H1Spyderco Machete?

[Naperville]

Whatever the outcome, I hope that Spyderco tests a fully serrated blade and gives the concept an opportunity to shine on a large blade.

Many people speak very highly of Spyderco serrations and this is a once in a lifetime chance to change the course of knife making.

The blade does not have to be double sided or H2 but as several have said, stainless is the target. If it is H2, even better I think. Single edge serrated stainless blade is my target. If not Spyderco, then who will pick this torch up and run with it? Again. Test it. Give it a chance. That is all that I am asking.

[vivi]

IMG_5568.jpegIMG_5569.jpeg

These two test…erm…donkeys… have just arrived. I’d call them mules but seeing as how they’ve arrived impressively blunt and with minor edge damage I’m loath to put them in the same category as a Spyderco mule

Whimsy aside, their vital statistics are -
- 18 inch blade
- 16 inches of sharpened edge
- 50Mn steel with some sort of heat treatment
- 2mm flat blade stock
- 24 degrees inclusive primary edge grind (12 per side)

They are tip heavy but overall very light for their size at ~500gms each.

Serrations inbound on one of them.

Looks like a fun experiment.

If we get a Spyderco machete out of this thread I hope the design is closer to something like this than some of the other suggestions.

10" blades, doubled edged blades, fully serrated blades, overly thick blades......I just want a high end stainless / rust proof machete with good ergonomics.

Even if the only option is a stainless serrated machete one could easily mod it to a plain edge without much difficulty but it would be a crime not to dull it first

I think the use case calls for PE myself. If they release a SE machete I'd try it, but again I would never expect a serrated anything to excel at chopping wood.

If I used my machetes exclusively on vegetation I'd be more open to the idea. But I do not. They are general purpose camp and trail clearing tools. I chop through 1-6" diameter branches with mine on a regular basis. Machetes will more than likely fail in that sort of use.

They'd also prevent me from reprofiling and sharpening on my belt sander, something that is an incredible time saver. It took me 15 minutes or so to half the edge angle of my terrachete. Doing that by hand would be a 3+ hour job.



In my experience they shine on things like cutting rope, tomatoes and cardboard.

Can't say I've ever seen a serrated axe, after all.

My purpose in posting this isn't to shoot down others idea, but to steer Spyderco towards making something genuinely useful for me. None of this is to say my perspective is right and anyone elses is wrong - I just know what works for me. Same way if Sal asks us all for suggestions on which folder to make out of magnamax first, I'm not voting a dragonfly

A good machete in my opinion should be thin, plain edged, and at least 14-16" long. The only time I carry a shorter one like the cold steel 12" kukri machete is special case scenarios, like tucking one in my disc golf bag when playing a poorly maintained course. For real work on my trails, 16" is where machetes start IMO. 18"-22" is often preferable.

H2 would still be my preferred steel for the toughness advantage it has over LC and other stainless steels I've tried. H1 has taken uses that have damaged other steels like 420 and LC and 1095 without any damage. On paper they might be close but in use I have seen a difference.

So my dream would be 16-18", 2-2.5mm thick, H1, not terribly upswept of a tip, with a handle somewhat like a Temperance 2 with a bit more room and a more pronounced pinky hook, with a synthetic sheath that can be used one handed. I'd pay $400+ if need be.

[JoviAl]

I think the use case calls for PE myself. If they release a SE machete I'd try it, but again I would never expect a serrated anything to excel at chopping wood.

In my experience they shine on things like cutting rope, tomatoes and cardboard.

Can't say I've ever seen a serrated axe, after all.

I think this perfectly highlights the huge range of things people use machete for - some folk use them for loads of different materials or tasks and others (like myself) use them for one specific thing. I’m not saying one is right or wrong, just musing on it.

For what I use a machete for a 2ft long Civilian or matriarch blade would be great, but likely truly awful for anything vaguely hard.

[vivi]

I think the use case calls for PE myself. If they release a SE machete I'd try it, but again I would never expect a serrated anything to excel at chopping wood.

In my experience they shine on things like cutting rope, tomatoes and cardboard.

Can't say I've ever seen a serrated axe, after all.

I think this perfectly highlights the huge range of things people use machete for - some folk use them for loads of different materials or tasks and others (like myself) use them for one specific thing. I’m not saying one is right or wrong, just musing on it.

