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#1

Knife Sharpening / Re: How to achieve less than 1...

Last post by Pietje - Today at 01:43:59 PM

I agree. I guess it will be difficult to get lower BESS on this set (SG+honing weel)
I tried to play with the honing angles (probably on hands, not at fixed angle), but be honest, I didn't see a difference.

I am wondering why you doesn´t reach with your set bess measurement results between 60 and 90 Bess.
How long is your grinded knife sharp. A day, a week or more?
An eyeopener for me was an USB microscope. That showes me the fact, that I didn´t reach the edge with honing.
The black line from the marker I was not able to see with my loupe glasses, but the enlargement from the microscope showed me how much wasn´t touched by the honing wheel.
Reaching the edge correctly with the honing wheel will show you little spirales (or helices?) while the burr is going.
After honing with the Tormek I use an oiled leather belt. The "Ballistol H1" oil doesn´t smell and is certificated for Kitchen use.

#2

General Tormek Questions / Re: Leakey Tormek

Last post by Pietje - Today at 01:17:04 PM

Do these machines tend to leak?

The T8 doesn´t leak. The water comes from the wet grinding disc safter removal and knives, you are sharpening. Short knives are putting water on the top of the machine. For this there are special drip trays, made by 3D printer. They are useful for saving the expensive cooling water with Tormek ACC.
Long knives around 25cm are putting water all over the place.

I have the T8 in a low plastik box. For the leaking water there is a paper towel on the bottom f the box.
In my opinion, the waterleaking is a problem for safety in the shop. Water on the floor may let you fall down.

The plastik box is also very helpful for holding back the dirt from the leatherwheel. The flakes of honing compound makes cleaning a hard job. A second papertowel on the left of the machine makes cleaning very easy.

I have a second box of wood for keeping my grinding dics. The construction plan for this is avalible here in the forum.

#3

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:44:29 PM

Finetuning the Eco Golok machete a bit more ( it's in use practically every week):
Shifting the sweet spot a tiny bit towards the handle & creating a useful point at the same time:





Lowered the edge angle of the already convexed edge a hair more to just above 25 degrees inclusive on a Foss green silicon carbide stone with WD40 as a lubricant (and so far it holds up):









Sculpted the handle hook just a little bit more and also took some more material off the handle end, so the machete fits even bit better in my rucksack:









Overall view:

#4

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:43:28 PM

Besides quite a bit of other green growth i used the modified Bushcraft Parang today to cut up a rather large green branch which had fallen from a big beechwood tree, blocking one of the larger woods trails near my home town.
I had already delimbed the branch before i took the pics, but you get the idea.
European beechwood is quite hard & tough, and this main branch had a thickness approaching axe territory, but the parang was what i had in my daypack and it handled the job very well.

Used quite a few maximum force chops to see how the now thinner convex edge with an apex of ~ 30 degrees inclusive would hold up, and the blade took it like a champ; no rippling, denting, rolling or any other damage that i could see or feel.
Afterwards the edge could still shave a bit of hair on the back of my hand, this with an 800 grit finish on wet & dry SiC paper using WD40 as a lubricant.
The blade bites deep on each swing, the new handle shape & surface finish function as intended, and the hooked handle end has also proven to be a very useful addition.

#5

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:42:11 PM

A week ago we got home from a camping holiday in the Luxembourg forests and the Belgian Ardennes, and the Condor Eco Golok machete did a wonderful job at trail clearing during several long hikes in the area.
The model is somewhat of a wolf in sheeps clothes, in that it isn't overly big or menacing looking, but it sure is a highly effective chopping tool without being unwieldy.
It's a bit less tip heavy compared to my CS kukri machete, giving it a better balance and thus making it less tiresome in the longer run.
I can swing this machete for hours on end, and without gloves.

The Condor Eco Golok machete stuck in a log somewhere in Luxembourg.
The edge is starting to discolour from all the wood sap and other mostly green stuff.



The only modification i made to the handle was a bit of smooth sanding where my index finger sits, as only in that spot the fuzzy finish was starting to create a bit of a hot spot while chopping.
On the rest of the handle the fuzzy finish has proven to greatly enhance grip without being abrasive on my hands, probably due to the fact that the protrusions left by the wood rasp aren't rigid.
The fuzzy finished polypropylene surface also is quite durable and doesn't seem to wear smooth (after several weeks of intermittent use) like the same finish on a PVC handle definitely will.

After resharpening with just the smooth file and cleaning the handle with an old toothbrush and some diluted detergent:


















Strong points for me:

- The Eco Golok machete fits inside my daypack (only just)
- the low weight of only 433 grams (after modding and resharpening)
- the very well hardened 1075 steel.
- Using just two files it takes and holds a good convex edge @ +/- 30 degrees inclusive, even on dried wood it did not fold or dent.
- the negatively angled handle
- the contouring (mod)
- the fuzzy/chewy finish (mod)
- the way this model transfers kinetic energy into the wood without vibrating, which together with the narrow convex edge makes for a deep bite upon impact, thus making it a highly efficiënt chopper in a small package.

