A break from knives - Back pack machetes

opaul

opaul

KNIFE MAKER
That's what I'm calling them anyway. Should be a good size to strap onto the back pack and use around the campsite or general hiking when the need arises. I've had a saw mill head saw for quite a while and decided to cut a few blades out to take a break and do something different. These will not be refined but should be finished enough for future tasks at hand. I did cut a portion of the saw blade and heat treated prior to making the machetes, the sample t hardened quite nicely with fine grain structure. The blades have been HT'd and tempered. I'm not planning on doing any or much sanding and will leave the finish as is except for the handle area where I'll sand it to bright metal to get good epoxy adhesion. Here are a few pictures. I should be getting the handles epoxied on this week. I'm thinking two with wood and two with micarta handles.

 
Thanks Dennis! They will be 16.5" OAL with a 12" cutting edge. I used an angle grinder with steel cut off wheels to rough out the shapes on the blade and then used the metal band saw to true up to the line and then finished the profile on the grinder.
I'm working in the grinding the edges and then I'll move on to the handles. I'm taking the edges to 120 and then hand sanding to 220 with a scotch brite pad finish on the edge. I'm leaving the black finish on the blades but as I said earlier I'll clean up the handle area for the epoxy.
 
Nice, I recently forged something similar. I made what I call a bush craft machete. Think of a competition chopper with an eleven inch blade but it has a 1/4 inch spine and a convex edge. I made it to pair with one of my bush craft knives so it can handle all of the chopping and batoning you want to throw at it while it fits in your pack easily. Then you can keep your knife for cutting and slicing...Like it should be. Instead of a Nessmuck trio you will have a Railey Dyad...Kind of catchy.
 
opaul said:
Thanks Dennis! They will be 16.5" OAL with a 12" cutting edge. I used an angle grinder with steel cut off wheels to rough out the shapes on the blade and then used the metal band saw to true up to the line and then finished the profile on the grinder.
I'm working in the grinding the edges and then I'll move on to the handles. I'm taking the edges to 120 and then hand sanding to 220 with a scotch brite pad finish on the edge. I'm leaving the black finish on the blades but as I said earlier I'll clean up the handle area for the epoxy.
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A lot of folks will clamor for those!!
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
A lot of folks will clamor for those!!
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Thanks Ed. I know they certainly lack refinement but i’m putting them out there at a reasonable price with choice of wood or micarta scales (add on), optional leather sheath.
I plan on using Osage orang for the wood handles.
 
Thinking "outside the box" like that, is very often were we find our niche! Way back when I first put out EBKs, there wasn't anything like them being made, I had no idea if they'd be accepted, and other Makers laughed at me/them, until they saw me selling out of them a shows and online. Now almost every full time maker has some type of little knife like it in their lineup.

I even had one knifemaker who happily admitted he was trying to copy me....he came up to me at a show, with something very similar to my EBKs, and told me they were his "ECROs". When I asked what that meant, his response was..... "Ed Caffrey Rip Off." :) I told him great work, keep it up, and thanks for honesty! :)

I've learned never to belittle anything that's "different"..... who knows, it just might be the next BIG THING.
 
I like it ,wait till you start to test one,I know when I made my Bush sword I had more fun than you can shake a stick at outside swinging it around and chopping stuff up.
 
AkWildman said:
I like it ,wait till you start to test one,I know when I made my Bush sword I had more fun than you can shake a stick at outside swinging it around and chopping stuff up.
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I sharpened one this morning before putting a handle on and it does what it’s designed to do!
 
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