Machete discussion

Wolf_1989 said:
This guy has been sharpening knives for 15 years and he is 55 years old?

That means he started using knives at about age 40.


Either he's totally full of the brown stinky stuff or he is a late bloomer regarding knife maintenance.:rolleyes:
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That's about my profile. I'm 52 and only started getting into sharpening about 3 years ago..... Had knives as a kid/ young man did basic sharpening with small stones. Started getting interested in knives again about 10 years ago... Internet had a large part to play in that. There are sooo many possibilities and info out there:)
 
Has any one used a machete with a rubber handle like horse stall mat? My CS kurkri has rubber & I am thinking of redoing the handle on my Ontario.
 
I haven't used horse mat personally, but have heard only great things about it. I'd like to work with it but don't know where I could find some.
 
U.S.A. knifemaker supply has it. Not sure if they are a vendor here. I am going to try some rubber patio paver first as I have some.
 
KalEl uses horse stall mat on some of his machetes.
There is some photos on page one of this thread.
 
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Well My little test piece is mostly done, need to clean it up some & try it out. I took it to some Oak fire wood Feels really good Almost zero vibration. The paver was only like $3
2-4-14+061.JPG

Like I said needs some clean up & not the best photo.
 
jobasha11 said:
I haven't used horse mat personally, but have heard only great things about it. I'd like to work with it but don't know where I could find some.
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Hey,

I really like stall mat. I've yet to find a more comfortable material for a hard use blade. The only thing I don't like about it is its porous so water can get into it and it can take some time to dry out the handle after it gets wet.

I buy mine at tractor supply. I think its $40 for a huge sheet. Or if you have any friends that are farmers maybe they will have some scraps they can give you.

To work with it I use a sharp fresh 36 grit belt to rough shape followed by a 120 grit scalloped J flex belt and then finish with a 400 grit J flex. It doesn't really like to work with hand tools. This stuff LOVES CA glue/super glue so thats what I use to bond it to the tang vs. epoxy or other glues. G flex epoxy works as well but I don't think its as good or as fast as CA glue.
 
This is my newly build parang machete, hand forged from leaf spring, blade length 310 mm, 5 mm spine thickness, 155 mm european walnut handle, stainless pin and iron bolster
Photos a little blurry, but you get the idea :)







 
from my point of view, machetes outclass swords in most modern instances. sure swords are more well made and purty, and have a ton of options in combat but what happens when you need to cut wood instead of people? what bonuses does a sword have on a machete when pistols and rifles are also involved? Now mind you, if i needed to bring down a tree i'd use a wire saw because it's lighter and more efficient. I love machetes especially pangas, the cold steel one is fine but i'd like to get a custom one done one day.
 
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