This mystery machete was spotted emerging from the winter’s snow, so woodworker Luke decided to “adopt” it. His guess is that a landscaper dropped it at some point. The machete had a a plastic handle that wobbled, so he set about to improve the design.
The result of his redesign was a beautifully-stained handle, and a machete assembly that, according to Luke “holds a great edge and chops thick vegetation easily.” He also notes that it now hangs just inside his garage door for easy access when needed.
His build process started off with removing the old handle by “mangling” half of it off to remove it. Then he used the intact half as a template, and traced an outline onto a piece of wood. This was then cut out using a chisel to create an inlay for the tang.
Once the machete was put into the wooden block (Luke repurposed a piece of wood flooring), pins were inserted and epoxied into place. A second piece of wood was attached to the other side, and the assembly was left to sit overnight.
At this point, the blade was secure, but it was simply sticking out of a square block of wood. So Luke made a basic handle shape using a jigsaw, and further shaped it with an angle grinder, finishing it off with sandpaper.
Luke notes that since he did an inlay for the tang in one side of the handle, the blade is slightly offset. This doesn’t seem to be an issue, but something to think about if you build your own.
The handle was then stained and epoxied, for a machete blade and handle that should last for years to come!
[via Reddit]
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