Making a Machete with No Power Tools - Survival, Prepper, Beginning Blade Makers 

My brother and I made our first swords when we were 7 and 9 respectively. We used some steel (found) and ground and shaped them over a long Summer is the basement. Nothing was treated or hardened but we had formed some heavy, sharp pointy, deadly implements by Autumn. The moment we finished them my mother collected them. No Zorro reenactments, no pirate games, no crusades relived with our home-made swords, just a Summer of intensive labor.

I have so much respect for this guy creating a functional blade without the ease of power tools! Great job!

You called that ugly? It is beautiful!

"This knife is going to be very crude and look like butt" *crafts a masterpiece*

Some say that he is out there... still filing.... still filing...

I'm going to start making my stuff now before we lose power!

9:43 That guitar riff brings me back to when 90’s tv shows returned from a commercial break. Great build, thanks for sharing!

My favorite video on blade making on the entire web

Thank you for a very informative video, I know as someone who doesn’t own a shop full of tools it’s nice to see you do things in a more simple way. Not everyone can afford the higher tier tools, but like to do projects like this.

I'm trying to determine my poorness to laziness ratio to figure out if I should go this route or buy better tools.

Love to see a man with a brain & REAL skills. Best video I have seen in a while!

When I started knife making, I was doing this when I was 14 y.o. The first steps of the edu. came from knife making magazines. It's been almost 26 years later and I still apply the same low budget, effective, work-of-passion to the blades I create. For-granted I'm not famous as far as being featured in any of those magazines I studied when I was a kid, but I have had some of my old customers make their way back to my shop for additional orders and praises, and Sorrells right ...you can get pretty beefy building knives this way ;)

Walt is an "honest-to-God" metalsmith and quite the wordsmith to boot. Grind on Walter!

Thanks Walter, appreciate the effort you put in.

I've been making knives for many years. Gotta say, your videos and the info your giving away for free is just awesome! It warms my heart to see others interested in blade making and giving it a try. This is saving everyone watching ALOT of trial and error. Great work!

"still filing.... still filing.... still filing..." I can't even remember how many times this exact same line was endlessly droning in my head. Nice video and a good looking blade.

I appreciate this video Mr. Sorrells! Thanks for your detailed instruction and willingness to share your expertise with the world. The world could definitely use more guys like you sir! Much respect!

wow and it only took you 20 minutes

Walter I'm not big on your music but you are a true master. Thank you for sharing your well of knowledge.

Thoroughly enjoyed this lesson. You're truly a master at what you do. Thank you for sharing this with us!!

I've been needing a new good boot knife with a full tang Might as well make my own. Thanks for the video!

the filling noise tickles my brain as my eyes started twitching lol

Fantastic and encouraging video for us amateur knifemakers who tend to be intimidated by the massive amount of information and seemingly endless sets of tools that every knifemaker out there seems to possess (I know I was). Thank you for taking the time to educate and enlighten!

I think it's funny that the advertisement at the beginning was a Wal-Mart ad and you said this will be better than any of those cheap machetes you'll find at Wal-Mart. I love the design and especially the handle.

When I was a kid, I wanted a scientific calculator. My dad said, "When you can solve the equations by hand with paper and pencil, then I will buy you a calculator. Morel of the story... learn stone age method first, then move to 'power tools'... regardless of the discipline.

Made a karambit with a hacksaw and files, an old hand crank drill for the finger hole. put the bevel on it with some files, and sharpened it with a wetstone.

Thumbs up man. Proper instructional video; with excellent advise, and comprehensive details. Brilliant. Thanks again.

Wow, that was really cool. I just stumbled on this video while bouncing around youtube, and while I'm not really "into" knives or survival stuff or fabricating things other than small parts and accessories for my RC aircraft, I found this to be really interesting and educational. Great job Walter! I'll have to check out some of your other videos.

To anyone who doesn't want to sit around filing away for hours on end, but doesn't want to dish out a lot of cash for a grinder. Harbor freight sells a 15 dollar angle grinder. He has had it for 2 years and it still works great

Can you do a proper test along with Walmart ones? Thanks

Just found this video and really appreciate your making it. I enjoy using recurve blades but they are few and far between and most aren't what I want or need. This is a practical example using obtainable materials and tools... I have a shop full of tools and with this video I'm looking forward to a winter of blade projects including this style/size machete. Thanks for presenting it (like all your videos) with clarity and class.

you sir are a master of your craft. I had such an awesome time watching you turn the bar of metal into something so beautiful.

