This Project was started on the Bark River forum over at http://www.knifeforums.com/

A High Performance Machete is something that all of us wanted and Mike Stewart of Bark River Knife and Tool suggested we start with the base blade of the Ontario heavy machete.

Here is the Ontario we started with.

The changes we made are as Follows.

1. Checked and found heat treat to be very good
2. Shorten the Blade to just under 14 inches.
3. Drop the point enough to have a point. The Drop Starts 5 inches back from the new point and is a very slow arc.
4. Move the Plunge line of the grind back almost 2 inches--this does not show in the picture but the factory grind starts much further down the blade in front of the handle.
5. Round off the top rear of the handle area.
6. Eliminate the small round nub from the lower portion of the extension.
7. Re-cut the Choile forward about 7/8th inch. The Factory handle is a little cramped for me and I have small hands.
8. The Dotted Line is the Front of the New Contoured Handle Slab.
9. Remove the Black Factory Finish
10. Re-Grind the entire Blade to blend in the Surface Finish.
11. Convex the Blade and Edge to a sharp but heavy Edge Spine.
12. Install the handle Slabs with Epoxy and three S S Loveless Bolt Sets and a Lanyard Tube.
13. Furnish a Custom Sharpshooter Sheath Systems Sheath.
    
    Here is the top view of the Finished Machete Handle.
    

Here is the Machete in the sheath

I am very pleased with how this came out--it is light and quick in the hand.

Specs:

Overall Length: 19 Inches
Blade Length: 13.975 Inches
Blade Steel: 1095
Blade Thickness: .120 Inch
Weight: 15.250 Ounces