Lightest machetes in the world!

[Mecha]

One of the Siberian Slasher ultralight machetes from a numbered batch has a permanent slight bow in the blade, the result of a heat treatment bugaboo. This means I get to beat up on the machete!

As far as I know, these are the lightest machetes in the world, at an average of about 9 ounces and 24" oal.

Does anyone know of a lighter machete that's comparable in size? FortyTwoBlades would know, I bet. Wouldn't surprise me if there's some sort of paper-thin machete from Siam or somewhere that weighs like 6 oz.

Despite a so-so heat treatment, the machete fared well on light and medium targets. The blade edge took no real damage at all, and was used much more extensively than shown in the video. For heavy cutting, it could use a little but more width and weight.

 

[MolokaiRider]

Blade looks sick and fun to swing.

Light weight is such a key part to a great usable machete. Having to swing a heavy chuck of steel while clearing softer mediums is a lesson in endurance.

I noticed you can bend your blades quite a bit. Does the flex lower impact shock at all?

Your work is pretty cool man!

 

[Mecha]

Blade looks sick and fun to swing.

Light weight is such a key part to a great usable machete. Having to swing a heavy chuck of steel while clearing softer mediums is a lesson in endurance.

I noticed you can bend your blades quite a bit. Does the flex lower impact shock at all?

Your work is pretty cool man!

Thankee! Yes the blades are stiff but they will flex way over and return true. They absorb shock very well. Titanium alloys in general absorb shock naturally, and also a distal thickness taper helps absorb shock also. This one is so thin that is flexes over more easily than usual. It starts at slightly less than 1/8" thick at the handle, and tapers down from there. The grind is a thin convex.

 

[dirc]

That looks very usable, do you think you can redo the HT and get it true? Which batch of Ti is this btw? the armor grade 38 stuff or that crazy Nb variant?

Oh, fwiw, a tramontina 18" is only 1.1 pounds... http://www.baryonyxknife.com/bumagr.html
Overall Length: 23"
Blade Length: 18"
Steel: 1070 High Carbon
Thickness: 2.2mm

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Something like a "guarizama" or "sable" pattern are quite light. I have a 24"-bladed nickel-plated Imacasa guarizama that weighs 15.6oz with an overall length of about 29.5".

 

[22-rimfire]

I think making a machete with Ti is a pure waste of a valuable resource.

 

[Shotgun]

I think making a machete with Ti is a pure waste of a valuable resource.

Meh. Just think about all that high end steel sitting on collectors shelves or in the pockets of desk jockeys who really just want jewelry. If you think about how much waste there is in the world you’ll go nuts.

I’d like to see these a little shorter and maybe a little thicker. Something more packable and can pry out some fatwood.

 

[Mecha]

That looks very usable, do you think you can redo the HT and get it true? Which batch of Ti is this btw? the armor grade 38 stuff or that crazy Nb variant?

Oh, fwiw, a tramontina 18" is only 1.1 pounds... http://www.baryonyxknife.com/bumagr.html
Overall Length: 23"
Blade Length: 18"
Steel: 1070 High Carbon
Thickness: 2.2mm

1.1 lbs with a similar 18" blade...sounds about right, roughly 40% increased weight. More tip-heavy, thinner. The blade itself on this ti machete is about 8.5 ounces, and the handle is the rest.

Something like a "guarizama" or "sable" pattern are quite light. I have a 24"-bladed nickel-plated Imacasa guarizama that weighs 15.6oz with an overall length of about 29.5".

He be the one with the nickle plate... If that guarizama was shrunk down to 24" it would be pretty close in weight to this titanium one! The next few of these ti machetes are intended to be either shorter and more stout, or longer and heavier. So we'll see what a 29.5" version ends up weighing. It may have to be ground extra thin just to ensure they retain the title of "lightest machetes in the world."

 

[Mecha]

Meh. Just think about all that high end steel sitting on collectors shelves or in the pockets of desk jockeys who really just want jewelry. If you think about how much waste there is in the world you’ll go nuts.

I’d like to see these a little shorter and maybe a little thicker. Something more packable and can pry out some fatwood.

There was this one, a special request. It was about 18" in total length, and also 10.5 oz. I'd like to make a few more like this, and also some bigger, heavier ones.

 

[Mecha]

I think making a machete with Ti is a pure waste of a valuable resource.

Why? Do you think a titanium camping spork or coffee mug is a waste of resources?

