My New Machete or How a Company Can Change
Nov 30, 2019 18:29:21 GMT
Post by pgandy on Nov 30, 2019 18:29:21 GMT
I’m going to ramble here probably not to the interest of most but today has been cancelled due to the heavy rains and I’m bored.
The subject company is Bolleta, which is a large manufacturer of tools located in Colombia. My first experience with them came more than 15 years ago when I decided that I needed another machete to supplement the smaller one that I was using. My favourite hardware store at the time had just gotten in a stock and I chose an 18” jobby with a Latin style blade. The name Bolleta meant nothing to me. On examining the knife at home I was surprised at the workmanship. For one, both scales matched perfectly. In fact the entire machete was well done, felt good in the hand and needed no further other than a good edge. Not out of line even for the many reputable brands although for the American market I think many companies put a cutting edge on these. 3-4 years later I decided that I needed a longer machete although I wasn’t idle during this time acquiring several kukris, a pinuti, and a couple of others. Back to the same hardware store. This time they were closing out the line and had two styles left one of which was 26” that I bought and I think that was the last of those. At home I noticed in those years Bellota had deleted the lanyard hole. There was a slight mismatch in a spot on the ventral side of the grip that was easily corrected with sandpaper. I didn’t measure at the time but later discovered the circumference of the grip was 10.1 mm compared to 10.5 mm of the previous. A normal manufacturing tolerance? Not enough to notice.
I featured that machete in a video to point out that it was possible to get a good knife, or whatever, from lesser known manufacturers that don’t spend huge sums in advertising and building their prestige and then charge the customer more in the end to recoup their expense. That machete cost well under 6 USD and both have served me well over the years.
Now fast jump a decade. I was in a hardware store to buy tape as the one next to me failed on the last two attempts. On the way out through the corner of my eye I picked up on the very distinctive grip of Bolleta and I had to stop. The display had been pretty much picked over but there was one machete that attracted me with its wider than usual blade. It’s pictured below. I picked it up and put it down a number of times as the blade was chipped and there were two cuts in the grip. Also it appeared like someone had started to sharpen the false edge for about 4-5" before giving up. I finally put it down for good as I would have had to remove too much metal to get an even edge to start sharpening. As I was about to leave I noticed two more machetes in beautifully tooled leather sheaths and hoped but didn’t expect to find the sister to the damaged machete. As luck had it the second sheath contained one. I asked the price and did a quick conversion in my mind which equalled cheap in USD and bought. Got home checked the exchange rate that morning and came up with $4.07.
But alas there were many subtle differences between that and old ones. I then remembered that a few years earlier I revisited Bolletas’s web site and hardly recognized it. I thought at the time it was just a page update. I now believe it’s not the same company but has been; bought out, a possible hostile take, or? Whatever, it appears to me to be a new company using the facilities and reputation of the old company. For one the logo on the blade has changed. Before leading the Bolleta name there was a triangle and some numbers in a different format on both blades. I noticed on the new page the colours of the grip were reversed as is on the new machete, but at that point thought no further.
On the new machete the scales did not line up correctly neither ventral and dorsal. I quickly corrected with the Work Sharp. The blade grind on the earlier two was well done and gracefully followed curved the edge. Now the grind is wider and uneven, done with what appears a courser wheel, and in places instead of a graceful bend there is an angle, in short done by unskilled or semi-skilled labour. The anti-rust coating was applied prior to grinding resulting in rust in the grind. The grip has been reduced to 9.5 mm in circumference. Comfortable but marginal for my size 8 hand and I’m considering applying tape.
As for the positives, not all is bad, the blade sings like a bird, better than the old ones. The weight distribution of the style I chose is better, perhaps one of the best if not the best of my machetes. It cuts like a champ and is none fatiguing. I’ve only had three cutting sessions so far, one on hard wood and the other softer vegetation and I was more than pleased with both. The third was a side by side comparison on hard wood. They preformed about the same with possibly, I say possibly, favouring the new machete slightly. Neither had been sharpened just prior to the test and both remained newspaper cutting sharp after that test, so no noticeable changes to the type of metal. They always held an edge well. The changes are cosmetic except the reduced grip and while I don’t like any, they have been cost reducing and do not affect the efficiency of the knife. I believe this will become a favourite.
