Machete Steel

For a carbon steel try 5160 and for a stainless steel try 440B. The best commercial kukris are made of scrap - M-B truck springs which is a 5160Modified.
 
With car springs (5160) taking the abuse they do in a couple of hundred thousand miles for a Machete it should be as good as it gets.
Ken.
 
1075 works pretty good for Imacasa & Condor.
Condor also has a pretty nice khukri machete.
 
MaestroManDan said:
What advantages are there to these steels? Disadvantages?



Why?
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5160 and similar steels are very tough and will take impact well. I'd be wary of a machete made of ATS-34. It will hold a better edge, but is not as tough as 5160. 1075 is a good steel for machetes. I have not had any trouble from my Cold Steel machetes in 1050, though I'm certain they could be harder. My Panga and Barong machetes work really well with a polished edge. My kukri machete seems softer than the other 2, so I can see your frustration.

CPM 3V is expensive because it's a pretty complicated powder/particle metal steel and AFIK is only available from one source. It is reportedly quite tough and holds an edge well. I have not used it, so my information is second hand. Heat treatment of 3V is not trivial and is best avoided if all you have is a torch and some oil or similar simple set up.
 
For the type of use you describe, edge holding is secondary to having the blade stay in one piece. Also, the ATS-34 family of steels can dull by edge fracture/chipping more easily than 5160. Resharpening after that will definately need power tools, as that family of steels is not readily filed. You could draw the hardness down to make filing feasible and chipping less likely, but why not just use a tougher steel to start with? My Cold Steel Barong machete in 1055 has worked the whole afternoon breaking down trimmed branches up to 3" in diameter. At the end of the day it would still shave hair off my arm and was back to easily shaving after a few strokes on the Sharpmaker. It was initially sharpened at ~18 degrees per side on a belt sander with a 180 grit belt followed by a leather honing belt. IMHO, wood and brambles are pretty soft, so edgeholding is secondary to toughness in a machete. It's that hidden barbed wire or rock that can break and chip the "super steels" that I'd worry about.
 
There is a whole list of them that can work. 1050 to 1095, 5160, 9260, 8670M, S5, S7, L6, CPM 3V (if edge holding is really going to be an issue, this one will take care of it, but bring a grinder and some cash). If you want stainless, 420 from Condor is a safe bet. Mete's recommendation of 440B is one I haven't heard before, but it may be worth looking into. I had a bad experience with some 440A in a machete application and personally would stay away from it. Sandvic's 12C27M and 12C27 may also be good choices, with 12C27M being the preferable IMHO. I actually wouldn't choose 1095 personally, because I'd see it the same way as the ATS-34 class. You can draw it back so it's soft enough to work, but why not just choose a softer/tougher lower carbon steel to begin with. However, 1095 is easy to get in a wider variety of shapes and sizes and is cheap. The other low alloy steels are pretty cheap too. CPM 3V is not cheap, and neither are the stainless steels, especially when compared to the 10xx steels.
 
BTW, I do have a kukri of 440B and it works very well ! I have a chopper of CPM 3V and it works very ,very well ! I don't know the steel of my larger kukri but I would assume scrap 5160. These are all working knives and I've had no problems with them.
 
MaestroManDan said:
How is its rust resistance and edge retention? Does it chip easily when it hits hard surfaces like rock and steel?
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Rust resistance is fine with a bit of care. Edge retention is good for 1095. No chips, but accidentally hitting rocks will damage the edge of any machete. I try not to chop anything resting directly on the ground for this reason.
 
MaestroManDan said:
I've got a couple friends willing to split the cost of a sheet with me. I want a custom-designed blank, not a pre-cut. I'm pretty sure I can get ahold of a laser-cutter for it. Also, how easily do those carbon-steels rust? I don't want to use a coating or have to oil it.

Just how expensive is CPM 3V? Is it similar to S30V in price?



