Need help diagnosing an issue with my first machete

A

Amish Mike

Member
I had a chance to test out my first machete today. I beat it up pretty good, cutting vines, pine, and oak, as well as digging. For the most part, the blade edge held up well. Especially considering the abuse I was giving it. But I did get one small bend on the edge, about mid blade. It happened when I was cutting down a small oak tree about 3 inches thick. The tree fell over, but was not cut completely through. I attempted to cut the bent piece of trunk but when doing so, I struck it funny which caused the bend. My question is what do you think would cause this? Uneven heat treating? Or should I expect some rolling of the edge when hard testing a blade? Should I consider this a failure of the testing? I just want to know where to go next so that I can improve my skills.

Thanks
Mikemachete bend.jpegmachete.jpeg
 
Mike, I'm sure other folks with MUCH more knowledge than I have will chime in with better info, but from the photo and your description of how it was used - I'd think the heat treating was off a bit. Left it too soft - tell what metal it is, and how you heat treated it would help determine what happened. {edit to add steel} I just read the post you made with photos on making this knife - you used 1084? Good choice.

Is that one place all that shows a bend on the edge?

Have you tried the brass rod test? Check that and I'll bet you'll see the edge rolling more easy than desired.

Ken H>
 
Last edited:
Hey Ken,
Thanks for the response. The steel is 1084 and I heat treated it in a coal fire. It was then tempered in the oven twice. Once at 375 degrees for 2 hours and again at 400 degrees for 1 hour. I did have some concerns that the fire might not be big enough to get the entire blade to critical temperature all at once. Can you please explain what the brass rod test is and how it is done?
Thanks
Mike
 
Mike,
I am not sure what RC you were after?
Traditionally a Machete is on the soft side being in the 50-55 appox Rc so that the edge can be touched quickly with a stone or a rock off of the ground.

A 3" Oak sapling hit with a "funny" angle could tweak the edge on most Machetes in my experience.
 
Too shallow inclusive bevel and/or heat treat problem. A better photograph would help get your question answered.
 
If you're using 1084 then tempering at no hotter than 400 should leave you with an approximate hardness of 60rc (which should chip out before it rolls over).
My guess is you need to work on your HT procedure.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate you taking the time to give me advice. I will work on getting a more even heat treat and will try to get a better photo of the bend posted soon.

Thanks again,
Mike
 
D. Crawford said:
If you're using 1084 then tempering at no hotter than 400 should leave you with an approximate hardness of 60rc (which should chip out before it rolls over).
My guess is you need to work on your HT procedure.
Click to expand...

David, at what temperature should I temper the 1084 blade to get the hardness closer to 55?

Thanks
Mike
 
David- Thanks so much for the chart. I will copy and keep that in my notes.
Ken- Thanks for the videos. I watched them and learned a lot about proper heat treatment and tempering.
After doing the brass rod test, it became painfully obvious that the culprit was improper heat treating. As mentioned before, the bend occurred at about mid point on the blade edge. When I "brass rod" tested it, all of the edge before the bend easily bent = poor heat treatment. All of the edge after the bend was rock solid and still paper slicing sharp even after beating on it for 3 hours in the woods = good heat treatment. I will learn from this and revise my heat treating process. Just wanted to thank everyone again, you have been very helpful!

Thanks
Mike
 
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