Updated Again: Tops .230 Machete review. Now VERY pic heavy

For those not in the know, the terminal bevel on Ontarios from the factory isn't a secondary bevel--it's a tertiary one. There's the full flat grind, then a slight hollow, then the edge. I like thinning the edge so much that it eliminates the hollow. :D
 
42, i have seriously considered sharpening the edge on the .230 until the flat grind meets the edge bevel. The secondary bevel on there kinda bugs me, although it doesn't seem to have the slightest impact on cutting ability
 
Eliminate the factory terminal bevel by thinning it until it meets the secondary and you have a chopping machine that carves like a Mora. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Eliminate the factory terminal bevel by thinning it until it meets the secondary and you have a chopping machine that carves like a Mora. :D
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it already slices receipts like they're not there and shaves beautifully.

I put a piece of typing paper in a paper stand (one of those little metal ones with the circle you put the paper in) and you can slash through it cleanly with a full speed swing.

i don't know that i have the tools to eliminate the terminal bevel neatly. My work sharp isn't quite long enough to give me a convex that shallow... I guess i could to it on my large belt sander, but it doesn't have a slack belt, so it wouldn't be convex, and i LOVES me some convex

anyone know if it's possible to get rid of the backing on this belt?

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that's the only real belt grinder that i have (2/3 hp 4x36) and there's no way that i know of to use it without that big piece of metal behind the belt (platen?)
 
Just use a really really light touch and you should be good. But I highly recommend the Kalamazoo 1x42. Wish I had bought that thing years ago!
 
I DID IT!!! wooooo

i reprofiled it again... i didn't completely polish the secondary bevel, but i moved the zero convex up until it transitions smoothly between what was previously the secondary bevel and the edge. There's no hump anymore.

This thing is INCREDIBLY easy to sharpen. Once i got the edge set, it took just minutes to bring it back to insanely sharp.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Eliminate the factory terminal bevel by thinning it until it meets the secondary and you have a chopping machine that carves like a Mora. :D
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I want to let you know that i do not, in ANY way, appreciate you saying this... it got in my head, and bugged the hell out of me. I tried just improving the convex, but that wasn't good enough... i just spent the last 3 hours doing this

Without further ado, i present you with the Tops .230 Mora Edition
2nrzthy.jpg
 
I glad you like it... cause it was a HUGE PITA....

I will admit that the slicing ability is dramatically better. I cut up a ham with it last night, and it slices just as well as my kitchen knives.

I dinged the finish a few times, and there are still very small spots on the edge that i couldn't COMPLETELY remove the finish from (that stupid thing was HOLLOW GROUND!!!) but it's very very close to perfect.

I'm going out to our ranch this weekend, so i'll give it a run around the place. I'm seriously hoping that thinning the edge out doesn't affect the edge retention too much.
 
Now you got me waiting oh how this works out... Since I'll be doing it all by hand with files and stones...
 
i can't say how retention will be long term, but on my lunch break, i chopped down a half dozen smallish (2-4") trees with it, and it's still shaving sharp.

no sign of ANY dulling.

it also bites MUCH deeper than it did with the factory edge. Single swings on the smaller trees. 3 on the biggest one.
 
BePrepared said:
I glad you like it... cause it was a HUGE PITA....

I will admit that the slicing ability is dramatically better. I cut up a ham with it last night, and it slices just as well as my kitchen knives.

I dinged the finish a few times, and there are still very small spots on the edge that i couldn't COMPLETELY remove the finish from (that stupid thing was HOLLOW GROUND!!!) but it's very very close to perfect.

I'm going out to our ranch this weekend, so i'll give it a run around the place. I'm seriously hoping that thinning the edge out doesn't affect the edge retention too much.
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Told ya' the secondary grind was hollow! More proof it's an Ontario. :D Thinning the bevel shouldn't hurt the edge retention at all. The worst it really does is make the edge a little less forgiving if you hit something you shouldn't.
 
the handle is a bit thin on it but it is awsome blade and good value. this an esee lite and a old collins are my only machetes right now unless u consider the tops pe 12, junglas, and armgeddon machetes. i like the thickness as well i ve a fair amount of batoning with it somthing i wont do wit my 50 year old 22" collins
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I gave myself a nasty cut with my hair-popping Condor Bush Knife once. It looks like I have a scar on my finger from it, but it's an illusion caused by my fingerprints not lining up straight anymore--they're staggered, but scar free. :D
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If you don't get a scar, then what's the point of cutting yourself?


BePrepared said:
and your wife will look at you like you are totally insane
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If she's not already then you're not doing it right. She should always be saying that you're crazy, a child, or an idiot. :D
 
bigghoss said:
If she's not already then you're not doing it right. She should always be saying that you're crazy, a child, or an idiot. :D
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I'm workin on it. She isn't quite there yet. She still thinks i'm just a bit eccentric.

I wonder how she'll feel when i tell her that one of the bedrooms in the house we're buying is going to be my Knifatorium
 
BePrepared said:
I'm workin on it. She isn't quite there yet. She still thinks i'm just a bit eccentric.

I wonder how she'll feel when i tell her that one of the bedrooms in the house we're buying is going to be my Knifatorium
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$5 bucks says she laughs and turns it into a guest room just chock-full of frilly, useless pillows. :D
 
bigghoss said:
$5 bucks says she laughs and turns it into a guest room just chock-full of frilly, useless pillows. :D
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If she does that, i'll be forced to sneak in there and hang all my trophy skulls on the walls while the in-laws sleep next time they visit.

maybe hang one of the boars heads over the bed... that would be fun to wake up to ;)
 
jdk1 said:
Very nice review BP. I'm strangely drawn to this machete.
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BUY ONE!! i promise you won't be disappointed. It's expensive as all getout, but then, it's the kind of thing that you only need one of. I doubt you'll find a better machete in any price range.
 
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