For what I use a machete for a 2ft long Civilian or matriarch blade would be great, but likely truly awful for anything vaguely hard.

yep, where you live, which materials you cut, and even how careful you are with your tools will determine what works best.

In fact when I used to live near the great lakes region I barely found a good use for machetes at all. I always carried axes with me into the woods, sometimes my dogfather.

so my input is based on my personal bias, and like you I'm not trying to say your perspective or anyone elses is wrong. I just have a degree of selfishness in that I'd want any machete spyderco produces to be something that I would find useful for my needs.

[JoviAl]

I think the use case calls for PE myself. If they release a SE machete I'd try it, but again I would never expect a serrated anything to excel at chopping wood.

In my experience they shine on things like cutting rope, tomatoes and cardboard.

Can't say I've ever seen a serrated axe, after all.

I think this perfectly highlights the huge range of things people use machete for - some folk use them for loads of different materials or tasks and others (like myself) use them for one specific thing. I’m not saying one is right or wrong, just musing on it.

For what I use a machete for a 2ft long Civilian or matriarch blade would be great, but likely truly awful for anything vaguely hard.

yep, where you live, which materials you cut, and even how careful you are with your tools will determine what works best.

In fact when I used to live near the great lakes region I barely found a good use for machetes at all. I always carried axes with me into the woods, sometimes my dogfather.

so my input is based on my personal bias, and like you I'm not trying to say your perspective or anyone elses is wrong. I just have a degree of selfishness in that I'd want any machete spyderco produces to be something that I would find useful for my needs.

For sure

To be honest almost any machete design can work for me - the deal breaker in my use case is high rust resistance. If Spyderco made a PE machete that is highly rust resistant I can always grind my own serrations (or send it off to someone like Veff if I want a pro job doing). I’m in complete agree with you about H1/2, although did someone say it has to be hollow ground for some sort of machining reason in another thread? I wonder if it can be worked thin enough to make a true machete out of, or if it might be more suited to a chopper style design.

*Edited due to my ongoing conflict with autocorrect.

[JoviAl]

I’ve attached some pics of my new Skrama 240 after 2 hours and 10 mins outside in the tropics. This was pristine this morning and liberally coated in Marine Tuf Glide anti corrosive moments before coming outside

SE would be nice, but an ultra corrosion resistant blade is the dream for me.

[Naperville]

IMG_5568.jpegIMG_5569.jpeg

These two test…erm…donkeys… have just arrived. I’d call them mules but seeing as how they’ve arrived impressively blunt and with minor edge damage I’m loath to put them in the same category as a Spyderco mule

Whimsy aside, their vital statistics are -
- 18 inch blade
- 16 inches of sharpened edge
- 50Mn steel with some sort of heat treatment
- 2mm flat blade stock
- 24 degrees inclusive primary edge grind (12 per side)

They are tip heavy but overall very light for their size at ~500gms each.

Serrations inbound on one of them.

Looks like a fun experiment.

If we get a Spyderco machete out of this thread I hope the design is closer to something like this than some of the other suggestions.

10" blades, doubled edged blades, fully serrated blades, overly thick blades......I just want a high end stainless / rust proof machete with good ergonomics.

Even if the only option is a stainless serrated machete one could easily mod it to a plain edge without much difficulty but it would be a crime not to dull it first

I think the use case calls for PE myself. If they release a SE machete I'd try it, but again I would never expect a serrated anything to excel at chopping wood.

If I used my machetes exclusively on vegetation I'd be more open to the idea. But I do not. They are general purpose camp and trail clearing tools. I chop through 1-6" diameter branches with mine on a regular basis. Machetes will more than likely fail in that sort of use.

They'd also prevent me from reprofiling and sharpening on my belt sander, something that is an incredible time saver. It took me 15 minutes or so to half the edge angle of my terrachete. Doing that by hand would be a 3+ hour job.



In my experience they shine on things like cutting rope, tomatoes and cardboard.

Can't say I've ever seen a serrated axe, after all.

My purpose in posting this isn't to shoot down others idea, but to steer Spyderco towards making something genuinely useful for me. None of this is to say my perspective is right and anyone elses is wrong - I just know what works for me. Same way if Sal asks us all for suggestions on which folder to make out of magnamax first, I'm not voting a dragonfly

A good machete in my opinion should be thin, plain edged, and at least 14-16" long. The only time I carry a shorter one like the cold steel 12" kukri machete is special case scenarios, like tucking one in my disc golf bag when playing a poorly maintained course. For real work on my trails, 16" is where machetes start IMO. 18"-22" is often preferable.

