I bought a Gerber machete with a saw back and its a little dull. This is my first machete and want to get it sharp the right way. What do I need and how do I do it? Thanks guys!
Surprised to hear that. Both my Gerber Machetes are razor sharp off the shelf as are all of my Gerber knife products. I'm not as particular about my machetes as I am my knives and use either a handheld knife or axe sharpener.
Thanks man. Do they sell these at hardware stores? Or do I need to order it online? I have a couple Gerber knifes too and they also came off the shelf sharp...just not the machete.
I'll also add this, there are many many ways to sharpen knives and machetes, but I prefer these pocket sharpeners to throw in the tool box for a quick sharp on the trail.
It's a machete not a straight razor. A working tool edge will stay reasonably sharp for a long time, a razor sharp one will dull out very quickly. A medium/course stone or a file is my tool of choice.
Machetes are a nightmare when blunt. you get shock waves all up your arm, you may as well chop at that vegetation with a mallet.
They're not even well weighted, so they really do need to be good and sharp. You can get a good lot of work done with a sharp machete and none with a blunt one, so re-sharpening is definitely a good way to go.
Those pocket whetstones are fabulous. Also wonderful for secateurs.
machetes here are generally made out of steel, not even stainless, and so rust quickly. You need to ensure that they are always oiled, and kept in a good environment.
As to sharpening, I've always just used a whetstone. Sit on the back porch, sharpening them up, it's quite relaxing. And meanwhile you can use the whetstone for everything else that needs doing as well.
Machete steel isn't as hard as the steel in a good knife blade. As steel has things like carbon, nickle, etc. added to it to increase hardness or is heat treated to be harder, it also makes the steel more brittle. Hard = Brittle, Soft = Ductile. Brittle doesn't work well in tool with a blade as long as a machete that gets used the way a machete gets used so they go with a softer steel.
Softer steels won't take or maintain as sharp an edge as the harder steel of a knife.
I worked on a nursery for years and we used machetes to trim shrubs and trees. We kept them sharp with a large (18" long x 1-1/2" wide) flat file several times a day. 2 or three strokes on a side was all that was needed. The edge was not a fine, razor edge but it was right for what we were doing. A fine razor edge will dull almost immediately in softer metal.
Wow been on this site 20 mins and learned a ton already..
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