Customized Machete

[unloved]

I bought a piece-of-junk Coleman 18" machete about five years ago. I needed to clear some brush on a building lot, I didn't have time to order something, and the Coleman was all I could find locally. The blade was decent, for something that cost $4.99, but the cheesy handle broke the day after I bought it. I threw it in a toolbox, and forgot about it for years. About six months ago, I found it while I was doing some cleaning/organizing.

I wanted to make it a bit lighter, handier, and easier to carry, so I hacked off 6", and put a clip point on it. I used the slack belt area between the platen, and "contact wheel" of my belt sander to do a convex edge. Cold blued with Birchwood Casey SuperBlue, and set it aside for a while. I finally got around to making a new handle a couple of weeks ago.
















It needs a bit more work, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. Oak, with Kydex liners to hopefully prevent cracking. I've been messing with a finish for the handle when I have a few minutes here and there for the last week or so. More pics to follow soon.

 

[Sam1911]

Great job!

 

[Fergy35]

It looks pretty dang good to me. I've got an old machete partly converted into something new myself. I started on it about a year ago. I think I need to get back to that.

 

[TimboKhan]

I agree with Sam! That's a cool looking machete!

 

[Unistat]

That's not a machete. That's a KNIFE! lol.

 

[JShirley]

Looks great!

 

[CWL]

Most worked-over machetes are still just 'machetes', but that is definitely a custom job! Nice work!

 

[Al Thompson]

Very nice! I've found that olive oil makes a decent handle finish on knives.

 

[Piraticalbob]

I'd be inclined to say that you've turned a machete into a lightweight guardless Bowie. Very practical, since most large Bowies are unnecessarily thick and heavy.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Nice Job!

 

[unloved]

Thanks, everyone!

 

[ForumSurfer]

That looks awesome. Great job! I have the same machete I picked up at harbor freight for $1 on clearance...it has the same broken handle.

 

[broken]

..

thats a great job,question,what pins or screws or whatever you call them did you use where can i get them, and where did you get the kydex,i had a old sword cut down into my own design at a machine shop,and heat treated into a shorter 17"pig sticker a few weeks back,now you gave me an idea for the handle. thanks.

 

[unloved]

what pins or screws or whatever you call them did you use where can i get them, and where did you get the kydex

The screws are just 8-32 Phillips drive, flat head, machine screws, available at most any hardware store. Depending on what length you can find, and the thickness of your scales, you may need to grind them down to fit. The connectors I got from usaknifemaker.com. http://www.usaknifemaker.com/connector-14-round-14-long-832-thread-stainless-p-906.html

I'm a sheath and holster maker, I've got a ridiculous amount of scrap Kydex lying around. I get most of mine from a local distributor. It's available in smaller pieces from Jantz Supply, Texas Knifemaker's Supply, knifekits.com, usaknifemaker.com, etc..

You might want to go with something more suitable for a knife handle, though. I just used materials that I had in my shop because I didn't want to spend much money on my cheap machete. The knife making supply places all have stabilized woods, G10, Micarta, and all the good stuff.

 

[liontribe]

that is very nice. i have been toying with doing the same thing. i have several machetes that my gramps brought back from bolivia when i was a kid. the handles are very crude. they would really be nice with a little customization.

liontribe

 

[unloved]

 

[Iron Sight]

I have this old machete somewhere out in the garage (Inspired)

 

[jahwarrior]

nice work as usual, Un-.

namaste.

 

[unloved]

namaste

 

[dprice3844444]

check coldsteel.com