H2 would still be my preferred steel for the toughness advantage it has over LC and other stainless steels I've tried. H1 has taken uses that have damaged other steels like 420 and LC and 1095 without any damage. On paper they might be close but in use I have seen a difference.

So my dream would be 16-18", 2-2.5mm thick, H1, not terribly upswept of a tip, with a handle somewhat like a Temperance 2 with a bit more room and a more pronounced pinky hook, with a synthetic sheath that can be used one handed. I'd pay $400+ if need be.

We have many different use cases. I think Spyderco could release two different machetes. I am not a knife designer, so don't laugh at my simplistic solutions. Just make them both H2. One PE and one SE. That will cover all of the bases.

[Fireman]

The negative comments on the double sided thing machete has me thinking a bit. The sheathing thing is a pain in the tuckus on a double sided Machete I admit. I am intrigued by the idea of a double sided single bevel chisel grind with two angles, one about a 12 degree and the other a 25 degree both having micro bevels for just the edge. This leaves one side completely flat and thus a sheath could just be something flat but just protruding about 3/16ths from the edge. A mushroomed post in both ends can secure it to the blade with two angled slots in the blade to mate with the posts. To release the “sheath” from the blade you just pull up and out and you are ready to swing. Of course this could be done with serrations on the more acute angled side but I’m not THAT talented to do that myself. This thought experiment has challenged my idea of what a machete could be. Thanks everyone

[Jeb]

Well guys I spent the entire day grinding off the first SE off slowly enough to not get the blade hot. Then cut in a SE rounded tooth profile with a .750" centerline and then took it out and give it a go... I used a variable speed grinder to do all this. Worked really well at 1000 rpm's.

The opinion I have is the SE blade helps more with cutting not chopping and hacking at stuff. The PE I have just flat works better at clearing through each swing at heavy vines and some really soft lush green weeds and grass.

The other thing I ran head first into was the heavy stiff canvas Sheath, the SE just flat out is a pita to put in the Sheath. The hard Boltaron styles of Sheath is a real gem to use and keep your tools in... I will pay extra for it lol.

I would have bet good money the SE blade would have been the better performance blade, matter a fact so much so I tried two different teeth profiles and for the stuff here it was actually harder to swing through and make good clean cuts with each swing at the vines and thinner limbs as well as the grasses and basic weeds that are soft and easy to cut.

I hacked at some Cedar with both SE profiles and it doesn't cut as clean a blow to the soft Cedar either. Least for me, this is far from a scientific trial here, just me sanding the two different profiles in this Kukri and trying each of them out.

I can take the Kukri in either of the SE profiles and they would cut and tear through stuff but my take on that is I have a knife for that lol...

[JoviAl]

Well guys I spent the entire day grinding off the first SE off slowly enough to not get the blade hot. Then cut in a SE rounded tooth profile with a .750" centerline and then took it out and give it a go... I used a variable speed grinder to do all this. Worked really well at 1000 rpm's.

The opinion I have is the SE blade helps more with cutting not chopping and hacking at stuff. The PE I have just flat works better at clearing through each swing at heavy vines and some really soft lush green weeds and grass.

The other thing I ran head first into was the heavy stiff canvas Sheath, the SE just flat out is a pita to put in the Sheath. The hard Boltaron styles of Sheath is a real gem to use and keep your tools in... I will pay extra for it lol.

I would have bet good money the SE blade would have been the better performance blade, matter a fact so much so I tried two different teeth profiles and for the stuff here it was actually harder to swing through and make good clean cuts with each swing at the vines and thinner limbs as well as the grasses and basic weeds that are soft and easy to cut.

I hacked at some Cedar with both SE profiles and it doesn't cut as clean a blow to the soft Cedar either. Least for me, this is far from a scientific trial here, just me sanding the two different profiles in this Kukri and trying each of them out.

I can take the Kukri in either of the SE profiles and they would cut and tear through stuff but my take on that is I have a knife for that lol...

Interesting findings do you have any pics of the new iteration of the serrations?

I’m 95% done grinding the serrations into the 18 inch parang style machete at work, but I’ve been super busy clearing and processing a load of unstable Moringa trees yesterday and today (light occlusion had made them grow wonky then they’d started to root lift, so down they came). On the up side I enjoyed trying out my new Skrama a bit more, but it became almost humorously obvious that a chainsaw was the superior tool for the task after a few minutes. Even an ARS Turbocut arbor saw was faster through the trunk than the Skrama. That’s not to say the Skrama is a slouch, just not as efficient as a saw for doing what a saw does best.

