Making this for a buddy who just got into survivalism big time. selling it to him for 25 dollars. its an old lawnmower blade. ran out of sandpaper tonight so more sanding and heat treat tommorrow possibly.

Does sandpaper count as “Draw Filing” or does that have to be done with a metal file? Looks like you got it to around 300 grit? I am looking forward to the finish. Specifically, what Heat Treating process will you be using?

draw filing is done with a metal file. the sand paper is there to get rid of the scrtaches the file leaves and so on up to your desired grit. its only at 40 grit right now on one side, the other is 80 grit. i belive that this is the 80 grit side. im going to edge quench in oil because i dont want to risk it, seeing how its an uknown steel. if thats not hard enough i will use water. i guess ill find out, lol

So you will be taking a real hit on your labour costs?

So you will be taking a real hit on your labour costs?

no not really i make blades for fun all the time, so i figure if i can sell one even at a low price thats a good thing.

Make it as nice as you can and hope your buddy tells everyone all about it! You might get some more customers :) I wonder what steel the blade is made from I read some where that some blades were made from boron steel.

hmm never heard of boron steel

Its brutaly strong steel. They use it on some reinforcement bars on cars and even when its thin its very hard to bend with a hammer and forget about drilling it lol. I could be wrong about the blade being boron its just something that I am pretty sure I read a while ago.

no its definatly nothing like that lol. it shapes pretty good under the hammer and i had no trouble drilling the holes is the tang. but once you harden it up it gets nice and springy. at leastr that was my experiance with the first one i made. i havnt touched this blade since the post because i have been out of town for work.

hmm never heard of boron steel

I had to google it myself ;) but here's one link I found BORON STEEL Wiki, for what its worth, just lists boron as an alloyant among others such as nickel, moly, chromium, silicon and vanadium.

Scott

I had to google it myself ;) but here's one link I found BORON STEEL Wiki, for what its worth, just lists boron as an alloyant among others such as nickel, moly, chromium, silicon and vanadium. Scott

I did a quick google search on it and some are in fact made from boron steel http://www.google.com/patents/US5916114 added for extra hardenability.

i had never heard of boron steel until you said something and then lo' and behold what do i see stamped into a padlock at work.... BORON STEEL! lol aint that how it always is.

i had never heard of boron steel until you said something and then lo' and behold what do i see stamped into a padlock at work.... BORON STEEL! lol aint that how it always is.

lol that is pretty funny how things work some times.

well, ticked off right now. just craked the machete in the heat treat. it was my own fault, i had over heated it in one section and quenched it....well guess where the crack showed up at. thing was the rest of the heat treat turned out amazing. edge was a nice hardness and the spine was springy all except in that one tiny spot........guess i gotta start over

OH NOOOO!!!! That sucks man :( R.I.P. Machete

I had a great American Tonto blade going in the forge. I lost my train of thought for a few seconds at most as I drank some water. I looked back and it was melted nearly in half. I keep all my “learning experiences” in the shop, where i can see them and remember how/why I screwed up. I feel your pain. Have you started a new machete?

Where did it crack? Rather disappointing. Chalk it up to experience. Save the metal for making a billet when you are ready.

Phil