I've been looking around for a while for a machete that will hold up to chopping thumb-sized limbs to use in keeping my shooting lanes maintained. I could not find anything stout enough for the job. Most commercial stuff is made of metal so thin you can bend the blade over one knee. So I determined to build my own.
Materials:
36" long, 3" wide, 3/8" thick metal (purchased at Home Depot for @ $7.00)
Two 5/16" x 1" bolts w/ nuts and washers
5/16" sheet metal drill bit
Two strips of 1/2" plywood @ 1 1/2" x 8"
5/16" and 1" wood drill bits
Metal cutting blade for circular saw
Wood file and sandpaper
Metal grinder
Method:
Cut a form from the metal using the metal blade in circular saw. I cut the handle end down to a 1 1/2" wide strip about 8" in from the end. On the blade end I cut the piece to a 32" total length angled about 45 degrees from spine to blade edge, then made another small cut to smooth the curve on the blade-side corner (the large angle).
Next I drilled two 5/16" holes centered by width and length about 5" apart in the 8" handle length. I used these holes as templates for marking the 5/16" holes I drilled into the two strips of plywood stacked exactly on top of each other. Then I drilled about a 3/8" deep bolt head/nut recess holes with the 1" wood bit in the outside portions of the 5/16" bolt holes in the plywood handles. After smoothing all the metal edges on the handle end, I bolted the two plywood pieces in place on either side of the handle shaft to form a firm handle, then smoothed all the wood surfaces with a wood file and sandpaper.
On the business end of the blade, I first ground down the leftover angles on the blade side end into a smooth curve. Then I worked both sides of the blade surface to a sharp edge with alternating runs on a metal grinder. It took about 20 minutes of grinding to get a uniform, fairly sharp edge. I used a small piece of wood block to apply slight, even pressure from both the handle and point ends of the blade.
What I have is heavy machete that will handle everything up to about 1" diameter tree limbs just like an axe without any visible effect on the blade. It can be used two-handed for added force, if necessary. Another benefit is when I butchered a hog this weekend, chopping leg bones and quartering the carcass (especially splitting the carcass lengthwise down the backbone) were a piece of cake using this new tool. It took six good strokes from the machete to split the backbone from butt end to the base of the neck. That beats the heck out of sawing for 10 or 15 minutes! Once again, I can see no visible alteration of the blade even after chopping through vertebrae and leg bones. WARNING:
This tool is not for the careless or foolish. It can literally sever a grown man's arm with a full-force two-handed stroke.
As far as I'm concerned, this blade is worth many times its cost (assuming access to tools and drill bits) of around $12 plus about an hour and a half labor.
