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Post by warriorpoet on Mar 30, 2024 3:12:02 GMT
Hey gang,
Adding to the ever growing machete hoard- just picked up the barong, kopis, and cutlass from cold steel.
The cutlass is highly regarded, but so far the least impressive example in my opinion.
Balance and handling is very off. It is a good bit thicker than any other model. It is also stamped with China whilst every other example is stamped South Africa.
Since the GSM buyout, are the machetes being made in China?
Did I end up with a knock off?
I would be shocked, it was purchased from midway and not from ebay or any questionable source.
I reached out to midway, and I am considering a return for that one as well as a cold steel spartan serrated pocket knife.
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Mar 30, 2024 7:10:21 GMT
I bought my Cutlass Machete more than 10 years ago before the South Africa stamps started. I remember that it felt blade heavy first, a bit better when pommeling like a viking sword. Nowadays it feels ok for me, perhaps due to grip band or handling cavalry saber repros? It's not really fair to compare it with shorter and lighter machetes, esp. ones with the 2mm thick blades Compared to a CS 1917 Cutlass it's nimble probably. "Cheap knock offs" of a CS Machete is a thought that never occurred to me.
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Post by mrstabby on Mar 30, 2024 7:30:15 GMT
CS gets copied a lot, it should be 2,8mm thick, 2,9mm with paint. I put car tire balancing weights on mine, now it has a pommel of 50g and feels much better. Just looked, mine's also south africa, barely a year old, so I don't know.
EDIT: I have read CS is pushing out blades like crazy to fill back orders any way they can, so it might be a new production to fill shelves. Maybe lookwith a magnet if the grip and guard have metal inside. If they cheaped ou they might not have steel in the guard. So it could be fake if it's not ~2,9mm thick, full tang or has no metal guard.
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Post by warriorpoet on Apr 1, 2024 1:11:05 GMT
Magnet checks out, it's stamped with the newer GSM cold steel logo on one side and China on the other
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Posts: 10,124
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Apr 1, 2024 8:39:47 GMT
I just compared the Cutlass Machete to my Windlass 1796 LC saber as a well handling cavalry saber and to my CS Us Marines NCO saber as a well handling infantry saber. The 1796 is a bit more blade heavy, or perhaps light hiltet, the NCO is a bit better in handling. Over all the Cutlass Machete handles ok, just heavier than shorter and lighter machetes of course. I tried adding a few magnets to the pommel end of the grip, that improves the handling significantly. I'm thinking about filling the lanyard hole with lead.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Apr 1, 2024 18:05:03 GMT
I looked at mine, and it's stamped 'Cold Steel South Africa' I was unaware there were differences? Mine is 3ish years old, and a bit clunky. And my biggest gripe is that it has a node in the handle, so its nasty when you hit something hard with it.
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Apr 1, 2024 18:13:17 GMT
Grip band here, grip band there, grip band everywhere... ![:D](//storage.forums.net/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
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Post by mrstabby on Apr 1, 2024 18:38:03 GMT
All of mine are South Africa, but the sheaths all have a sticker with "sheath made in China", and some are quite recent.
The hilt vibrational node is exactly where you grip it (about 9-10cm/4" up from the bottom), that's not the problem, the problem is the hard plastic. It hits you with the vibration as if you held the bare steel. Seems to be a common issue for all of the CS machetes. Just hold the blade at the grip and tap around on it above or below the node on the blade, it dances like crazy.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Apr 2, 2024 14:37:07 GMT
Gotcha. I've been slowly shaving the grip down for comfort, but now I can deliberately go a little small, grip wrap...why didn't I think of that? Andi, you are a GENIUS!
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izzy
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14 Day Ban - Politics
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Post by izzy on Apr 8, 2024 15:20:06 GMT
Hey gang, Adding to the ever growing machete hoard- just picked up the barong, kopis, and cutlass from cold steel. The cutlass is highly regarded, but so far the least impressive example in my opinion. Balance and handling is very off. It is a good bit thicker than any other model. It is also stamped with China whilst every other example is stamped South Africa. Since the GSM buyout, are the machetes being made in China? Did I end up with a knock off? I would be shocked, it was purchased from midway and not from ebay or any questionable source. I reached out to midway, and I am considering a return for that one as well as a cold steel spartan serrated pocket knife. Did you ever get your answer? I saw the question on Midway as well...but I am guessing if it's stamped in the blade then it's correct.
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Post by warriorpoet on Apr 8, 2024 17:48:09 GMT
Midway referred me to cold steel. I did a fair amount of research and indeed it does seem some of these machetes are made in China now.
I decided to hold on to it. It works well against harder targets (thicker limbs in this case), not so great for trimming the verge so to speak.
A cheap knock off of a cs machete, it does make me chuckle!
From what I've found, at least some of these are coming from China. I will say that the grinds on this one are excellent and it came with a decent and even edge.
I ordered the royal kukri around this time last year and it was rough. Full of burrs, completely uneven...someone either had a stroke, or was possibly cross eyed...
