Sharpening a very dull machete!

[Bekeart]

DRAW FILE with a SINGLE CUT FILE

IF you know how or can find an OLD COOT to show you how.

DRAW FILE with a single cut file.

You will clamp the blade - edge to left .

Grab file - one end in each hand - tang left - square end right

Draw (pull) the file ALONG the entire length of the cutting edge - Watch the chips roll -

When that side looks good - Revere direction of machete and re-clamp - Draw file the second side as before.

GOOGLE "draw file" barrel - should find some videos or better explanation.

This is MUCH FASTER than pushing that ******* file straight at the edge.

This is a VERY OLD technique. It is the way that gunsmiths of olde finished the flats on those hexagonal / octagonal barrels ..

Bekeart

 

[LouisianaJoe]

Three dollars to the knife sharpener guy at the gun show and it's done. It probably won't need sharpening again until the next show. I use stones on my knives but a machete is just too long. Or, I take a bunch of them with me when I go see Louisiana Joe.

I have a 8" diameter wheel 3" wide that I bought at a Lapidary store. It takes belts from 60 to 800 grit and I mounted it on a #2 Morse taper that fits my wood lathe. This allows me to use a wide area and relatively low speeds. I have sharpened lawn mower blades, axes, machetes, and many knives on it. I have a 8X2" Black Arkansas stone that I finish the edge with. I have a machete that will shave hair off of my arm. For most knives I also use a felt wheel with a polishing compound on it to make the edges look like a mirror.

I have also used a belt sander to start very dull blades. I leave the blade on the sander for a couple of seconds at a time to keep the blade from getting hot. If it starts feeling hot to the touch, I let it cool before continuing the process.

 

[Harrison]

I spent 4 months in the jungle of Belize on an archaeological site. The natives that were clearing jungle and brush for us with machetes kept a 10" flat file to touch up their machetes about every 10 or 15 minutes. For a machete that is all you need. They were made for rough hard cutting, not fileting fish or skinning a deer. A fine edge will turn or dull quickly if you are using a machete for it's intended purpose.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Best thing for me is a 10" mill illegitimate child. Take your time and you can put a pretty stout edge on it.

 

[walnutred]

One tip I should have added, take a piece of chalk and rub it over the flat of your file. This will help keep metal filings from clogging the files teeth.

 

[rwsmith]

Make that.....

I use a ten-inch mill ******* file (that term is probably going to be *** out).

Make that an 'illegitimate' file.

 

[A10]

Naw, it's more fun to say *******........

 

[Redmond]

IF you know how or can find an OLD COOT to show you how.

DRAW FILE with a single cut file.

You will clamp the blade - edge to left .

Grab file - one end in each hand - tang left - square end right

Draw (pull) the file ALONG the entire length of the cutting edge - Watch the chips roll -

When that side looks good - Revere direction of machete and re-clamp - Draw file the second side as before.

GOOGLE "draw file" barrel - should find some videos or better explanation.

This is MUCH FASTER than pushing that ******* file straight at the edge.

This is a VERY OLD technique. It is the way that gunsmiths of olde finished the flats on those hexagonal / octagonal barrels ..

Bekeart

That's how my dad taught me and it works great! We also did make an octagon barrel out of a round one. Thanks for the memories.

 

[Old Seabee]

Sharpener

Go to Tractor Supply in garden dept they have a carbide tool like for a knife only angled for garden tools shovel- hoe . Take the ugly off with file first a few drags will do it

 

[jkc]

Power tools such as grinders or sanders are usually lethal instruments for tempered steel edges, and a file is overkill for all but the seriously abused machete edge. Unless the blade has large chunks missing, forget grinders, sanders, and even files.

First, clean the entire blade of sap &tc. ---kerosene is the safe and effective solvent of choice. Clamp the blade to a bench or table edge, leaving only a centimeter or so of the cutting edge overhanging (so you can't possibly cut yourself too seriously by mistake), and wearing leather gloves for protection, and using plenty of honing oil, hone the cutting edge in just the reverse motion you'd use to hone a smaller blade on a stationary stone, i.e., orbital motion, advancing along the edge. You'll want a flat, circular, double-sided stone (Norton, and others, sell them), with coarse grit on one side, medium on the other. Work alternately both sides of the blade, from coarse to medium grit. Once it,s sharp enough, it's OK to use a polishing wheel with some fine grit polish on a grinder, for final wire-edge removal, and touch-up, but that's as much power tool treatment as a quality edge ought to get.

 

[NYlakesider]

Again thanks to all that took the time to answer. Lots of good suggestion here. I do have a bunch of files but I will get a new one just for this project. I will get a good one and slowly do the work using no power tools, heck it's only a machete not a scalpel or a $500+ hand built super knife.

I do know and have done the draw filing technique as mentioned by "Bekeart". Using my old mentor's advice way back when I was a beginning pipefitter/welder "go slow its faster" I will get this tool back into hacking/slashing form.