What’s a good steel for a machete?

I think I’m going to go with aeb-l. After all the recommendations for 8670, I might have to try that too...

Either way, thanks for all the suggestions and help! I’ll try to post a picture of the machete when I finish it.:)
 
I got the steel in and I’m getting ready to cut it out and send it for ht.
What hardness should I shoot for?
I’d like to get a happy medium between toughness and edge holding. The steel that was used for the original machete was 1075 at 55rc so I need it to be at least as tough as that, probably tougher.

I hate to bug, but I have no experience with AEB-L :oops:
 
Richard Coyle said:
So I talked to my friend some more and I got some pictures of his old machete.View attachment 1426029View attachment 1426030
He lost the machete but he still has the sheath for it. He estimated that the steel would need to be 5 inches wide according to a template he made. It was going to be $130 for just the steel, so I recommended the 8670. I told him what I had found when researching it and long story short... he want a steel in between 8670 and 3v in terms of price and edge retention.

I plan on looking myself but, do you guys have any recommendations for a good in between steel?

edit: Thank you all for the replies and the help so far! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Click to expand...


Isn’t that a Baryonyx machete?

FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades
 
As far as a good steel for machetes goes, 1075/1080 is about all you need. Like, when machetes take damage it's from things like hitting rocks, which will ding up ANY blade, and at 52-55 RC they hold a plenty good edge while being tough enough you'll be hard-pressed to break them. You don't really need more than that. 1095 would just increase hardenability (no point--1075/1080 get as hard as you need) while making heat treatment more finicky, and you want the blade to be soft enough to be easily filed back to shape when that kind of damage occurs.
 
I am not a maker in any shape or form, but I do love big blades and machetes.

For my uses the steel and HT of Tramontina is perfection.

Flexible, thin, easily resharpened, and plenty tough.

For a larger, thicker chopper, I might lean another way.
 
Well I finally finished the machete and am getting to posting this. After 3 months away getting heat treated :eek:


I put black walnut handles on it, with blue g-10 liners and copper corby bolts.
99EFCB82-6A6F-4319-9032-D93D9E819624.jpeg 6045DA65-CD56-4194-A026-2FD7CFB34549.jpeg 111A5D80-8D79-4DBB-BD22-D395BA6371E4.jpeg
These really aren’t the best quality pictures, but I didn’t have time to take glamour shots before my friend picked it up.


It will cut though :). It went through 32 water bottles in one wack!
D51C4F7A-46AD-4928-93C0-05A69E55448F.jpeg
 
Justin W said:
Is that what aebl looks like straight out of heat treating? Or did you force the patina?
Click to expand...

I had the heat treater keep the foil wrap off so it would get a rough look. But I did etch it it with ferric chloride with copper in it.

Ill post a picture of it after the ht, I just need to find it.
 
I feel like I should address the issue of stealing/copying FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades design. Unfortunately it didn’t even cross my mind till I had invested in this. I don’t know how big a deal it is, but I feel like I at least broke some sort of knifemaker bro code. Am I over thinking this? Under thinking it? I want to make it right if it’s a big deal.
 
Richard Coyle said:
I feel like I should address the issue of stealing/copying FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades design. Unfortunately it didn’t even cross my mind till I had invested in this. I don’t know how big a deal it is, but I feel like I at least broke some sort of knifemaker bro code. Am I over thinking this? Under thinking it? I want to make it right if it’s a big deal.
Click to expand...

On that particular point since it was being made as a replacement for a friend during a period where we've been out of stock, it's not a big deal to me. If you were making them for sale? Yeah, that'd be an issue. However, I find it flattering that it was considered worth going through all of this effort to reproduce the design. :)
 
Kinda looks like a bill-hook with a short handle. Pretty cool.
 
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