Best cheapest hand held power tool for grinding an edge

Okay, seriously, for a moment.

Sharpening knives and sharpening machetes is two different things.

From what I understand, machetes in general have a softer edge, because they are meant to do all the root digging and path clearing. Practically speaking, a machete is a garden tool that has grown into other roles. They're meant to get their edges dented up, and they're meant to be sharpened on a paving stone, if that's all you've got.

I suck at sharpening, too, but I'm too stubborn to go out and get one of those guided sharpening systems. Don't be like me.
 
For mower blades and cheap machetes , an angle grinder and 40grit slap-disc can kinda /sorta work .

Results will vary with skill and practice .

Expect ugly and you won't be disappointed ...but the weeds and brush get cut , just the same . :cool:

These two Thai Machetes were both the same before my abuse :
 
MolokaiRider said:
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.
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Thanks I be buying on of those
 
DocJD said:
For mower blades and cheap machetes , an angle grinder and 40grit slap-disc can kinda /sorta work .

Results will vary with skill and practice .

Expect ugly and you won't be disappointed ...but the weeds and brush get cut , just the same . :cool:

These two Thai Machetes were both the same before my abuse :
Click to expand...
I own the royal kukri 20” model it is defiantly my bush wacker, 😀
my Pakistani kukri is my light weight combat knife18”
and my condor engineer bolo is my SHT Mellon lopper off’er because of the weight and length
 
Well I got impatient and tried sharpening the engineer bolo with a file, bad idea too off too much metal thankfully
I only did that on a test section close to the handle,
Then I used my diamond sharpening stone and I did an ok job, but I wanted a better edge 🙄
so I used a file in a totaly different way as per what I saw in a YouTube video, bad idea, doing that dulled it and I had to start all over with the diamond stone. It won’t cut paper which is the standard I wanted. My Mexican metal file wielding buddy can make any machete razor sharp with some type of agricultural looking edge on it. He grew up with zero reading or writing skills, with no shoes in a very rural village in Mexico and worked from the time he was small, so he knows how to fix stuff without power tools.
on a positive note I banged the machete against my wooden katana and chunks flew out of it 😀
now if I could just find a giant rack of pork ribs to hang up to do a cuttting test, but pork is expensive these days, perhaps a raw chicken? Maybe will Keith will do a soda bottle cutting test if I send him the blade?
 
Bare Knuckle Honky said:
Well I got impatient and tried sharpening the engineer bolo with a file, bad idea too off too much metal thankfully
I only did that on a test section close to the handle,
Then I used my diamond sharpening stone and I did an ok job, but I wanted a better edge 🙄
so I used a file in a totaly different way as per what I saw in a YouTube video, bad idea, doing that dulled it and I had to start all over with the diamond stone. It won’t cut paper which is the standard I wanted. My Mexican metal file wielding buddy can make any machete razor sharp with some type of agricultural looking edge on it. He grew up with zero reading or writing skills, with no shoes in a very rural village in Mexico and worked from the time he was small, so he knows how to fix stuff without power tools.
on a positive note I banged the machete against my wooden katana and chunks flew out of it 😀
now if I could just find a giant rack of pork ribs to hang up to do a cuttting test, but pork is expensive these days, perhaps a raw chicken? Maybe will Keith will do a soda bottle cutting test if I send him the blade?
Click to expand...

If you're still using the fine diamond stone, absolutely, you would need to start over with that stone once working more with the file.

Conceptually, you're trying to make a triangle with a sharp point, starting with a triangle with a rounded point. The file and course stones are to hog off metal to get rid of the rounded section, but leaves a rough edge. The finer stones are for smoothing the faces of the triangle to increase sharpness.

If you haven't tried it yet, using a marker on the edge helps show where you're sharpening as conistant angle is important to set the edge. The marker shows you where you're taking metal away. It's not uncommon to sharpen the "cheeks" and not actually touch the edge. This really stinks if you're moving thru the stones and find out at the end that the triangle's rounded edge wasn't made flat with the file or course stones and it is still rounded, just a thinner rounded edge.
 
A 4-1/2" angle grinder with 80CZ flapper wheel to fix the bevel then a half-round mill bastard for dressing. This would be for heavy duty edges: shovels, sharpshooter, Kiser blades, machete, etc. Do the inital sharpening wit the AG then dress the edges as work progresses. I was taught to use a shovel by an old man who would beat you with a dull one. Same with a Kiser blade. Big difference with a sharp vs. dull clearing mesquite all day. Keeping an edge with a file learn to use it like a single edge using a sweeping motion along the edge. Secret to this is not letting the edge get too buggered before dressing it. Giving a Kiser a few sweeps every 10 minutes or so will keep it sharp all day.
 
Bare Knuckle Honky said:
I went back at it with a file, even bigger disaster this time to call a sharpening service 😮
the blade was 2.5 pounds probably weighs 2 pounds now
lesson learned
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That's a lot of metal removed. Something doesn't sound right about the approach being taken if you've taken that much off but still don't have a useful edge.

Any pictures? Can you describe what you're doing with ths files?
 
Agreed. It sounds like something went a bit off the rails if you took that much off. If you feel like getting it fixed up as a mail-in service do feel free to shoot me an email. I sharpen that model all the time. Cost of shipping it here and back would probably be more than the cost of the actual sharpening job, though.
 
bikerector said:
That's a lot of metal removed. Something doesn't sound right about the approach being taken if you've taken that much off but still don't have a useful edge.

Any pictures? Can you describe what you're doing with ths files?
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I'm Trying to get a edge on one side then another neither back and forth motions nor up and down motions will produce will a sharp enough blade oh sure will have a slight edge it could probably be use for chopping but even the diamond bench stone will do rhat. I should have left well enough alone when I got an ok edge with the diamond sharpener, but I wanted a much better edge like my file guy can do. Lesson learned I haved owned 5 machetes buy different companies and none of them were decently sharp upon arrival including the condor engineer bolo that I have now monkeyed with way too much.
 
It’s ok it was a learning experience I just wish I learned on a cheap colman or

Tramontina machete instead of a $117.00 condor​

I will be buying their king kukri some day
Also which company has the best combat gladious?
 
I just did this Condor Hudson Bay with a file a few minutes ago to set the edge bevel. I then finished up with a DMT coarse to create a micro bevel.


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