Does anyone use an Estwing machete?


Estwing sawback machete passaround - Done

Just ordered one of these weird, fun-looking Estwing machetes. Figured we could have some fun and do a passaround. https://www.estwing.com/collections/axes-outdoor/products/machete Anybody who wants in could use it for a month or two and then pass it along. Beat it like you own it. Anyone...
bushcraftusa.com
 
Waynemanning74 said:

Estwing sawback machete passaround - Done

Just ordered one of these weird, fun-looking Estwing machetes. Figured we could have some fun and do a passaround. https://www.estwing.com/collections/axes-outdoor/products/machete Anybody who wants in could use it for a month or two and then pass it along. Beat it like you own it. Anyone...
bushcraftusa.com
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After reading through that thread, I had to order one. It will be here next Wednesday.
 
My machete arrived today. It's a beast. It's definitely in need of a tuneup. The blade is coated with what looks like enamel? I'm going to try some paint stripper on it and see if that takes it off. I think that will make a huge impact on the performance. I haven't used it for anything yet, but most likely will tomorrow. I'll drop some pics.
 
Waynemanning74 said:
There was a pass around at one point with one of these I got in on it. It was a pretty cool blade if you can find the thread here there's plenty of info about it
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I ended up with that machete from that pass around. @gohammergo knowing your way around saws as you do, you can see all the firework that needs to be done on those teeth to make them a good bit more effective. I know I put in some hours on it when I had it for the pass around and another also put in some file time on those teeth.

KIMG1338.JPGI took it along for the local get together this last weekend, didn't really use it but I did bring it out for the group photo of sharps that we brought.
 
ExAF1N1 said:
I ended up with that machete from that pass around. @gohammergo knowing your way around saws as you do, you can see all the firework that needs to be done on those teeth to make them a good bit more effective. I know I put in some hours on it when I had it for the pass around and another also put in some file time on those teeth.

View attachment 2183383I took it along for the local get together this last weekend, didn't really use it but I did bring it out for the group photo of sharps that we brought.
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I'm hoping that getting the blade coating off will help a lot. It actually looks like it was dipped in the coating. You can see it clumped on. I'll try and get some pics tonight.
 
ExAF1N1 said:
I ended up with that machete from that pass around. @gohammergo knowing your way around saws as you do, you can see all the firework that needs to be done on those teeth to make them a good bit more effective. I know I put in some hours on it when I had it for the pass around and another also put in some file time on those teeth.

View attachment 2183383I took it along for the local get together this last20250918_201823.jpg20250918_201835.jpg20250918_201849.jpg weekend, didn't really use it but I did bring it out for the group photo of sharps that we brought.
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Not sure how sharp the pictures will be, no pun intended.
 
Trying the link to the pass-around again. Several of us spent quite a bit of time with that tool.

pellegrino

Thread 'Estwing sawback machete passaround - Done'

Just ordered one of these weird, fun-looking Estwing machetes. Figured we could have some fun and do a passaround.
estwing-machetes-ebm-64_1000.jpgScreenshot_20200822-221225.png
www.estwing.com

Machete - Estwing

The Estwing Machete makes the perfect outdoor utility tool. The hand-sharpened edge clears brush with ease.
www.estwing.com www.estwing.com


Anybody who wants in could use it for a month or two and then pass it along. Beat it like you own it. Anyone interested?

Participants List - (Still Open)
@Waynemanning84
@ExAF1N1
@GBinGA
@field-expedient
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Heck of a chopper.

Saw blade has an awfully wide kerf, which translates into an unreasonable amount of work sawing through something, compared to a normal saw like a Bahco.

Saw teeth needed work in order to "be all that they could be". Working them over with a triangular file was doable.

I still think about getting one to keep in my work truck. It would be a good all in one emergency tool. Jack of all trades type of thing.
 
I did a little messing around tonight and found that the finish on it fairly easily scrapes of with a utility knife blade. Go figure. :)

I also noticed that the teeth on the Estwing side have a good set, the USA side not so much. I have a plan to fix that. I'll get pics when I do it, whether it works or not. 20250918_225320.jpg20250918_225323.jpg
 
At that size has anybody done any actual chopping with it, does it get heavy?, how does it keep an edge? Is it easy to sharpen? , I’ve tried the pass around link but it does not work, perhaps caused of the upgrade, I own and use the hatchet with a leather handle and a 22oz hammer for work, curious about the machete, they make excellent handles.
 
It chops quite well.

It is about as heavy as a riggers hatchet.

