Insanely Sharp Coconut Machete

rang3 said:
Any idea of typical sharpening methods, edge angles, etc. in those places?

Like Panotaker said, old stone grinder and file. I believe the edges were thinner and in the countryside, everyone carried and took care of their machete. It was a livelihood tool particularly during the zafra or sugar cane season. I left Cuba went i was 13 yrs. old and that is quite some time ago. I did have my own child size machete a gift of my grandfather. I also remember a few planazos or discipline imparted with the flat side of the blade
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Technique plays huge part in doing this, and people mostly use a file to sharpen up these machetes.Theyre sharp enough, plus the technique , these people use machetes for almost anything every day, not for opening letters and cutting paper but for real life tasks.
 
rang3 said:
Trinidad
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Thank you. I am reminded of a song I heard (Sidney Poitier?) when I was much younger

In Trinidad, one dollar buy papaya fruit, banana pie
Six coconut, a female goat and plenty fish to fill the boat
In America, one dollar buy a cup of coffee, ham on rye :D

I have never been to Trinidad, but it seems like a decent place :cool:
 
bgentry said:
I don't know much about coconuts, but I noticed that all of these were green. That means they are young (immature) coconuts, as compared to the fully ripe brown ones. So they are softer, which makes them easier to cut.

Brian.
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^^^ This, and technique. Most of these blades are made by local bladesmiths, with little to no knowledge of modern knifemaking techniques (think RC hardness). These are small shops with air-blown coal furnace, and whatever iron/steel plates one can get hold of. Heat, and hammer the heck out of it, and fold it into a blade. Done. A variant, with a curved blade, is used in India - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edtMb_OI0LY
 
LOL I thought I was the only knife crazy guy watching all of the coconut chopping videos. I got about 30 last year from my neighbor and went to town chopping. Machetes, Goloks, bolos etc.

The trees are bursting with green coconuts in South Florida right now!!!!
 
Just 'some' of the machetes being sold at the street market a few blocks from my house.
Usually on the weekends, the vendors set up their full selection... dozens of other sizes and styles. Most of these are made from old car and truck leaf springs, and sell for between $3-$5 USD

avYPMM.jpg



Stitchawl
 
Haha, nice pic.

Alright, I'm gonna try file-sharpening my cleaver and machete according to the advice in this thread: with a very low angle. Any suggestions on the process and how to maintain a consistent angle without any clamp-type equipment are welcome.
 
...Ironically, I just bought a "white" coconut, which i've always just seen the regular brown ones. -?
Happened to run across this thread, so here's a pic., with an Old Hickory...B.T.B.

...Those guys are some crazy machete wielders, for sure !
 
I have enjoyed seeing the green coconut vendors. It reminds me of being able to purchase fresh drinking coconuts from village stores for little money. Of course, we Westerners introduce sugary carbonated soft drinks and advertise them as being civilized, sophisticated and superior. We also now try to be trendy and organic by importing canned coconut water at a dollar per container. I have not seen it yet, but I understand that dehydrated coconut water powder is available now. The benefits of modern society:confused::D
 
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Faiaoga said:
Thank you. I am reminded of a song I heard (Sidney Poitier?) when I was much younger

In Trinidad, one dollar buy papaya fruit, banana pie
Six coconut, a female goat and plenty fish to fill the boat
In America, one dollar buy a cup of coffee, ham on rye :D

I have never been to Trinidad, but it seems like a decent place :cool:
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I am trying to remember the name of the song and the singer: Harry Belafonte? Sidney Poitier? I remember tune and lyrics but easily forget other things. :confused:
 
Apparently it's Nat King Cole.

[video=youtube;rf5ivCfZ_cw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf5ivCfZ_cw[/video]

Brian.
 
Billy The Blade said:
...Ironically, I just bought a "white" coconut, which i've always just seen the regular brown ones. -?
Happened to run across this thread, so here's a pic., with an Old Hickory...B.T.B.

...Those guys are some crazy machete wielders, for sure !
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When the shell is that hard, you'd be better off using the spine of the machete to break it open. The shells in the video are more leathery and tough rather than hard.
 
I guess it's pretty common for street vendors of "young thai" or "baby thai" coconuts to make a show of cutting them for customers. So I'd say it's an acquired skill.
 
This way of eating "buko" or green coconut used to be very common here. I wonder if any other countries do it this way.

[video=youtube;x401GnGoIwo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x401GnGoIwo[/video]
 
Faiaoga said:
Right on. I'd like to know where the video was made. The young man does a very nice job showing how a piece of the green coconut husk can be used to scrape out the soft, jelly-like material from the inside of the drinking nut. In Samoa,, this soft material is used as baby food. :)
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Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.

A machete is called a cutlass in the West Indies.
 
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