[Mushroom]

Double edged would be the nail in the coffin for an experiment like this one.

I'm with Vivi though, the ask is for a high end stainless machete. Do we really need to re-invent the wheel with double edges, serrations, DIY hybrid smatchet choppers, etc. ?

[Fireman]

Do we really need to re-invent the wheel with double edges, serrations, DIY hybrid smatchet choppers, etc. ?

Yes
If we stop reinventing the wheel you are left with just a round rock and not a formula one wheel.
I will make my own crazy ideas come to life, just takes enough time and damns to give. I want a salt serrated machete for my kitchen and to scare the bejesus out of any unwanted uninvited guests in my house. Maybe put a led light in the handle so they can see the serrations in the dark That light in the handle will come in handy too when I am making a midnight snack of a brisket sandwich

[cabfrank]

Should this come to fruition, wouldn't it be possible to do PE and some SE, as is the case with many folder models?

[JoviAl]

Double edged would be the nail in the coffin for an experiment like this one.

I'm with Vivi though, the ask is for a high end stainless machete. Do we really need to re-invent the wheel with double edges, serrations, DIY hybrid smatchet choppers, etc. ?

My primary interest in this remains a rust proof machete, but I’m enjoying experimenting with SE just to scratch the mental itch of ‘is it an improvement or not?’. I’m an inquisitive guy and I’m not saying the only way I’d buy a rust proof machete is if it is serrated/whatever, but Spyderco has a long and tapestried history of trying out and iterating upon new ideas before bringing something innovative to market. The fact that so many people are willing to effectively and respectfully do grassroots R&D at their own expense and accept the results regardless of whether it supports their initial hypothesis is (in my opinion at least) laudable.

[Bill1170]

Double edged would be the nail in the coffin for an experiment like this one.

I'm with Vivi though, the ask is for a high end stainless machete. Do we really need to re-invent the wheel with double edges, serrations, DIY hybrid smatchet choppers, etc. ?

My primary interest in this remains a rust proof machete, but I’m enjoying experimenting with SE just to scratch the mental itch of ‘is it an improvement or not?’. I’m an inquisitive guy and I’m not saying the only way I’d buy a rust proof machete is if it is serrated/whatever, but Spyderco has a long and tapestried history of trying out and iterating upon new ideas before bringing something innovative to market. The fact that so many people are willing to effectively and respectfully do grassroots R&D at their own expense and accept the results regardless of whether it supports their initial hypothesis is (in my opinion at least) laudable.

Well-stated!

[Jeb]

I don't have any pix of the last SE re-grind I did. When doing all that grinding I have found over the many cell phones I have ruined to keep them in the house when grinding and/or sanding.

The sanding/grinding grit has that tenacious habit about finding the speaker and/or microphone element magnets in your cell phone and sticking to them.

This in turn changes the impedance of them and your cell looses its clarity in one or both of those. Once that happens there is no return for said cell phone lol.

With me doing as much grinding and sanding Wednesday on this Kukri, I just left the cell in the house, soon as things ever slow down around here for a few minutes and I have any gas in the tank left to stand lol, I will get some pix of it, I took inspiration of the shape from a hand held weed slinger or what some call a yo yo.

I just up'd the size of coarse, but honestly all the SE does for me, from my testing of this was make the cutting blade longer than a PE which would be a straight line.

Therefore my deduction from all this was the very reason the SE does such a great job just cutting is you have more cutting length edge to cut with.

While using that extra cutting length to hack and chop to achieve the same I had to really get after those vines and smaller limbs, than I do with the PE. It just seems that simply boils down to physics-based on the length of the cutting edge. Least this is what made sense of it to me and my pointed head at this point.

I just knew this last re-grind was going to really do the trick too, and I have this sucker sharp. I just found my swing at everything load up the Kukri and not cut cleanly through things. It was not even a close second to the PE.

Now it does cut, this SE cuts great. We have had two huge Chewy orders hit here and I just used it to cut the boxes all down lol. I much prefer my Police4 or Manix 2XL for that, I just had the SE Kukri handy in my modified golf cart so just thought why not lol.

