- Joined
- Feb 15, 2015
- Messages
- 1,369
The machax has been put to bed for good. Now that it has been an appropriate amount of time, I can come out of mourning and wipe the tears away. I am prepared for the long machaxless winter ahead. I have a good stash of them tucked away in the closet. Probably have enough for me and any kids or grandkids I may have someday. As sad as I am to see it go I have hope for the future. After all, kabar is the 4th generation machax maybe there will be a 5th later on down the road.
Let me say in advance this is a long read. Really combining about 4 threads into one because they are all machax related.
Anyway, I have been very busy with machax related projects this summer. When I was at the gathering my new favorite mod derekH gave me an original becker machax sheath to go on my warrior machax. That sheath is awesome! I don't know if Ethan designed it or someone else but it works great! The straps on the back work great for belt carry or MOLLE. I liked this sheath so much I wanted another for one of my users.
So I made one: and it sucked. Made another. It was ok. Made one last one and I messed up the stamping a bit, but it's fine (I've never been a patient craftsmen or even a craftsmen for that matter). I don't know what happened to me, but I was hit with the biggest OCD attack ever.
Well, I did get two useable sheaths out of it (and one really crappy one that I'm not going to show you haha).
Now I have three generations of machax all in matching sheaths.
I did make some changes to the retention strap. I love the original paracod loop method the old sheath has but I really wanted a leather strap on the new sheaths. Because I had to have a leather strap I had to add a new feature so I wouldn't cut the strap taking the blade out like I do on the kabar sheaths. The pin that holds the strap on is actually a snap so you can fold the strap behind the sheath. I just leave it folded and snapped when I use it. The sheath holds it in just fine and I can pull it out and put it back a thousand times without cutting the strap.
Now my latest project involves a camillus machax that I've had for a while. When I got it the condition was less than subpar. Incase anyone doesn't know the cam machax is the worst version. The .25" thickness and bad grind angles combine to make it not a fun tool to use. So I wanted to fix that. After a few hours on the belt grinder this new convex machax is one bad mofo! It's almost a full convex, but I did add a slight secondary convex edge to it. I failed to get any photos of the process or good glamour shots afterwards.
It's still a bit too heavy and too thick (like my ex), but it slices now! It's about 20oz now, the weight on my stock camillus is around 22oz so I took off roughly 2oz.
Just got back from camping yesterday. Went out to a small place north of Memphis on the mighty Mississippi River. It was not the best time to test the new blade, we got rained out. Spent most of the time in the van playing cards. Weather cleared the next day and I got to take it out and do the usual camp tasks with it. Chops like a dream, splits wood even better. Even made a descent feather stick with it.
All in all a fun camp trip, got to play with a lot of beckers and came home with a bunch of blisters on my hands. I also got to put some real hard use on my bk20 for the first time. I have some mixed feelings about it, but its a pretty great blade.
Before I left for the trip I was thinking I needed to give it a good vinegar soak to protect the blade. But I didn't do it and learned my lesson. The campsite was flooded after all the rain. I took it back to the sander to take some mild rust off and then strait into the vinegar. It came out with a nice patina.
It's now time for the giveaway portion of this thread. I'm giving away a 710 kydex sheath for the machax. It's an open spine dangler sheath that fits the stock kabar machax.
Here is how you win: Post a photo of your machax out in the wild having a good time and enjoying life to fullest.
I want this thread to be like a photo montage you would see at a machax funeral.
Winner will be picked by my wife in one week (she's pretty excited about having absolute power *insert her evil laugh here*).
Let me say in advance this is a long read. Really combining about 4 threads into one because they are all machax related.
Anyway, I have been very busy with machax related projects this summer. When I was at the gathering my new favorite mod derekH gave me an original becker machax sheath to go on my warrior machax. That sheath is awesome! I don't know if Ethan designed it or someone else but it works great! The straps on the back work great for belt carry or MOLLE. I liked this sheath so much I wanted another for one of my users.
So I made one: and it sucked. Made another. It was ok. Made one last one and I messed up the stamping a bit, but it's fine (I've never been a patient craftsmen or even a craftsmen for that matter). I don't know what happened to me, but I was hit with the biggest OCD attack ever.
Well, I did get two useable sheaths out of it (and one really crappy one that I'm not going to show you haha).
Now I have three generations of machax all in matching sheaths.
I did make some changes to the retention strap. I love the original paracod loop method the old sheath has but I really wanted a leather strap on the new sheaths. Because I had to have a leather strap I had to add a new feature so I wouldn't cut the strap taking the blade out like I do on the kabar sheaths. The pin that holds the strap on is actually a snap so you can fold the strap behind the sheath. I just leave it folded and snapped when I use it. The sheath holds it in just fine and I can pull it out and put it back a thousand times without cutting the strap.
Now my latest project involves a camillus machax that I've had for a while. When I got it the condition was less than subpar. Incase anyone doesn't know the cam machax is the worst version. The .25" thickness and bad grind angles combine to make it not a fun tool to use. So I wanted to fix that. After a few hours on the belt grinder this new convex machax is one bad mofo! It's almost a full convex, but I did add a slight secondary convex edge to it. I failed to get any photos of the process or good glamour shots afterwards.
It's still a bit too heavy and too thick (like my ex), but it slices now! It's about 20oz now, the weight on my stock camillus is around 22oz so I took off roughly 2oz.
Just got back from camping yesterday. Went out to a small place north of Memphis on the mighty Mississippi River. It was not the best time to test the new blade, we got rained out. Spent most of the time in the van playing cards. Weather cleared the next day and I got to take it out and do the usual camp tasks with it. Chops like a dream, splits wood even better. Even made a descent feather stick with it.
All in all a fun camp trip, got to play with a lot of beckers and came home with a bunch of blisters on my hands. I also got to put some real hard use on my bk20 for the first time. I have some mixed feelings about it, but its a pretty great blade.
Before I left for the trip I was thinking I needed to give it a good vinegar soak to protect the blade. But I didn't do it and learned my lesson. The campsite was flooded after all the rain. I took it back to the sander to take some mild rust off and then strait into the vinegar. It came out with a nice patina.
It's now time for the giveaway portion of this thread. I'm giving away a 710 kydex sheath for the machax. It's an open spine dangler sheath that fits the stock kabar machax.
Here is how you win: Post a photo of your machax out in the wild having a good time and enjoying life to fullest.
I want this thread to be like a photo montage you would see at a machax funeral.
Winner will be picked by my wife in one week (she's pretty excited about having absolute power *insert her evil laugh here*).
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probably posted pix too.
like these with my BK-4 by coincedance. 
