Machete dimensions?

R

running bird

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Sep 29, 2015
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I'm going to be home for my winter break in a week and I've been planning on completing a production of 6 or 9 machetes. I'm going to be using Aldo's 1075, as I have a lot of experience with it. But needed a second opinion on what thickness I should go with. I want to each blade to be 1/8"x2"x12" (16" overall length), but I'm not sure of 1/8" is too thick for this size machete. I have made 3 machetes of the same length using 1/16" stock before and they are very handy, but I find myself needing just a bit more weight behind the blade at times. They bite very deep and they're easy to swing at light brush. But when it comes to dry and thicker wood the blades prefer to bounce instead of bite.

Would moving up to 1/8" bring any noticeable disadvantages? I figured for a 2" wide 12" machete 1/8" would give a good balance of cutting power and handiness. The specific pattern of machete will be a standard Latin style machete with a drop point tip. I would like to hear what you guys think.

I can also upload pictures of the previous machete pattern I made for a reference if needed.

Thank you,
Kevin
 
1/8” is perfect to me. It’s heavy enough to go through thicker brush and vines. 12” blade length seems short though. I like a machete about 16 to 20 inches in length. Most US military machetes are about 1/8” thickness and about 18” long. Hope this helps!

Jon
 
Thanks for the reply Jon. That was my thinking for 1/8”, seemed like It would give good heft without becoming impractical.

As for the length I’m trying to stay around 16” over all because I can get 3 blades out of a 48” bar stock that NJ steel baron carries. I also don’t have a quench tank big enough for blades over 18-20”. So I’m trying to keep things a little smaller. Maybe calling them “short choppers” or “camp knives” would make more sense then machetes.

Thanks again,
Kevin
 
I make alot of machetes

I have a 12in model made from .110 thick stock. It has plenty of power.

1/8th will not be too heavy for a blade that size but it might be a little overkill.
 
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