Austrian Machete project

[BackwoodsFiero]

Found this old looking machete in my grandfather's barn and decided it'd be fun to clean it up. It was covered in rust and the handle was some piece of scrap wood made to look like a handle held on with ground down nails. On the blade was stamped "Austria." Dont know whether it was made there or the steel was just from there. Shame I dont have pics in that state as a comparison. Anyways, heres some pics: Ground the blade myself with a drum sander and a homemade jig, painted the upper blade for rust protection, and made custom handles from a block of cedar. Cuts through 1" thick green maple no problem

Enjoy!

 

[markk]

Nice chopper!

Lawnmower blade, perhaps?

 

[Fred Fuller]

Check this...

http://www.shop.com/+-a-"corn+knife"-p37957293-k36-st.shtml

lpl/nc

 

[BackwoodsFiero]

Wow!

^^Holy hell, I've never seen those pics before or knew what it was and I painted it back to original look! Judging by the rust, I would have guessed the blade was bare metal originally. And there is no doubt that is the exact machete, same "Austria" stamp and the same handle it originally had that I described. Thanks for the find! I would have never guessed it was an actual brand because of the odd shape.

So anyone know what makes it a "corn knife" which coincidentally enough is what I was planning on using it for! Or what the hole in the tip is for?

Also, what do you think they mean by "cutlery steel" at their home site http://www.structron.com/product_detail_page.cfm?id=-774931665? High carbon? It does seem pretty flexible.

Thanks again!

 

[coelacanth]

the hole in the tip is for . . . . .

hanging it up on a nail in the barn where the kids can't reach it. "Corn" in this instance probably refers to the European usage which refers to any grain with a head like barley or wheat rather than what we Americans refer to which in Europe is called maize. It's a pretty handy tool for cutting things with long tough stalks for tying up in shocks. The ones we used to use when I was a back on the farm had a slightly thinner blade profile but the same general pattern.