What i don't like:

The edge contacts some of the steel rivets when sheating & unsheating, which each time creates a bit of edge damage.
I intend to make another sheath without rivets for it.

#6

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:41:12 PM

First step refining the blade surfaces with 240 grit wet & dry SiC paper on a rubber backing using WD40 as a lubricant, while using the Tormek WM200 AngleMaster to check regularly if the apex stays around the 30 degrees inclusive mark:

#7

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:40:10 PM

The Bushcraft Parang already had a convex edge with an apex around 40 degrees inclusive, a bit much for my taste, so i reshaped/reground the blade by hand with a Chinese 120 grit diamond file into a convex form which starts higher up the blade sides and now come together in an apex at around 30 degrees inclusive.
Also did something of a "Kephart-mod", where the upper sides of the blade are ground a bit narrower compared to the midsection.
For the pictures i crosshatched the now thickest parts of the blade, and the next step will be hand sanding the blade surfaces on a few different grits of wet & dry on a rubber backing using WD40 as a lubricant.

#8

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:38:43 PM

The hard shouldered V-shaped edge with an apex of +/- 30 degrees inclusive was changed into a soft shouldered convex shaped edge, also with an apex of +/- 30 degrees inclusive, with the help of a bastard file & a smooth file.
Going to find out how a filed convex edge holds up in my use.
I tried to make the file marks pointing a bit backwards, which will aid in grabbing the thin to medium sized branches this tool is mainly going to be used for.
The final stubborn burr remnants i could not remove with just the smooth file alone were abraded away on the Tormek leather wheel with a dab of PA-70 aluminium oxide paste.
The resulting apex is armhair shaving sharp on skin level, but the slightest sideways motion makes it slice into the skin, so this is not an edge you want to try to shave your face with.
BTW: Condor's 1075 steel is noticeably harder to file compared to the 1055 steel in the Cold Steel machetes.

Starting the new convex bevels by filing the hard shoulders down with an F.Dick bastard file:

















Refining the now convex bevels made by the bastard file with an Öberg smooth file:







Done:





While having about the same angle at the apex when compared to the old V-shaped edge, the new convex shaped edge is thinner behind that apex, and it also eliminates most or all of the hard bevel shoulders, making the blade more streamlined and thus more efficient for it's job.
If the steel allows it, with next sharpenings the convex will also be "pulled up" somewhat higher up the blade sides for an even shallower convex shape (while keeping the apex at about the same 30 degrees inclusive angle) for an even further increase of efficiëncy.

Below you can see two pictures of the Eco Golok machete with it's new convex edge resting into the 30 degrees V-shaped slot of my Tormek WM200 AngleMaster, to show that the apex reaches the correct measuring depth for 30 degrees inclusive, and that the bevels behind the apex are thinner than a V-bevel with about the same 30 degrees inclusive apex.
The pics were taken with an old IPad and are far from perfect, but they do give some idea.

The first pic makes the real apex look translucent due to reflecting light from both sides, so the distorted and dark apex-like shape just above it is just some sort of shadow.
Similar effects also make it look like the right side of the convex bevel isn't touching the slot wall, which of course it is.
The second pic is a bit too dark at the apex, but shows the thinner bevels and the lack of shoulders behind it maybe just a bit better.

#9

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:37:32 PM

For me the Cold Steel kukri machete has proven to be very comfortable with it's contoured PVC handle, and even more so with a fuzzy finished surface.
The PVC tends to shed most of the fuzzy bits after a few days of chopping, leaving a surface that is very hand friendly and doesn't produce any blisters, even with prolonged use (like the factory checquered surface can do)
Being softer, the PVC on this specific model also dampens shock more effectively compared to the harder polypropylene which is on most other Cold Steel machetes (as well as on these Condors)

But contouring & fuzzy finishing really does wonders for both the handling & comfort.
Being so thick, the handles on the Condors offer lots of tough amorphous polypropylene to work with, and being longer also gave me the opportunity to provide each handle with 2 distinct handle positions: one up front for thinner wood and a second one at the back for thick branches and small trees.
Shaping the inside of the flared handle end into a hook proved also very useful, as this tends to guide your pinky inward instead of outward, which is much easier on the hand.
The last two pictures in my post above already show the hook on the Bushcraft Parang, and later i also did this on the Eco Golok.

#10

Knife Sharpening / Re: Finetuning 2 Condors

Last post by kwakster - July 05, 2026, 07:35:54 PM

The Bushcraft Parang now also has a contoured & fuzzy finished handle: