I Smell A Project

I've played with the idea of making a custom machete for a couple of years now and it just never went anywhere. Then the market for custom machetes really took off and now you can spend as much as you'd like on them and get some real dandy pieces.

Well, I don't want to spend much and I already have several machetes so it's time to take one of them and do the work on it myself.

What I've got here (pardon the terrible, blurry picture) is an Ontario 12" Cutlass Machete that has been stripped (Bar Keeper's Friend and a Scotchbrite pad work wonders) and the handles have been removed. It has been sharpened over and over and there is a bit of a recurve at the plunge line but I'm going to see if I can't clean that up.

Now, as to what I'm going to do...

I don't know yet. I've got my Sharpie and I'm ready to start drawing.

I've got a piece of apple wood sitting here that may be destined for life as a handle. I'm looking at maybe a more traditional parang style handle if I can figure out how best to attach it to the existing tang.

I'll make sure you get a chance to see where I'm going with this one once it's underway.

Thanks for reading,


B