpaid for my order by $2, the shame!!!!!! Dooohhh!!!!


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In fact, this picture shows the "out of stock" now. Here is a screenshot for you, and they are no longer available, so don't cry about "deal spotting". I also did pick up a "GAVILAN" sugar cane knife from this same place for $9.99 to my door.

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You seem to be taking an extremely hostile tone without just cause, but maybe that's just the vagary of internet communication rearing its head.

So yes, basically they got a stock of a limited number of models at some sort of incredible cut rate, probably due to finding a surplus, or salvage source of them, and then blew them out super cheap. That's not typical pricing for them in the USA, and selling them that inexpensively would be taking a loss compared to what they actually cost wholesale direct from Imacasa. I have a longstanding business relationship with Condor/Imacasa so it's not like I'm totally clueless about what I'm talking about here. :)
 
panoz77 said:
Rule #8 Deal Spotting

"A dealer who does not have a paid subscription is not allowed to advertise in any way, shape, or form. In the past, dealers have used 'shill' accounts to promote themselves & their products; as a result we've limited all dealer advertising to The Exchange or registered Dealers with active paid subscriptions."

I am not a dealer in any way, shape or form, and I did not put in any links, thanks for your concern. If a mod chooses to decide otherwise, that's up to them I guess, it is their website. But I can't see how I've broken any deal spotting rule.
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.m
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
You seem to be taking an extremely hostile tone without just cause, but maybe that's just the vagary of internet communication rearing its head.

So yes, basically they got a stock of a limited number of models at some sort of incredible cut rate, probably due to finding a surplus, or salvage source of them, and then blew them out super cheap. That's not typical pricing for them in the USA, and selling them that inexpensively would be taking a loss compared to what they actually cost wholesale direct from Imacasa. I have a longstanding business relationship with Condor/Imacasa so it's not like I'm totally clueless about what I'm talking about here. :)
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Well I tend to get a bit hostile when I get called a liar, when someone tells me I bought a "Gavilan" and not an Imacasa. Is not all inventory limited? Or do businesses have unlimited inventory forever? They sold these for at least a couple months, I passed the deal on other websites where posting "deals and steals" is encouraged and not a infraction. So OBVIOUSLY this was a "limited time" offer as long as they had inventory. They are not rusty bottom of the barrel stock, they were brand new and in grade A condition and had wood and poly versions of all sizes. They did not come with sheaths, so that is part of the reason they were so cheap. I'm still trying to find where I said this was and everyday forever price?????

The SG deals are still active, one is $18 for 5 assorted and they have a larger assorted set of 5 for $25 with free shipping (FYI, free shipping is also a "limited time offer" :rolleyes: ). These are Columbian machetes and not El Salvador. Looks to be mostly Gavilan and Mitco which from my personal use are easily on par with the Imacasas.
 
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Nice that you found a bargain on some bladed implements that you enjoy using and collecting. I always enjoy finding bargains on useful cutting tools. I am not into machetes myself but I can see the attraction.
 
panoz77 said:
Well I tend to get a bit hostile when I get called a liar, when someone tells me I bought a "Gavilan" and not an Imacasa. Is not all inventory limited? Or do businesses have unlimited inventory forever? They sold these for at least a couple months, I passed the deal on other websites where posting "deals and steals" is encouraged and not a infraction. So OBVIOUSLY this was a "limited time" offer as long as they had inventory. They are not rusty bottom of the barrel stock, they were brand new and in grade A condition and had wood and poly versions of all sizes. They did not come with sheaths, so that is part of the reason they were so cheap. I'm still trying to find where I said this was and everyday forever price?????

The SG deals are still active, one is $18 for 5 assorted and they have a larger assorted set of 5 for $25 with free shipping (FYI, free shipping is also a "limited time offer" :rolleyes: ). These are Columbian machetes and not El Salvador. Looks to be mostly Gavilan and Mitco which from my personal use are easily on par with the Imacasas.
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Where in the world did I call you a liar? Take a deep breath, dude. You're among friends. :D :D :D

All I was saying was that it's important to note that a typical price for Imacasa machetes is closer to $12 for a single one, and that finding them cheaper than that is typically going to be very short-lived because the seller is either dumping them at a loss or bought them from someone dumping them at a loss.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I'm glad you're so confident, but I checked both of the websites you not-so-stealthily alluded to and could only find Gavilan machetes. Gavilan and Imacasa are not the same company, and so if you did buy actual Imacasa machetes (note--Gavilan/Incolma/Invermec is the current holder of the Corneta brand, not Imacasa) they were likely surplus, salvage, or closeout, as I mentioned.
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Since it is obvious you didn't read the whole thread, right here you implied I bought a Gavilan because that's all you saw on the websites I "not-so-steathily" alluded to. By the way, I wasn't trying to be "stealthy".
 
Seriously, man, take it easy. Re-read what I wrote there. I said that those deals couldn't be found currently, and so if you did buy Imacasas then they were a limited thing rather than being a commonly-found price. You're getting your feathers ruffled for nothing.

My reference to Corneta is because Imacasa used to produce under the Corneta branding a long time ago, but Gavilan is the current holder of the mark, so if one knew that Imacasa used to make Corneta and they bought a bunch of Corneta machetes they could possibly think that they had Imacasas rather than Gavilans.

The "not-so-stealthily alluded to" remark was because it was obvious which sites you were talking about even though trying to skirt around the issue of deal-spotting rules, which you have repeatedly referenced.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Seriously, man, take it easy. Re-read what I wrote there. I said that those deals couldn't be found currently, and so if you did buy Imacasas then they were a limited thing rather than being a commonly-found price. You're getting your feathers ruffled for nothing.

My reference to Corneta is because Imacasa used to produce under the Corneta branding a long time ago, but Gavilan is the current holder of the mark, so if one knew that Imacasa used to make Corneta and they bought a bunch of Corneta machetes they could possibly think that they had Imacasas rather than Gavilans.

The "not-so-stealthily alluded to" remark was because it was obvious which sites you were talking about even though trying to skirt around the issue of deal-spotting rules, which you have repeatedly referenced.
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I'm not "skirting" the rules, I am adhering to the rules. I was told "no links" but that "word descriptions" were allowed. Are you just butthurt at the prices because you sell overpriced machetes?
 
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Yes, that's literally the definition of "skirting the rules." It means to try to avoid the rules without breaking them. The use of abbreviations or plays on the name would fall under that. Again, you're being a bit over-sensitive here. I'm out.
 
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