How is its rust resistance and edge retention? Does it chip easily when it hits hard surfaces like rock and steel?
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They rust as easy as any other carbon steel, which is to say easily. There is no real need to oil it, but make sure it is dry when it's put away or it will form bright red rust. Otherwise it will darken with age, but won't form that red, powdery, scaly rust we all hate. A fine finish helps, but it's a machete. I usually grab a hand full of dirt and rub off the red rust, leaving a dark area that eventually spreads over the entire blade.

A machete size piece of 3V (14" x 4" x 0.165") costs about $60 at alpha knife supply. A piece of 1095 from Admiral Steel 72" (that's right, six feet) x 4" x 0.25" will cost about $80. It's roughly 6 times more expensive than 1095.

In short, yes the edge damages easily when hitting rocks. It may be a chip, or deep dent that will turn into a chip. Any steel will be damaged when hitting rocks. Some will shatter.
 
Point your browser to http://www.admiralsteel.com/shop/hr1075.html

Select the Hr 1075/1080 3/16 x 2" x 60" listing.

That will give you enough steel for 3, 20" OAL machetes (5" handle 18" blade).

5160 is a great steel, but 1080 is more than adequate for a machete. We're talking about a hand held lawn mower blade here, not a Busse chopper.

Stainless steels will certainly buy you a great deal of stain resistance, but their toughness is compromised by the chromium that is added to their composition to allow their rust resistance. They're far more brittle than your workhorse 10xx series carbon steels will be.

If you're dead set on having a level of corrosion resistance, then I'd suggest going with D2, but you're going to be stepping the price tag up quite a bit.

Now, I've read how you plan to sub contract the work out to create the blanks, but how do you plan to heat treat it?

Let me know if I can help,

Taylor
 
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I mentioned 3V because it's very tough and holds an edge very well. It's a bitch to sharpen though, that's kind of how it goes.

In all honesty, if I were to make a handmade machete I'd stick with a low-alloy steel like the others have said.

LifeBlade.net said:
We're talking about a hand held lawn mower blade here, not a Busse chopper.
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Right. I'm not sure it's worth the expense and effort to get too picky about machetes. My personal yard/brush-clearing/gardening tool is a Tramontina from Brasil that I paid a whopping $15 for. I convexed the edge on the belt grinder and take the nicks out with a file. It works great and I pay very little attention to it. Not to rain on your parade, but I reckon you'll have a real hard time beating that price/performance ratio.
 
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MaestroManDan said:
A laser cutter won't get it hot enough to damage internal structure, will it?

Yes, but only in a small area around the cut, called the heat affected zone. Anyone who uses a laser cutter should be able to tell you how wide this it, but I'd guess 1/8" maximum.

I intend to use this while working at Philmont on Conservation Crew. I expect 9-day stretches in the field and little downtime for proper sharpening. That's some pretty severe use. If they get wet, the carbon steels will rust, but on a blade that's being used, it won't make any difference performance wise. The only part that will stay rust free is the edge, since any rust would be worn away during use. For this type of use, I'd go with a tough carbon steel or 420 type stainless steel. Something that can be sharpened in the field with a file and stones after the initial edge wears/breaks/bends off. Any accidental impace with a hard object will damage the edge, no matter the steel. Chips or deep dents in the steels mentioned below will be very time consuming to fix, and will take longer than you'd think, even with power tools.

How can I expect vanadium carbide steels like S30V, CPM 10V, and CPM15V to stand up? Are they too brittle? I'd lean toward yes, they are too brittle. These are the kinds of steels I'd be concerned about breaking or shattering, though I don't know anyone who has tried it. Their edge retention and rust-resistance is significantly better than chromium-only and carbon steels, respectively. CPM 10V and 15V are not stainless steels AFAIK. If they were, I believe that Crucible's naming convention would put an S in the name.I cling to this stainless because I worry that 9 days in the field could cause rust due to the difficulty of caring for blades properly in those conditions.
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See replys in bold.
 
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