A traditional style of farm knife made from a broken American scythe blade, usually used for topping root crops.
The blade below crack was cut back to the spine, which was forged out into a tang. Normally this would have been simply wrapped with rags to form the grip (which is why they were called rag knives) but we used a reshaped billhook handle instead.
The tang is peened on the end and the grip tightly wedged from the top inside the ferrule for an extremely tight and secure fit.
This is ideally what an American blade’s bevel should look like prior to honing. Note how far back the bevel goes, and its hollow form.
An excellent Italian machete from Rinaldi given a drop point and full regrind. The blade is distal tapered and fully forged construction, with a good hard, yet springy, heat treatment. The tapered stick tang is extremely stout, yet allows for a very dynamic balance that makes this heavy chopper lively in the hand.
A Condor Michigan axe head ground and polished to a hazy mirror finish, and a high centerline ground in. The handle is an O.P. Link shaved down to shape.
