Just picked up one of these blades. The pawn shop had it for $10. After a 'reprofile' session, I set out to test it. The thing slices well after the new edge and is a decent chopper in hard wood. Blade is marked 420J2 Stainless. It cut well in medium woods and has a stout blade which may be useful in the field. For the money, this would be an excellent camp tool. So far the edge has held up amazingly well after digging a trench and doing general machete type work. I just can't believe how well this thing works for me, and at that price point! I'd like the handle better if it were a swamprat style res, but, the Blackie Collins design here is ok.
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Meyerco MC805 machete, wow!
- Thread starter Stubai
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2007
- Messages
- 3,396
Myercos don't seem to be very high quality, but they are usually very good designs.
Is your machete made in China? I notice most of his are. I have an older model Meyerco (I've never been able to find a pic or mention of this knife), & it's made in Seki, Japan.
Is your machete made in China? I notice most of his are. I have an older model Meyerco (I've never been able to find a pic or mention of this knife), & it's made in Seki, Japan.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2006
- Messages
- 1,196
I always wonderd if their machetes were any good, thanks for the review!
Mine is clearly marked 'China' and we'll see how well it holds up in the future. I will hand it off to the Boy Scout troop next week and allow them to use/abuse it. I am just wondering if anybody else here has done some extended work in the field with one...any opinions on the toughness of 420? What is the hardness of this machete?
Anything with Seki on the blade should be a top flight product.
Anything with Seki on the blade should be a top flight product.
I got one of those about a year ago on closeout. They seem to call it a "axe machete" or something like that. That seems a better description, though I'd call it a axe/bowie/machete. It's impressive in size and weight, with a 12" blade, full flat grind from 1/4" stock. Proudly stamped "420J2" and "Made In China". Very cleanly made and handsome.
Out of the package, the edge bevel was thick and obtuse. The steel is soft, and it took white a bit of grinding to get to good steel, as the factory edge was brittle and weak despite being so thick. Using the blade produced multiple small chips in the blade around 1/32" deep. Sharpening simply produced more chips. Clearly, something was bad about the steel, or at least the edge grind, to make it so weak. I ended up using a file, considering how much had to be removed to get to stable steel. These days, it has a reasonable edge, convexed and sharp. Good enough for chopping. Which is what it's probably best suited for, as it's significantly heavier than the average machete. It pack a punch on the chop stroke. However, it'd wear me out quickly on lighter brush, where I'd usually use a machete.
An interesting thing happened with this chopper. It was left outside on a stump nest to a chemically etched stainless Mora, where both got a nightly spritz of water and the usual dew treatment. The Meyerco suffered from significant rust spots all over, and spidery "veins" of rust, while the etched Mora simply got dusty. This was curious, as 420J2 is specifically touted as being particularly rust resistant, though not a terribly good blade material. I have been abusing the thing a bit, however, I'm mostly just curious to find if the blade will pop in two on a final stroke too many. 420J2 should theoretically be tough enough for a chopper, especially one so heavily constructed. However, the rust patterns, and the weak original edge would keep me from using this for anything other than academic curiosity.
Out of the package, the edge bevel was thick and obtuse. The steel is soft, and it took white a bit of grinding to get to good steel, as the factory edge was brittle and weak despite being so thick. Using the blade produced multiple small chips in the blade around 1/32" deep. Sharpening simply produced more chips. Clearly, something was bad about the steel, or at least the edge grind, to make it so weak. I ended up using a file, considering how much had to be removed to get to stable steel. These days, it has a reasonable edge, convexed and sharp. Good enough for chopping. Which is what it's probably best suited for, as it's significantly heavier than the average machete. It pack a punch on the chop stroke. However, it'd wear me out quickly on lighter brush, where I'd usually use a machete.
An interesting thing happened with this chopper. It was left outside on a stump nest to a chemically etched stainless Mora, where both got a nightly spritz of water and the usual dew treatment. The Meyerco suffered from significant rust spots all over, and spidery "veins" of rust, while the etched Mora simply got dusty. This was curious, as 420J2 is specifically touted as being particularly rust resistant, though not a terribly good blade material. I have been abusing the thing a bit, however, I'm mostly just curious to find if the blade will pop in two on a final stroke too many. 420J2 should theoretically be tough enough for a chopper, especially one so heavily constructed. However, the rust patterns, and the weak original edge would keep me from using this for anything other than academic curiosity.