What’s a good steel for a machete?

[FortyTwoBlades]

Kinda looks like a bill-hook with a short handle. Pretty cool.

The handle is actually longer than that typically found on most styles of billhooks, and the blade both longer and broader, but Hertford pattern billhooks were one of the several direct inspirations for the design.

 

[FredyCro]

I believe the confusion is regarding the lack of foil in HT.

I'd guess that this is the look he went with and the decarb on the edge was ground off?

Mill scale on some stainless steel can be left on the knife on purpose and it makes a nice black surface once the knife is hardened. Can be done with oil and no foil, if you grind the decarb off on the cutting edge off. I don't see this as a problem?

 

[Richard Coyle]

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.

Thanks man! Sometimes, I should think more .

I gotta say though, I really like the design and now I’m jealous of my friend. Wish it was mine lol

 

[Richard Coyle]

This is what it looked like straight from ht.

I wanted a rough texture on it because I wasn’t about to hand sand it or do a belt finish.

As far a decarb goes, I did my best to grind through it properly. I ground the edge till I saw sparks, and then did one pass on each side till it apexed, to try to get the edge as centered as possible.

 

[A.McPherson]

The handle is actually longer than that typically found on most styles of billhooks, and the blade both longer and broader, but Hertford pattern billhooks were one of the several direct inspirations for the design.

Ahhh, I was referring to the polearm, I didn't know that they made them in the handheld variety!

 

[J-T-K]

Ahhh, I was referring to the polearm, I didn't know that they made them in the handheld variety!

You don't want to do your hedging with a polearm!

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Ahhh, I was referring to the polearm, I didn't know that they made them in the handheld variety!

Billhooks are almost always single-handed tools. Generally two-handed ones are a class of tool known as "slashers". The polearm is simply a "bill", deriving their name from the Germanic "beil", meaning "chopper" or "cleaver".

 

[Hubert S.]

Billhooks are almost always single-handed tools. Generally two-handed ones are a class of tool known as "slashers". The polearm is simply a "bill", deriving their name from the Germanic "beil", meaning "chopper" or "cleaver".

I grew up in Germany and never would have made that etymological connection. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought bill referred to the shape of a bird's beak. Learn something new every day.