Bad grind on Gladius machete

T

Texas Steel

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I received a Gladius machete over a month ago with a horrible grind. The edge is extremely dull and uneven. I sent the pictures to Cold Steels customer service right after I received it and have yet to get an answer back from them about what they plan to do to fix this problem. What has your guys experience been with the grinds on Cold Steels machetes? Share your experiences with Cold Steels customer service.
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Check out the right side edge
 
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The ones I've had have been pretty bad, but it honestly never occurred to me to bother with contacting Cold Steel about it. Just cleaned it up with a file and started using it.
 
^^^ of the 6 or so I have, all seemed to be more of a " machete blank " than an end product.... but luckily about 5 minutes on each has em cleaned up, and serviceable.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
The ones I've had have been pretty bad, but it honestly never occurred to me to bother with contacting Cold Steel about it. Just cleaned it up with a file and started using it.
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I could understand getting a better edge on it if its just dull, but the grind is completely uneven. Its wavy and if you look at the angles toward the top the left side looks like it should and the right side is rounded. I'll never get the shape right by sharping it. They took too much off the the right side and must have been drunk with how uneven it is.
 
I've purchased five Cold Steel machetes. All had the worst edges I've ever seen on a new blade of any kind. I made the edges serviceable with a file and Lansky Puck and just got to using them. I wasn't able to put the kind of edge I'd like on them, but good enough for general use. I chipped an edge by accidentally hitting a rock, but besides that, no performance issues.
 
Texas Steel said:
I could understand getting a better edge on it if its just dull, but the grind is completely uneven. Its wavy and if you look at the angles toward the top the left side looks like it should and the right side is rounded. I'll never get the shape right by sharping it. They took too much off the the right side and must have been drunk with how uneven it is.
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Yeah, mine was uneven as well, I'm not talking about sharpening, but reprofiling. I am totally sympathetic if you don't want to bother, as it can be a pain, though.
 
all i have bought, had poor edges(meaning uneven grinds and dull as hell) and big burrs. i have 4 or 5 cold steel machetes and the bulk al came from south africa. easily fixed with a belt sander and stone though.
 
Its a machete, when i get a new machete i just assume i'll have to reprofile and sharpen. I have 9 or 10 CS machetes some come serviceably sharp some do not. I bought a CS Gladius machete myself recently, the tip is the weirdest i've ever seen, normal grind on both sides up until the last inch or so then no grind at all for the last inch. In comparison Tramontinas come pretty sharp for almost the full length but are usually ground but dull the last few inches. Still i got the CS Gladius cheap and i have a belt sander so no big deal, it just part of machete ownership. The exception to the rule is Imacasa machetes, the three Imacasas i have all came hair shaving sharp!
 
tholiver said:
. The exception to the rule is Imacasa machetes, the three Imacasas i have all came hair shaving sharp!
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That's weird, cause Imacasa straight up says they don't sharpen their machetes. And NO Imacasa I've gotten(and I've gotten around 12-15) have come sharp unless I ordered them from somewhere with a sharpening service like Baryonyx. CONDOR machetes, which are made by Imacasa, come sharp, but Imacasas do not and are not intended to come sharp.
 
DShiflet said:
That's weird, cause Imacasa straight up says they don't sharpen their machetes. And NO Imacasa I've gotten(and I've gotten around 12-15) have come sharp unless I ordered them from somewhere with a sharpening service like Baryonyx. CONDOR machetes, which are made by Imacasa, come sharp, but Imacasas do not and are not intended to come sharp.
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They were Marbles machetes made by Imacasa, you know the hideous orange painted ones,lol. Marbles name is on them in paint but they are made by Imacasa, the Imacasa brand name is imprinted into the steel.
 
Ooof that's a bad one, I'd complain to. I'm sure once they see it on here they will offer some help.
 
Re Marbles/Imacasa. I stripped the paint off two of them and have used them. The third Bolo version i have is untouched factory original still in the cardboard sleeve, i just took it out and yep, shaved hair off my arm with it! lol. Hmmm this one is just marked Made in El Salvador, no Imacasa. I'm sure the other two are marked Imacasa, i'll double check later today to make sure as they are out in my shed. Still regardless of the label it is shaving sharp.
 
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tholiver said:
They were Marbles machetes made by Imacasa, you know the hideous orange painted ones,lol. Marbles name is on them in paint but they are made by Imacasa, the Imacasa brand name is imprinted into the steel.
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That's the difference then. Marbles machetes are indeed made by Imacasa, but they're not sold under the Imacasa brand name(just like Condor), they're sold under the Marbles brand. Marbles and Condor come sharp, but machetes sold under the actual Imacasa brand name do not.
 
tholiver said:
Its a machete, when i get a new machete i just assume i'll have to reprofile and sharpen. I have 9 or 10 CS machetes some come serviceably sharp some do not. I bought a CS Gladius machete myself recently, the tip is the weirdest i've ever seen, normal grind on both sides up until the last inch or so then no grind at all for the last inch. In comparison Tramontinas come pretty sharp for almost the full length but are usually ground but dull the last few inches. Still i got the CS Gladius cheap and i have a belt sander so no big deal, it just part of machete ownership. The exception to the rule is Imacasa machetes, the three Imacasas i have all came hair shaving sharp!
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Im sorry man I just agree with that logic. If your going to produce and sell an edged tool, expecially if you have the reputation of Cold Steel, which is supposed to be the "world strongest and sharpest knives" then I expect it to be done right by the producer. I don't feel that I should have to go out and buy a belt sander and reprofile the edge myself. Its not like I went to Harbor Frieght and paid $5 for this thing. It should be done right at the factory by some one with skill.
 
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Of the three Cold Steel machetes I have bought (Two "Heavy Machete - the first was stolen, and a "Magnum Kukri") all came with unusable edges. "Dull" does not begin to describe them. In fact, merely "dull" would have been an improvement.

A couple minutes with a draw through sharpener evened out the grinds and eliminated the burrs. A coarse followed by a medium stone after the draw through gave a good useable edge for my needs.

I determined that any Cold Steel machete I buy is going to need sharpened before it can be used. I still want the Chinese War Sword machete ...
 
If you clean up the edge now, you will be gaining practice for all the filing that you'll do after every rock and nail that you hit. :p
 
I just got ahold of their customer service for the third time and this time they said they'll be sending me a new one. We'll see how this one turns out.
 
Texas Steel said:
Im sorry man I just agree with that logic. If your going to produce and sell an edged tool, expecially if you have the reputation of Cold Steel, which is supposed to be the "world strongest and sharpest knives" then I expect it to be done right by the producer. I don't feel that I should have to go out and by a belt sander and reprofile the edge myself. Its not like I went to Harbor Frieght and paid $5 for this thing. It should be done right at the factory by some one with skill.
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Machetes are often sold unsharpened for a specific reason. The user is supposed to put their own edge on it, tailored for the type of vegetation you're using it for. If you go down to South America, or anywhere else where machete usage is a daily occurrence, and you go to buy a machete from a store, or get a smith to make you one, it won't be sharpened when you get it.
 
DShiflet said:
Machetes are often sold unsharpened for a specific reason. The user is supposed to put their own edge on it, tailored for the type of vegetation you're using it for. If you go down to South America, or anywhere else where machete usage is a daily occurrence, and you go to buy a machete from a store, or get a smith to make you one, it won't be sharpened when you get it.
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Yeah, well seeing that this is replicating a sword and after watching CS video on it I expected this edge to be able to decapitate a wild boar with one swipe which is what I plan on using it for.
 
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