Comparison of grip size. Original machete is on the left.
Comparing the company's logo
All three machetes for comparison
The subject company is Bolleta, which is a large manufacturer of tools located in Colombia. My first experience with them came more than 15 years ago when I decided that I needed another machete to supplement the smaller one that I was using. My favourite hardware store at the time had just gotten in a stock and I chose an 18” jobby with a Latin style blade. The name Bolleta meant nothing to me. On examining the knife at home I was surprised at the workmanship. For one, both scales matched perfectly. In fact the entire machete was well done, felt good in the hand and needed no further other than a good edge. Not out of line even for the many reputable brands although for the American market I think many companies put a cutting edge on these. 3-4 years later I decided that I needed a longer machete although I wasn’t idle during this time acquiring several kukris, a pinuti, and a couple of others. Back to the same hardware store. This time they were closing out the line and had two styles left one of which was 26” that I bought and I think that was the last of those. At home I noticed in those years Bellota had deleted the lanyard hole. There was a slight mismatch in a spot on the ventral side of the grip that was easily corrected with sandpaper. I didn’t measure at the time but later discovered the circumference of the grip was 10.1 mm compared to 10.5 mm of the previous. A normal manufacturing tolerance? Not enough to notice.
I featured that machete in a video to point out that it was possible to get a good knife, or whatever, from lesser known manufacturers that don’t spend huge sums in advertising and building their prestige and then charge the customer more in the end to recoup their expense. That machete cost well under 6 USD and both have served me well over the years.
Now fast jump a decade. I was in a hardware store to buy tape as the one next to me failed on the last two attempts. On the way out through the corner of my eye I picked up on the very distinctive grip of Bolleta and I had to stop. The display had been pretty much picked over but there was one machete that attracted me with its wider than usual blade. It’s pictured below. I picked it up and put it down a number of times as the blade was chipped and there were two cuts in the grip. Also it appeared like someone had started to sharpen the false edge for about 4-5" before giving up. I finally put it down for good as I would have had to remove too much metal to get an even edge to start sharpening. As I was about to leave I noticed two more machetes in beautifully tooled leather sheaths and hoped but didn’t expect to find the sister to the damaged machete. As luck had it the second sheath contained one. I asked the price and did a quick conversion in my mind which equalled cheap in USD and bought. Got home checked the exchange rate that morning and came up with $4.07.
But alas there were many subtle differences between that and old ones. I then remembered that a few years earlier I revisited Bolletas’s web site and hardly recognized it. I thought at the time it was just a page update. I now believe it’s not the same company but has been; bought out, a possible hostile take, or? Whatever, it appears to me to be a new company using the facilities and reputation of the old company. For one the logo on the blade has changed. Before leading the Bolleta name there was a triangle and some numbers in a different format on both blades. I noticed on the new page the colours of the grip were reversed as is on the new machete, but at that point thought no further.
On the new machete the scales did not line up correctly neither ventral and dorsal. I quickly corrected with the Work Sharp. The blade grind on the earlier two was well done and gracefully followed curved the edge. Now the grind is wider and uneven, done with what appears a courser wheel, and in places instead of a graceful bend there is an angle, in short done by unskilled or semi-skilled labour. The anti-rust coating was applied prior to grinding resulting in rust in the grind. The grip has been reduced to 9.5 mm in circumference. Comfortable but marginal for my size 8 hand and I’m considering applying tape.
As for the positives, not all is bad, the blade sings like a bird, better than the old ones. The weight distribution of the style I chose is better, perhaps one of the best if not the best of my machetes. It cuts like a champ and is none fatiguing. I’ve only had three cutting sessions so far, one on hard wood and the other softer vegetation and I was more than pleased with both. The third was a side by side comparison on hard wood. They preformed about the same with possibly, I say possibly, favouring the new machete slightly. Neither had been sharpened just prior to the test and both remained newspaper cutting sharp after that test, so no noticeable changes to the type of metal. They always held an edge well. The changes are cosmetic except the reduced grip and while I don’t like any, they have been cost reducing and do not affect the efficiency of the knife. I believe this will become a favourite.
Comparison of grip size. Original machete is on the left.
Comparing the company's logo
All three machetes for comparison