Machete Plans

S

SteveGallo

Joined
Apr 29, 2014
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45
Hey guys,

After getting my feet wet with a few smaller kitchen knives, I'd like to attempt a machete. It'll be a Christmas present for my bro in law.

I was thinking a 15" Latin or Grolok. He would primarily use this machete as a camping tool with maybe some light clearing/chopping, so we don't need a jungle clearing monster. I'm thinking of trying 15n20@.130x2"" from Aldo.

Questions I have: Is the stock thick enough/length long enough for that application? Is 15n20 a solid choice? Should I consider another pattern? Also, what's a good hardness for a machete?

Thanks!
 
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My 2 cents... I have half a dozen machetes and I think the thickest is .09". Your regular $10 Latin machete is thinner than that, light, has a distal taper, and is fairly soft. You swing them with one hand and a lot of wrist action. How long do you want to swing something twice as thick?

Interested to see what you come up with... Oh check out parangs, it's an interesting machete pattern.
 
Tram and Martindales use 1075 and it is proven.
You could try AEBL or ATS-34 but stainless for such length can be a killer in price.
Looks like your choice is close to 80CRV2.

Most parangs are made out of spring steels.
 
JayGoliath said:
Tram and Martindales use 1075 and it is proven.
You could try AEBL or ATS-34 but stainless for such length can be a killer in price.
Looks like your choice is close to 80CRV2.

Most parangs are made out of spring steels.
Click to expand...

Stainless is a no go. I've read that 15n20 behaves similarly to 1075, so that should be a good fit. I'm looking for that extra bit of toughness and resistance to corrosion that I think the nickel gives.

Parang might be cool...I'd like to choose the pattern that fits the job the best, but I'm not sure what makes the best camp tool/all arounder.
 
SteveGallo said:
but I'm not sure what makes the best camp tool/all arounder.
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This gets rehashed every few weeks in the general discussion subforum. IMHO machetes are great for whacking at brush and green wood of small diameter but not chopping firewood or cutting thick branches to build shelters. I have zero bushcraft experience but I've put a lot of time in behind machetes. Good technique (striking thicker/tougher stuff at an angle) helps a little but you want some sort of chopper, not a machete.

I often hear khukris mentioned for chopping. They're thicker, shorter, and have an interesting design.
 
Best is to check him out and see what he prefers.

I find this profile pretty versatile but there's no tool to do everything equally well:
attachment.php
 
zhyla said:
Good technique (striking thicker/tougher stuff at an angle) helps a little but you want some sort of chopper, not a machete.

I often hear khukris mentioned for chopping. They're thicker, shorter, and have an interesting design.
Click to expand...

I prefers machetes over khukuris if i'm going for light brushes and occasionally taking down small branches. My Tram took out 8" diameter bamboos in 3 chops.
Just that with khuks, you want to concentrate on that small sweet spot and with machete, even when you are sweating buckets and just want to get yourself out of the bush, a longer sweetspot will cover for your fatigue as well as more room for mistakes.
My rotations very much depended on where are we going to and the intention.
For Nepalese they are prone to Khuks and for Malay-Archipelago here, we prefer parang/Bolo/Sundang/Golok as those tools were created out of this environment for its very purpose.
 
15N20 is definitely a tough steel. I could see it being a good machete steel. Shoot for low 50's for a machete.
 
Yes, I also think that 15n20 would make a great machete steel. I hear often about the nickel and corrosion resistance. I don't think it offers much, if any, corrosion resistance. The nickel makes the steel "brighter" or more "shiny" if you will, but it's resistance to corrosion is minimal. 15n20 takes a great patina, maybe not as fast as O1 tho. It does make the steel tough, tho!
 
ATS-34 makes a good machete. Just have to heat treat it right. I like .063 to .125 thick with .063 preferred. S35VN makes a good machete but I have yet to find .063 stock. Standard machete patterns are great as is the parang. I find that 2” can be a bit wide, 1 ¾ works nicely for smaller traditional patterns.

2” works with a tapered profile leading to the handle, a friend gave me a machete with such a taper on 2.75” blade and it is nice. It's also much thinner than .063 keeping the overall weight light and fast to swing.

Ross

My machete website
http://akiblades.com
 
samuraistuart said:
Yes, I also think that 15n20 would make a great machete steel. I hear often about the nickel and corrosion resistance. I don't think it offers much, if any, corrosion resistance. The nickel makes the steel "brighter" or more "shiny" if you will, but it's resistance to corrosion is minimal. 15n20 takes a great patina, maybe not as fast as O1 tho. It does make the steel tough, tho!
Click to expand...

In my shop, I have noticed that 15N20 is slightly more resistant to acids than 1084. It takes longer for acids to leave a patina on the blades. I'm not sure about the effects of water and salt though.
 
R.Aki said:
ATS-34 makes a good machete. Just have to heat treat it right. I like .063 to .125 thick with .063 preferred. S35VN makes a good machete but I have yet to find .063 stock. Standard machete patterns are great as is the parang. I find that 2” can be a bit wide, 1 ¾ works nicely for smaller traditional patterns.

2” works with a tapered profile leading to the handle, a friend gave me a machete with such a taper on 2.75” blade and it is nice. It's also much thinner than .063 keeping the overall weight light and fast to swing.

Ross

My machete website
http://akiblades.com
Click to expand...



Aldo carries CPM-S35VN in .065". I buy it by the sheet for kitchen knives. It is a great steel. Should make a good machete.
 
R.Aki said:
ATS-34 makes a good machete. Just have to heat treat it right. I like .063 to .125 thick with .063 preferred. S35VN makes a good machete but I have yet to find .063 stock. Standard machete patterns are great as is the parang. I find that 2” can be a bit wide, 1 ¾ works nicely for smaller traditional patterns.

2” works with a tapered profile leading to the handle, a friend gave me a machete with such a taper on 2.75” blade and it is nice. It's also much thinner than .063 keeping the overall weight light and fast to swing.

Ross

My machete website
http://akiblades.com
Click to expand...

8364771_orig.jpg


These machetes off your site are very close to what I had in mind. I'll keep the dimension advice in mind, thanks.
 
15N20 is a great steel, but .130" is too thick for a machete IMO.
 
A .065 15N20 machete would be quite a brush and vine cutter. I think most machete I have used were close to that thin.

Shape the profile and drill the holes...HT...add the edge...cord wrap the handle...done.
 
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