Custom-Made Garden Tools
(Page 2 of 5)
January/February 1985
By John Vivian
By the way, be sure to follow the manufacturer's directions when working with carbide-matrix cutting blades. Like any grinding wheels, they can fly apart if used improperly. Also, the use of safety glasses and tough, hot-splinter-proof clothing is highly recommended for working with any metal-cutting tools... grinders in particular.
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Once the blank is roughed out, you can use a grinder to smooth the saw cuts, to make various notches and grooves for the handle, and even to bevel the cutting edge... if you don't get it too hot. I have a little electric bench model, but a Carborundum grinding wheel for your electric drill would do as well (maybe better!), and with careful cutting in the first place, the edge can be finished entirely with a hand file and a stone.
Next you'll want to put fastening holes in the tang. A set of three brass through-rivets is traditional, and better machetes also have an added hole in the butt end of the handle for attaching a thong. I'd put the three rivet holes in a full-dress tool, but since drilling holes in saw steel is difficult, I rely mainly on that modern wonder, epoxy cement. All you need is one hole in the center of the tang to provide a through-hold for an epoxy "rivet" between handle halves. However, I always use a wrist thong when flailing around with a machete to keep it from sailing from a tired and sweaty palm, so I put in a tangend hole as well.
To penetrate saw steel, use a hardened center punch to make dimples for starting your drill bit, or the tip will wander all over the surface and never bite in. Then heat the drill spots with the white-hot tip of your propane torch's flame until a dime-size area is glowing as red as you can get it. Let it cool at its own pace... this will partially anneal, or remove the hardening temper from, the Steel. Use a high-speed metal-cutting bit in your electric drill, and take your time drilling lest you overheat the bit and ruin it. I use a 5/16" standard high-speed bit that cost $2.99 new and can be resharpened for all eternity on the grinder.
To get through the saw steel (even though it's annealed), you'll have to kind of revolve your hand drill in a big cone around the drill hole. This will give an area other than the very tip of the bit a chance to bite into the steel, and the tool will penetrate quicker. I like to get just through with the drill, and then finish opening the hole with an old chain-saw file.
Once cut, drilled, and trimmed, the Brush-Whacker blank should be wire-brushed to remove old rust and crud. Shine it up bright with metal polish and steel wool, if you like. Saw steel is not a high-chrome "stainless" alloy, but you can make it rust-resistant with commercial gun bluing, available at any sporting goods shop, or with a brown-staining compound such as the trap dye sold by Cronk Outdoor Supplies, Wiscasset, ME 04578.
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