WiP! Trail Cutlass

bluemax_1 said:
What do you estimate the finished weight at?
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not sure, but it probably will be about the same as it is now. The redistribution of that weight is going to make a big difference. I'll weigh it tonight and see where things are at.
should get the handle mostly squared away tomorrow
 
I forgot to weigh it, but I can tell you this; it does weigh something!

finally, after years of procrastination, my little garage bike shop is functional. Got my tools all mounted, bench squared away etc. I'm having issues with limited power supply to my workshop, and need a proper electrician. Just so happens the electrician I found needs a bike mechanic. Gonna build his wife a new wheel and get her bike ready for the first enduro of the season. Probably get some other cash jobs through all that. It'll be nice to pad the income a little bit, since we've been running an extremely tight ship for the past few years. Be nice to have a family getaway of some kind in the fall, we could definitely use it. I owned a bike shop in this town for almost 17 years and a fair number of people still know me even though I've been laying low. I'm going to start taking on bike repair jobs, and maybe find some way to volunteer my skills for a good local charity, now that I have a place to work.

anyway, that's what I've been up to over the past couple days. But I did get around to attaching the handle to this cutlass, and if all goes to plan the sculpting will occur tomorrow which means this thing may be operational tomorrow. Much excite!
 
handle's got a rough shape to it. I wanna test it, but don't want to put an edge on it yet since I'm waiting on a component for my grinder which will be used on the blade to reduce weight a little more.
such a connundrum
 
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feeling a little more confident in the handle slab to tang interface now.
Knocking out a quick and dirty sheath so I can get it out to where it needs to be for testing.
Still waiting on a radius platen for the finishing touches.
 
the radial platen I ordered showed up today, and I immediately put it to work. There was definitely a learning curve, and things don't look great, but I was able to remove a not insignificant amount of material between the fuller and the top of the grind line.

so, it feels more balanced now and the blade has a more springy sword-like quality to it which feels pretty amazing. I also put a quick and dirty edge on this sucker and swung it into some aged cherry, and...OH MAN...:eek:

I hope that everyone watching this thread understands that what I'm making here is going to look BAD. The grinds are sloppy and quick, and the heat treatment alone is shit. Sure, most of the blade is good and hard enough, but with the handle sticking out of the oven it's dead soft. That makes it really tough to grind well, since the soft part in the ricasso area grabs the belt and throws everything around.

I'm already imagining the CPK version in luscious Delta3V🥰

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I finally got around to getting a little testing done today. Just to get a feel for it. I swung it around a week or so ago, put a couple chips in the edge from some embedded stones or whatever so all I've been doing is honing away at it to get the edge nice and dialed. Still chipped but less and it's a pretty polished bevel now instead of messy straight off the machine bevel

Some parts of this video are pretty funny, imo

 
Lorien said:
I finally got around to getting a little testing done today. Just to get a feel for it. I swung it around a week or so ago, put a couple chips in the edge from some embedded stones or whatever so all I've been doing is honing away at it to get the edge nice and dialed. Still chipped but less and it's a pretty polished bevel now instead of messy straight off the machine bevel

Some parts of this video are pretty funny, imo

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Cool dog!
 
bluemax_1 said:
Yes, for a machete, I'd definitely prefer a bit longer of a blade than ~12".

As Elliott mentioned a 15" blade for an all-purpose machete is a good start.

I've used even longer Latin machetes in the ~22" blade range, but what I've found personally, was that the longer machetes are going to be biased more for thinner/lighter blades suited best for brush and lighter foliage, with the shorter machetes able to have thicker, comparably heavier blades that allowed for more varied use.

My dad had an old British made machete. Can't recall the name of the manufacturer, but I recall seeing the "Made In Great Britain" stamp. Thicker ~16" blade that had a great combo of swing speed for brush and light saplings, but much better chopping ability than a standard 22" blade Tramontina.

Similarly, I kept my Behemother and sold my Behemoth, because while both have 12" blades, the Behemother has significantly more chopping power, while I personally felt the lighter swing weight of the Behemoth, but with a 12" blade, made it a little too short for my preferences as a wide/varied use heavy machete.

It's one of the reasons I'd asked a while back about you mentioning a longer LC. I LOVE the LC's blade profile, and would absolutely be down for a ~15-18" blade version.
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Bluemax fairly accurately nailed my sentiments/feeling with this comment. A longer lc is exactly what I've been feeling/idealing for.
 
been so busy in the shop I just haven't had the time to get out for any real testing. I'll rectify that over the next few days.

calaska said:
Lol, guess I should have read through the pages before posting my insanely tardy response.

Cutlet/cutlass looks absolutely amazing!!

Its perfect! Bravo work good sir, bravo work!

Lol, the pretty dog liked it too
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thanks bud :)
 
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