 

[McFeeli]

That looks like a fun blade to use. By the time I’m finished with my .15ish machete my right arm is yelling for mercy. Yours looks like it could be swung all day without so much as a hand cramp.

 

[22-rimfire]

Why? Do you think a titanium camping spork or coffee mug is a waste of resources?

Pretty much..... There is not an unlimited supply of Ti ores. They are very scarce in the US. Very. I realize that Russia and China are the dominant suppliers these days. I read that demand is exceeding supply.

 

[dirc]

Pretty much..... There is not an unlimited supply of Ti ores. They are very scarce in the US. Very. I realize that Russia is the dominant supplier these days.

Actually Titanium is very abundant - it's literally everywhere.
The Russians are the dominant supplier only because they've bothered to develop the tech and infrastructure to make it.

from the wiki page "The element occurs within a number of mineral deposits, principally rutile and ilmenite, which are widely distributed in the Earth's crust and lithosphere, and it is found in almost all living things, water bodies, rocks, and soils." "Titanium is the ninth-most abundant element in Earth's crust (0.63% by mass)[21] and the seventh-most abundant metal."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium

 

[Mecha]

Pretty much..... There is not an unlimited supply of Ti ores. They are very scarce in the US. Very. I realize that Russia and China are the dominant suppliers these days. I read that demand is exceeding supply.

Russia is the main supplier for quality ingots that are used to make aerospace-type alloys. As Dirc says, they built up the infrastructure and expertise to isolate and refine it. It does seem like the demand is going up for ti alloys, but there is more being made all the time.

In the U.S., a lot of research has been put into finding a low-energy chemical process for isolating titanium from oxygen, which is how it's found in ore. They haven't had much success yet despite the fanfare.

These machetes are made from just a few leftover thin plates that were made in Russia the '80s or early '90s. I don't think it's wasteful to save it from sitting in a warehouse purgatory and using it to make a handful of unique bladed tools that will last virtually forever.

What's wasteful to me is that pretty much all of the scrap aerospace titanium alloy from the U.S. is now sent to China in bulk to be re-smelted into lower quality alloys. It's sold to them for a pittance compared to what it costs to make. It used to be available to the public here from Boeing, and others too I believe.

Just think of all the swords that could be forged from it! I'm lucky to have the stuff I have, the best of which are just the limited quantities of this Russian armor plate, and the Ti Nb bar stock from Boeing. So far nothing else I've tried has compared to these two. Next up I'll try some scrap from the human implant titanium industry.

 

[WValtakis]

So far nothing else I've tried has compared to these two.

That's not entirely true, but you have even less of my alloy (and it's even harder to get)

 

[22-rimfire]

If titanium ores were abundant there would be significant production inside the US. Rutile is the dominant ore (97% titanium). Ti is said to be the 6th most common element, but it has to be concentrated to make it viable for mining, usually surface mining. The commonality of Ti as an element exaggerates its practical economic availability. I have read that China is buying up Titanium reserves. My beliefs won't change anything... use away!

 

[Mecha]

That's not entirely true, but you have even less of my alloy (and it's even harder to get)

Never doing that again.

 

[WValtakis]

Never doing that again.

Still sitting in the corner getting the occasional insult hurled at it along with a dirty look, eh?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

He be the one with the nickle plate... If that guarizama was shrunk down to 24" it would be pretty close in weight to this titanium one! The next few of these ti machetes are intended to be either shorter and more stout, or longer and heavier. So we'll see what a 29.5" version ends up weighing. It may have to be ground extra thin just to ensure they retain the title of "lightest machetes in the world."

Yeah the guarizama and sable patterns are basically lush vegetation cutters. Typically fairly long, and they're very thin and flexible, but with enough distal taper to keep them from being floppy. They really don't work too great on woody targets, though. Anything much thicker than thumb thickness and they jar the hand and/or barely bite.

 

[Mecha]

Yeah the guarizama and sable patterns are basically lush vegetation cutters. Typically fairly long, and they're very thin and flexible, but with enough distal taper to keep them from being floppy. They really don't work too great on woody targets, though. Anything much thicker than thumb thickness and they jar the hand and/or barely bite.

That's probably the main difference one would see, is that at the same weight or a little lighter the ti version would be a bit more rigid with more thickness and dimension.

Still sitting in the corner getting the occasional insult hurled at it along with a dirty look, eh?

It's in a box somewhere...