I agree with Horn Dog! I buy AMERICAN as often as possible.

The BK9 is a better chopper, though. Only because a 9" blade will out chop a 7" one.

Horn Dog how thick is the BK9? I think it is thinner than the SOD, but I might be wrong. Regardless the SY knife is a better blade anyway, so it really is no contest.

The 3/16" blades chop well and keep the weight down. You can break a Becker, but mine have survived years of abuse. For the money, they are a bargain. For toughness, I don't think you can get any tougher than 1/4" thick SR77 steel. But few of us will even be able to test a big scrapper to its limits. You need a vice and cheater bar for that!

You are right bld522. I checked also. the BK9 is thinner than say the SOD. Longer yes, but thinner. I would take the thicker SOD, or similar Scrap Yard blade over an BK9 for chopping any day.

Thicker is going to be harder to break.. I suppose we could make 1/2" thick blade made of SR-101 or whatever that was 10" long. It would be heavy, and like a NMFBM would probably break a two by four in one swing, but does that mean it is a great chopper, or a wonderful hammer? I have to think there is a a point of diminishing returns with blade thickness as far as cutting performance goes or Busse would go beyond the Fat BM. It seems to me, the thicker the blade, unless it is profiled by a pro like Horn Dog, the more resistance it will meet in the wood. It will be more fatiguing to swing, and will not have any other value beyond being a battering ram.

By the way....I really want a DF <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
AI

My light thin Condor PR machete, which came with a convex edge, will out chop my thick heavy FFBM. It bites deeper. It isn't near as tough, and the handle came loose, and it doesn't split logs. But in a pure chopping contest, the little 14" machete is a beast. The Fatty is my heaviest and thickest (except for some HI kukris) chopper. It has a great edge and will last forever, but I did several contests, and that Condor with its thin < 1/8" thick 420HC blade got through hard maple faster. I did the test several times, as I just couldn't believe it myself.

How does the Condor compare to the Trams ? I think they also make an Aztec " Cleaver" type of blade - but might be a bit heavy ? Thanks

Getting off topic a bit, but the Condors are a step up. They cost more, though.

Ok, real quick....I took my improved edged Bolo Tramontina out with the BK9. Again Cherry was the target. I am sure you can guess how this goes..... The Tramontina....completely walked on the BK9. It was all that pleasant to use in the hard cherry, but it easily doubled or trippled the cutting depth in the same number of cuts against the BK9.

Now...we need someone to test a Dogfather against the bolo... That would be fun.

AI

As you are discovering, a long sharp blade bites deep and takes out a big chunk of wood with each blow. Chopping in a V shape, about the same width as the thickness of the wood is the way to do it with machetes. With a good edge, the longer blade has a huge advantage. That is because of the speed of the chopping area of the blade. The longer the blade, the higher the velocity of the tip in a stroke. Since energy = mass x velocity squared, V is more important than M. The widened hump near the tip of a bolo blade also adds more mass at the chopping end of the blade, further adding to the power of the cutting stroke.





Bolos are great choppers.