Sharpening a Machete

[tedmagnum]

Morning all. As the snow falls outside iv just taken receipt of my first machete. £10 got me a low quality but full tanged high carbon blade (from Brazil)

Well, it was delivered with practically no edge. Just a poor factory attempt leaving a good 1mm as an edge

Well.. its far too big and unmanageable for my waterstones and bench grinder so im left with a metal hand files !!

A few websites have said just to put the blade in a vice and go hammer and tongs with a coarse file and work my way down with coarseness.

A good method ?? Advice appreciated here.

Thanks, ed

 

[Big Bad Stu]

I've got the same job to do with an army suplus machete, I thought I would give my axe stone a go.

The blade on the British Army machete is not too long for this, even my waterstones may be viable.

Stewey.

 

[British Red]

Ted,

Are you trying to convex it (as a lot of experts suggest for impact cutting tools) or put a good sharp secondary bevel on?

Red

 

[Shinken]

Filling is probably the best option!

Unless you have an extra coarse diamond stone (will cost 8 times more than the machete)

 

[tedmagnum]

Ted,

Are you trying to convex it (as a lot of experts suggest for impact cutting tools) or put a good sharp secondary bevel on?

Red

If i knew what a convex edge was ????

At the moment,iv tried putting on a second bevel. Its cutting "ok" but gets blunt QUICK ! I think the bevel is far to small..

What kind of bevel and edge is best for a machete ?

 

[Simon E]

Sounds like you need to find someone with an Edge Pro to put a good edge on it (Sorry I have one but I live way too far from the UK to help out) then you need to convex it on a mouse pad setup to give it some durability. (check out the tree rats thread on 5 pound sharpening)

You want about 25 degrees for a machette, maybe 20 if its decent steel. if its a cheap piece of junk then you know the saying....you can't polish a turd

Is it a Tramontina? If so, it should be fine with 20 degs.

I have a TOPS Armageddon that really needs some work doing on it. I have sharpened it to 20 and the cutting improvement from 25(ish) to 20 was remarkable. TOPS are overpriced and contrary to marketing they are CNC'd not 'Handmade' unless you consider fitting the handle scales by hand, 'Handmade' Still, at least it looks like the heat treat is OK.

 

[FGYT]

Old Jimbos Site

this guy seem to know what hes talking about
also back up a page theres loads of good info

 

[British Red]

I'd go as far as to say Jim does know what he's talking about!

If you struggle Ted, I've shown how to work a convex edge on another thread here (the mini axe thread under edged tools)

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=17244&page=1

See Simon I do like convex edges...on great thumping choppers they have their place

Red

 

[w00dsmoke]

Chuck away that machete, they are not designed for cutting temperate hardwoods! (Sugar cane and secondary jungle!

Buy yourself for £20 a Dunsford spar hook or newton billhook. They are hand forged and will keep a razor sharp edge. I've never looked back!

 

[ggfh666]

Here's what I do.

I have a 5£ Transmontina, nbr of years old.

I use a stone (dual sided coarse and less coorse). I hold the machete in one hand and run the stone over it, in both or one direction. The less coarse side. Holding at about the right angle, no precision needed whatsoever.
The flexibility of the blade puts the right pressure on it.

I know this sounds like sacrilege to many, but it gets it blimmin sharp.

From time to time I need to do it a bit proper. For exapmle to remove nicks in the edge.
Then I use the coarse side first. And meybe even some water.

 

[weaver]

If there's no edge at all then a big file (if that's all you have) will get it ready to sharpen.

I have a small belt sander in my shop that I use for rough shaping of knives, axes and machetes. I use 60 grit to start and work up to 220 then the diamond stones take over. That really speeds up the job!

 

[akabu]

The Ontario's are much thicker and work well with hardwoods within reason .Take your file to the spine of the blade from the handle about 21 cm.and make it nice and flat so you can use it as a scraper here's a very good link for modes on a Machette.

http://hossom.com/sharp/index_page0001.htm

Take a walk around and see what you can glean from our Machette Madness
http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/86/