Best cheapest hand held power tool for grinding an edge

bikerector said:
This is just a bad line of thinking. Don't care about the schrade comment, the carbon steel and full tang specs are not indicators of a quality machete.

Only a few can you tell if it was heat treated by looking, with a hamon or differential heat treat.

IMO, there's no reason to buy a schrade machete unless there are no other options. It would be about my last choice, only above fantasy knives/zombie painted machetes.
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Carbon steel and full tang are not indicators of a quality machete? Then what is?
 
bikerector said:
You would be all day with a fine DMT setting the edge on that condor. Fine is nice for making a sharp edge sharper or touchups but too fine for setting an edge.

If you're mostly working on soft steel like machetes and condor blades, don't bother with tge DMT. A regular sharpening stone will do great on that. They may still be out of stock, but tge baryonyx manticore or mutt stones are the workhorses of choice for me on machetes and similar. Both would be in extra course grit ranges, the manticore extra extra course. It doesn't clog up with metal quickly either. Let the mudd build and keep sharpening.
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Thanks for the advice 🫡
 
If you want to go mechanical and grind, get a 1' x 30" belt grinder and an assortment of belts 80, 120, 240, 400, 800 and finish on a 1200 or higher. A leather stropping belt loaded with green compound will leave it shaving sharp.
This will also keep the convex edge.
Ensure that you keep a bucket of water at hand and dip the blade into it after every couple of passes to stop any overheating of the edge. This is a must!!
There are some good You Tube videos on how to sharpen on a 1 x 30.
It doesn't take much practice to get spectacular edges on some pretty banged up knives using a 1 x 30.
 
I suppose you could use a Dremel, hand held Angle Grinder or Hand Sander if this is all you had at your disposal.
If I was going to use one of these, I would fix it in position in a vise and move the blade across the grinding/sanding pad.
Hand Sander would be my pick as you can work through the grits to finish on some 1200 grit to buff the edge a bit.
Bucket of water handy to stop overheating the edge.
 
Bare Knuckle Honky said:
Carbon steel and full tang are not indicators of a quality machete? Then what is?
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Build quality (as a generally statement statement, the brand normal has some quality level attached to it), fit and finish, heat treat. I like it when there's a useable edge on the tool when it's new, and that's not overly common with machetes. Coincidently, some of the better long term options like tram and imacasa don't come with edges and bad options like schrade do.

There are plenty of hidden tang hard use blades out there to show that full tangs are not the only method that can be used. Kukris and parangs, for example. I'm sure there are others.

Carbon steel is cheap and easy to use for a tough blade and it makes a fine machete, but stainless steel is not crap either if it is made by a good person/brand. If we're talking 3cr stailness, like you see on a schrade, no, not so good. It probably could be made to be servicable, in a soft machete, but I don't trust schrades heat treat in most cases. Some custom makers use AEB-L to grear effect. Some manufacturers have used 420hc and sandvic steels to good effect as well.

Machetes are usually run soft so you don't need a high end steel, carbon or stainless, since you don't need a high attainable hardness. You do still want a decent heat treat, and that's where the maker or brand comes into play.

Carbon steel seems like the better choice, I think, simply because of standard availability of production options.
 
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If I have a really dull knife. I start with a motorized water stone.

It is not hand held, but pretty portable. Its like a slow bench grinder, that spins in a water bath.
 
In the distant past, I made several knives while working on an off-shore drilling rig. The hand held power tool I used for most of the rough grinding was the welder's angler grinder. All the finish work was done by hand with files and sand paper.

I haven't looked, but I imagine that a usable angle grinder could be had at an affordable price in a pawn shop.
 
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Bare Knuckle Honky said:
I recently heard schrade machetes aren’t heat treated, which is nuts I can’t believe anyone would own a machete or combat knife that wasn’t: full tang, carbon steel and heat treated
can you tell if a blade is heat treated by looking at it?
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Any knife you sharpen with an angle grinder won't be heat treated any more either.

Not to mention it would make an absolute mangled mess of the blade.
 
The knives I had made so many years ago were ground out of tempered spring steel that had not been annealed. It took a long time to do, but I did have a whole month to do it in. After final shaping, they were re-heat treated with the welder's torch and salvaged (discarded) gear oil. I put a brick in a deep pan and filled the pan to cover the brick by about an inch.

The red hot blade was put into the oil with the edge on the brick till all the drama subsided, then the whole blade was dropped into the "deep end" and left there til it cooled to ambient, or around 100 F. This left a simple hamon line from the choil to the tip. Couldn't test the hardness of the blade, but the edge was hard, while the spine was less so.

All finish work was done with files, sandpapers and elbow grease. A satin 600 grit finish was about as good as I could do at that time with the materials available.

Although the grinder was this angle disk grinder, the blade was essentially flat ground to match my skill level.

The guy I sold it to said it was pretty good.
 
Not sure I'd trust a hand held tool for the sharpening job.

I did once consider buying the Harbor Freight 1"x30" belt sander and some belts. That is probably the cheapest power system you can get unless you score a similar system at a garage sale or similar. A variable speed belt sander would be better.
 
Ken Onion Work Sharp, belt grinder, or slow bench grinder with water cooled stones or paper wheels.

Do not use a Dremel. It will burn the edge. Also, it's hard to keep control of and possible it will catch the apex and cause you to lose control.

I would not use an angle grinder, or a regular circular bench grinder either. Way too fast.

For the Condor knives mentioned, a simple bastard file will make quick work on the 1075, 1095, or 420hc steel they use. Finish up the Apex with pretty much any stone of choice around 300 grit.
 
Jesus Fxck No!

Planterz said:
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Sorry! I wound up a 7" angry grinder. Just once. It made all of what's left of my hair stand right straight up. I handed it back to my co-worker and told him to hide that instrument of terror somewhere that I never had to see it, again. Also where nobody else could find it and use it to commit self-amputation.
 
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