It is not hard to sharpen, other than the fact that there is a lot of edge there, this a lot of work (no different than any machete)

Edge holding seemed reasonable.

Try using the Search function in the upper right corner. Type "estwing" and click the "thread titles only" box.
 
GrayGhost said:
Broken link.

@Guy @Reds

FYI
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It seems as though since the upgrade it indeed is. A week or so ago when I posted it it was still good. The entire thread is actually gone I just looked it up.
@gohammergo used it and didn't have any problems. I guess older threads may suffer with upgrades? Not sure.
 
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One of the features I was fairly impressed with not to bad IMO.
The sawback had been worked on when I got it and I do believe someone else refined it after I had my turn in the pass around.
It held a good edge.
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For the money I think the sheath was pretty good as well.
I beat on it pretty good I have more pics somewhere but found these and figured I'd share
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Slices pizza well lol.
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I took the rest of the coating off the cutting edge today, and gave it a pretty decent convex regrind. Honed it with my diamond stone and it's got a pretty respectable edge now. I'd happily use it to carve a ham or turkey. 20250919_200530.jpg20250919_200542.jpg

I'm going to soak it in citrus strip tonight and see if the saw teeth come clean. I didn't do anything with the set of the teeth yet.
 
gohammergo said:
I took the rest of the coating off the cutting edge today, and gave it a pretty decent convex regrind. Honed it with my diamond stone and it's got a pretty respectable edge now. I'd happily use it to carve a ham or turkey. View attachment 2183886View attachment 2183887

I'm going to soak it in citrus strip tonight and see if the saw teeth come clean. I didn't do anything with the set of the teeth yet.
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I wish the link worked to the pass-around thread. We had a good bit of discussion about the set of the teeth.

When I checked the kerf width by measuring the width from left hand teeth to outside of right hand teeth, and then checked the thickness of the blade stock, I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to reduce the set of the teeth without causing the blade to bind in the kerf. Hope that makes some kind of sense. Let me see if I can find the thread again and copy over a couple of my posts.
 
GBinGA said:
Yep. I think you nailed it. I've had that comment bouncing around in my big hollow noggin all day and just got down to the basement to check.

View attachment 1156772

View attachment 1156774

0.165" or so across the teeth (I checked several places, pretty consistent), and about 0.170" behind the edge. Not quite 3/16".

So, if you ever completely buried the blade, the kerf would actually not be wide enough for smooth sawing.

And as you pointed out, you can't make the blade thinner without sacrificing some of the weight, which provides the chopping power, which is where the tool shines.

But, the teeth could still be better executed. Looking at the pictures from before anyone sharpened the teeth, there was an obvious lack of effort/thinking/knowledge at the factory.
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See above. You might have to expand the quote in order to see the pictures and text.
 
GBinGA said:
See above. You might have to expand the quote in order to see the pictures and text.
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I remember your post. Great input. :) I have the blade soaking tonight. Hopefully it softens the finish enough to remove it. I'm pretty anxious to give it some work.
 
This machete reminded me of the tool of the rangers of Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia. It was made from half a two-handed saw. It could be used as a cleaver and for cutting down small trees.
 

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Citrus Strip for the win!
I soaked it overnight and this morning the finish just wiped away. Just a few tiny spots left. I think it's much more attractive now.

It did darken the edge that I had cleaned up. A few minutes with my dremel and a drum sander and it's cleaned up. I brushed the saw and you may be able to see the inconsistencies in the tooth set. I'll work on that next. In the meantime, I'm going to give it some stuff to chop.

I'm glad I invested in this. I was watching some YouTube reviews on this last night. Nothing recent showed up, most were at least 5 years old. I think one was from 10 years ago. Maybe 12? I paid 51 bucks for this from Amazon. That's less than they were paying for it way back then.

It appears that the sheath that came with this is a better design than the original.

I'll get the sawback tuned up in the near future. It'd not a real high priority on my life list right now. :) I didn't buy it for it's sawing capability. However, knowing my mo, I'll probably be taking a file to it in the next couple of days, if not tonight. :)20250920_121023.jpg20250920_121027.jpg20250920_121030.jpg20250920_122029.jpg20250920_122054.jpg
 
I took it out for a spin tonight. As expected, the sawback is pretty useless. :) I think a jagged rock would cut faster.

The machete chops nice though. Impressive. With the thicker blade and convex edge, it's not slick like a typical machete. But it throws nice chips. It's actually more like a hatchet with a really long cutting edge. :)

If I didn't have so many other things going right now, I'd buy another of these and put a hollow grind on it. I bet it would slice and dice then. 🔪🗡️
 
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