Gardener's katana

^ My Dad actually uses a tree-shearing knife like those for a lot of light trail clearing and brush-work. Very thin stock, flat ground, thin at the edge. They cut very well, but also take damage readily, warped primary grinds, etc... For him it's an acceptable trade off.

A katana could work, and I would love to encourage this, but a full-sized one may be a bit heavy for prolonged use and depending on cost/quality, the edge may need work before it's effective. In reality it's hard to beat a good pair of hedge shears or an electric trimmer.

A really low-cost and fairly lightweight option would be something like this bad boy:


I actually have one of these that I reground to a thin and convexed primary grind. It should be a really capable cutter now, but the cord wrapped handle was terrible and I haven't gotten around to putting real scales on and testing it yet.
 
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In the 80’s there was a sitcom called The Charmings about a fairy tale royal family that got teleported to a modern suburb. The dad would be out trimming the hedge with his sword.
 
Use a Hedge trimmer or shears.
Sword would give results similar to (or worse than) attempting to cut your own hair with scissors ... without a mirror.

Use the sword to exterminate (E.G. cut into teeny tiny prices) any snakes that have taken up residence under the hedgerow. :)

(I loathe snakes)
 
I don't wish to be a "bring down", :( but (with much experience) I must say that a katana (assuming a decent and very sharp one), used at the angles necessary for that type of job would be VERY dangerous. :eek: A wakizashi, however, might fill the bill and be close to the fun item the katana would be. :cool:
 
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I use a 20 inch machete, I don't have enough bushes to trim to buy a hedge trimmer, but I have more than I like for hedge shears (they seem too slow).

Edit to add: I didn't... I've moved and no longer have a hedge.
 
katanas said:
I don't wish to be a "bring down", :( but (with much experience) I must say that a katana (assuming a decent and very sharp one), used at the angles necessary for that type of job would be VERY dangerous. :eek:
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I agree with you, I think that trimming with any long,sharp bladed tool seems a little risky

Juha Perttula said:
I should trim my hedgerow. Do you think it is a good idea to buy a katana sword and cut the bushes with it ? Or is some else blade better for this cutting job ? Any recommendations ?View attachment 913548
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If I were you I would buy some shears or a cordless hedge trimmer but I am a knife guy and I like the idea of trimming hedges with a good katana or 2 :D
 
Colorodo said:
Cordless hedge trimmer, I have cut through several cords.
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Have done the same. Now with 40 volt batteries becoming more common with cordless yard tools, if I were buying one today, it would be cordless as I just don't have that much "hedge" to deal with.
 
Juha Perttula said:
I have never tested Latin light machete, but it could be a good option. It resembles my large kitchen knife.
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You should probably invest in a good one. They are very useful to have around the yard even if you don't take it to the woods for more serious work. But they really aren't a good substitute for a hedge trimmer, even a manual one. With a machete, I would be very careful with the near horizontal cuts and it really depends on just how neat a job you want to do trimming stuff.
 
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