I managed to fix it up and it does great on the light springy vines and such. It's probably in the top 3 for me.
I've accumulated the gladius, kukri, royal kukri, jungle, barong, dadao, katana, waki, tanto, kopis, and now the cutlass!
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Post by hawthorn on Apr 8, 2024 17:54:57 GMT
It ain't like the south africa machetes were always top shelf. I bought a couple through ltspecpro back in the day that were atrocious. One was bendable like a bar of taffy on a hot day, not even heat treated.
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Post by mrstabby on Apr 19, 2024 14:10:53 GMT
So, I got a chinese made CS Bowie Machete. The grind is good, less convex than on the south african version, but no horrible burr. It's also quite polished, and the apex is a bit "washed out" because of it. Not here is something though: They say it's 65Mn Steel, not 1055! And it is indeed harder than the others, also much, much stiffer, but it's also 3mm thick, so about 0,2mm thicker. Quality does actually look better than the SA version I have, no molding marks on the grip and good grind.
Warriorpoet, have a look at the package (if you still have it) I would be interested if it says 1055 or 65Mn.
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Post by warriorpoet on May 2, 2024 10:04:50 GMT
I think I may still have the packaging since I was considering a return. I will check and report back!
I got a black bear bowie machete last year. It was stamped SA and is 1055 I think. Pretty big fan of that one, it's light and still plenty choppy so a good one for off trail hikes.
I wouldn't mind a better grind, or a bit more thickness in the blade though. Wonder if all GSM machetes are gonna be China made and 65nm..
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Post by mrstabby on May 2, 2024 10:11:46 GMT
I wouldn't mind a better grind, or a bit more thickness in the blade though. Wonder if all GSM machetes are gonna be China made and 65nm.. Yes they are, 3mm instead of 2,8mm and 65Mn instead of 1055. Still same hardness, or better softness of 50HRC. I have 2 now and a few on the way.
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Post by cerius on Jun 10, 2024 13:38:18 GMT
I wouldn't mind a better grind, or a bit more thickness in the blade though. Wonder if all GSM machetes are gonna be China made and 65nm.. Yes they are, 3mm instead of 2,8mm and 65Mn instead of 1055. Still same hardness, or better softness of 50HRC. I have 2 now and a few on the way. I got my cutlass machete also made in China in 65Mn steel. Came in the same package with Chinese war sword made in SA in 1055 steel. May I ask what kind of pommel did you give your Cutlass?
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Post by mrstabby on Jun 10, 2024 16:11:00 GMT
Nothing to be really proud of, just a bunch of 5g tire weights, 10 to be exact equalling around 50g. Although it felt a lot better at 25g already, 50g just feels right for me. Not sure where to go from here though, either make something of similar weight or just epoxy it all in place as is. The double sided tape is strong enough to hold them on even when using the cutlass but they need a day or so to really stick - they will fall off pretty easily within the first 24h. I put some fabric Hockey-Tape on it (I hate the feeling of the rubbery Tennis-tape) to mess around a bit. I think I need to redeploy the weights, the upper cluster of 6 is a bit in the way.
EDIT: Yeah, ended up moving all the weights down onto the D-Guard, had to add 2 more to get the same PoB.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Jun 10, 2024 17:13:33 GMT
If you are going to the trouble to rebalance it, I wonder if you could drill into the handle and fill it with lead bb's and epoxy.
Though removing it entirely and making he handle of something heavier would do it too.
Just over thinking a bit.
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Post by mrstabby on Jun 10, 2024 17:29:24 GMT
Ended up with this
Conclusion: Pommel would be the most efficient, but gets in the way. Around 60g added to the D-Guard in any form will reduce the PoB to 15cm/5,9" Also there are a lot of mold seams that get in the way, either need to shave those off or work around these.
I am interested in the weight and balance of the chinese one. Mine was 750g/1,65lbs, 17cm/6,7" PoB
Problem in drilling is that there is flat stock all the way and you can't get that deep, there isn't much material actually. You'd have to drill dozens of holes for one or two BBs, that's far too much work for me to be honest. Plastic on the guard is around 16mm, so you'd get in 1 6mm BB each hole only. 1,25g/BB you need 40 holes at least... There is more meat on the handle, but I don't want to impact structural integrity. I have looked into making a new grip AFIAK you need to drill holes in the steel and (there are holes of 2 different sizes) the handles don't come off that easily, worst is making new ones though - again, lazy. Rather just glue something on that holds well enough.
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Post by curiomansion on Jun 10, 2024 21:25:45 GMT
mrstabby How comfortable are you reprofiling the blade? That's typically a better route to go for an end product than continuing to add weight on the end. I always viewed pommels as fine tuners. The blade should balance itself for the most part. Also, thinning out the blade at the foible and making the edge fine creates a wicked fast cutter. Cold Steel machetes are the perfect practice object for blade reprofiling. The blackened finish shows you where you're grinding.
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