I use my golf cart all over this place, I put a lift kit and bigger tires on this thing and a really nice metal pickup style box on the back of it. It's got a Yamaha gas engine in it and runs forever on 4 Gallons of non-ethonol fuel I use exclusively around here in all my stuff that is not a diesel.

The boxes make a great cutting media for all of us to use as a standard. Yes I even hacked at them with it, to no avail lol. You won't get anywhere hacking on boxes, but tired and worn out lol. Your better off just pouring a little diesel on them boxes and burning them if your in a hurry lol.

Right now, I still have not shot any pix of my new killer red and black PM2 Crucible I was so privileged to score, nor do I have any pix of my new killer revolver bolt-action screwdriver that is simply amazing.

We have a big GameDay coming this Saturday against Houston and trying to get things all finished and somewhat neat and put up around here. Matter of fact I still have things in the golf cart I got to get put up so they don't rust with the dew lol. Break time is over 5 minutes ago lol...

[JoviAl]

I don't have any pix of the last SE re-grind I did. When doing all that grinding I have found over the many cell phones I have ruined to keep them in the house when grinding and/or sanding.

The sanding/grinding grit has that tenacious habit about finding the speaker and/or microphone element magnets in your cell phone and sticking to them.

This in turn changes the impedance of them and your cell looses its clarity in one or both of those. Once that happens there is no return for said cell phone lol.

With me doing as much grinding and sanding Wednesday on this Kukri, I just left the cell in the house, soon as things ever slow down around here for a few minutes and I have any gas in the tank left to stand lol, I will get some pix of it, I took inspiration of the shape from a hand held weed slinger or what some call a yo yo.

I just up'd the size of coarse, but honestly all the SE does for me, from my testing of this was make the cutting blade longer than a PE which would be a straight line.

Therefore my deduction from all this was the very reason the SE does such a great job just cutting is you have more cutting length edge to cut with.

While using that extra cutting length to hack and chop to achieve the same I had to really get after those vines and smaller limbs, than I do with the PE. It just seems that simply boils down to physics-based on the length of the cutting edge. Least this is what made sense of it to me and my pointed head at this point.

I just knew this last re-grind was going to really do the trick too, and I have this sucker sharp. I just found my swing at everything load up the Kukri and not cut cleanly through things. It was not even a close second to the PE.

Now it does cut, this SE cuts great. We have had two huge Chewy orders hit here and I just used it to cut the boxes all down lol. I much prefer my Police4 or Manix 2XL for that, I just had the SE Kukri handy in my modified golf cart so just thought why not lol.

I use my golf cart all over this place, I put a lift kit and bigger tires on this thing and a really nice metal pickup style box on the back of it. It's got a Yamaha gas engine in it and runs forever on 4 Gallons of non-ethonol fuel I use exclusively around here in all my stuff that is not a diesel.

The boxes make a great cutting media for all of us to use as a standard. Yes I even hacked at them with it, to no avail lol. You won't get anywhere hacking on boxes, but tired and worn out lol. Your better off just pouring a little diesel on them boxes and burning them if your in a hurry lol.

Right now, I still have not shot any pix of my new killer red and black PM2 Crucible I was so privileged to score, nor do I have any pix of my new killer revolver bolt-action screwdriver that is simply amazing.

We have a big GameDay coming this Saturday against Houston and trying to get things all finished and somewhat neat and put up around here. Matter of fact I still have things in the golf cart I got to get put up so they don't rust with the dew lol. Break time is over 5 minutes ago lol...

That golf cart sounds awesome! I have a quad lock case on my phone (for attaching it to my motorbike) and I was pretty vexed when I initially did some grinding next to it and it was literally covered in metal grinds like fur, so I hear that buddy

I’d love to see some pics of your SE as a reference point to what I’m doing with mine but no rush, it’s just a bit of fun at the end of the day.

Good luck for game day this weekend! We’re gearing up for the MotoGP in my house - my little boys love it (and I’m pretty excited too).

[Fireman]

Machetes and golf carts? Is this the new jousting? Should I install a machete rack in my cart?

[JoviAl]

Machetes and golf carts? Is this the new jousting? Should I install a machete rack in my cart?

To be honest I’m surprised you don’t already have a machete rack in your golf cart. How do you safely convey your golf machete from one place to another?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I have an idea. Tell me if you like it.
If Spyderco makes such a Chopper Machete, someone with the time and access to wooded land do a test video and use the knife to make a very basic log shelter as a survival bush craft video.
Good idea?