I sharpen all mine with a generic ass stone so I leave my good sharpener for my hand knives. If you're looking for a factory edge, most good factories use a wax and cardboard wheel impregnated with diamond-laced wax and then buff it briefly after shapening on a cloth wheel. If you're looking for a hand done edge just remember once you take that metal off you can't put it back on. With my machetes I get them to a certain sharpness and then add another steeper bevel at the edge and hone that down till it will bur hair from your arm. Chetes are some damn hard steel and hold an edge pretty well. You can use guides, but I don't like them. Nothing replaces knowing how to get a good edge by hand. The best advice I could give is angle angle angle. Getting BOTH angles right is a must. also remembering that you actually want an edge that is not perfectly smooth because that is more like a razor and will dull easily. You want a rougher, more minutely serrated edge because its good for more work and bites in better. Axe edges are just broader and the blade edge is steeper. I will use a smiths camp sharpener and a steel by henckles, but now I just use the sharpener in most cases.
Sharpening
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from what I understand.. most quality machetes are made with high carbon steel (spring steel) , to enable them some flexibility so they aren't brittle...
that makes them softer than some of the newer fancier knife steels (cpm 3v, m390, m4)
but that makes them easier to sharpen...
from what I understand... they take edges nicely with a file, and a dual sided course stone, (try one of those axe hockey pucks)
and oil it afterwards since high carbon steels can rust.
any comments from our blade expert @The Tourist ?
here is the link for the hockey puck
that makes them softer than some of the newer fancier knife steels (cpm 3v, m390, m4)
but that makes them easier to sharpen...
from what I understand... they take edges nicely with a file, and a dual sided course stone, (try one of those axe hockey pucks)
and oil it afterwards since high carbon steels can rust.
any comments from our blade expert @The Tourist ?
here is the link for the hockey puck
Amazon.com: Lansky Puck - Dual Grit Multi-Purpose Sharpener - Blade & Tool Sharpener : Tools & Home Improvement
Buy Lansky Puck - Dual Grit Multi-Purpose Sharpener - Blade & Tool Sharpener: Sharpening Stones - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
ohh and here is a link on steels from bladehq
www.bladehq.com
Knife Steel Guide - Knife Life
In its most basic form, steel is just iron and carbon, but people have been studying, experimenting with, and perfecting steel with other elements for specific applications for millennia. The study of steel is now so complex and nuanced that one can acquire a graduate degree in the subject and...
www.bladehq.com
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