I have a 24" machete that I want to sharpen with my Tormek. Will the long knife jig work, or do I need to do this free hand? ???
Either knife jig will work. The "long" knife jig doesn't give you any more capacity, it just adds more support for thin, flexible blades like filet knives.
For a blade like a machete, you can position the knife jig twice or do it freehand.
Any way of using one or two supports set to an angle of say 50 degrees and place the blade against these supports, similar to the scissor jig approach. It is very difficult to free hand such a large blade with any consistency.