"Still filing." Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Perfect! I am intimately acquainted with how much filing goes into making a knife without power tools. I made a bush knife last year with a 6 inch blade and that took about 20 hours worth of filing to get the edge geometry where I wanted it. So this year, I stopped at a yard sale and got myself a treadle grinding wheel that is much faster than filing! Thanks Walter for a great video!

... Great video and all but the comment about blacksmiths using files to rough out a shape kinda stuck with me. From what I gather a black smith would forge the shape then rough it down. Only using the file to correct small flaws and to put a basic edge on the blade. They were big because they hammered away at metal all day, not filing away.

Badass. I so want to make one of these. Thanks for the video! You give a lot of detailed description of your process. Looking forward to your other videos.

I really love the way you made this with basic/ low tech tools and make it seems easy and fun. It gives me fancy ideas to try it my own. LIKE!

this guy sounds like the lieutenant from inglorious bastards :P

he sounds like Rick from The Walking Dead

Just wanted to say thanks for a good bunch of videos, I have been blacksmithing for longer than I care to admit, my grandfather thought of babysitting as put the 2year old behind the anvil with a small hammer and cold steel, he believed that everyone of his sons and grandsons should be able to make what they needed, I'm the last of my generation and my nephew and his kids have talked me into teaching them. My sons and grandsons are already smiths (I started training them as soon as they were out of diapers). I wanted to say thank you for your videos, you are one of the few people that teach with a similar style that I do and I try to teach as my grandfather did. So keep up the good work.

Great video! And you obviously know what you're doing. Very informative. Thanks for sharing, Walter.

11:31 "I'm going to be using a propane torch to heat the blade." Pretty sure that's oxy-acetylene.

Alaska you know we have a civilization up here we aren't just nomads that lives in igloos

Excellent presentation!!! There is a wealth of knowledge here. The finished product looked very capable too. Thanks for sharing this.

As a blade hack I appreciate the simplicity of your build. Bravo making this project in reach of anyone.

If you heat treat it in a oven how hot and how long?

I want to make a knife but i can't find a good steel for my knive. i want something like 440C, but i dont know where to buy it snd i don't understand the sizes. i live in the netherlands. can anyone please help me out. im searching for steel for a couple of months.

Hey mr. Sorrells new sub here, very nice it reminds me of the saying "utility is the essence of grace", but I'm just getting in to blacksmithing and I just wanted to say thank you for taking your time to explain everything in layman's terms, I got a lot out of this video I simply didn't from some of the 100+ others I've watched over the last few months

that's a hell of a hobby , maybe one day I'll start crafting my own blades too !! thanks for the video

11:49 Doesn't he look kinda like Bruce Willis?

That guitar riff....pretty annoying by the end.

Thanks for sharing this with me,I appreciate your time and knowledge,well done.

Thankyou for a good educational video on making a knife without power tools. A lot of hard work, but much more rewarding and relaxing pastime for people who would like to have a go but don't know a workshop wing.

anyone else start cringing at 4:35?

I thought this was a joke when you cut 7 miles from the line and spent 2 years filing

I was laughing until the handle was completed. OMG, it is beautiful!

I like making things by hand it’s very satisfying and authentic!

Some say that he's still filing to this day...

"No electricity whatsoever" *proceeds to use electric oven* Owkay...

I've been looking at alot of knife making videos and l have to say you'res or the most informative and easy to understand.

The shape and grind oh my my. Fantastic

If you would have used the epoxy too early, you would have been really PINNED in a bad spot

knowledgeable guy but totally looks baked af

Awesome job, explained this really well

My arms hurt. However the simplicity and natural beauty of the project is captivating. People forget that original blacksmiths and wood workers used these techniques for cost effective tools on the farm. Nice work, thanks.

First off... Sir, thanks for gutting that out and showing how it can be done with no power tools or forge and using backwoods (not wards) enginuity. A lot of people get discouraged at the thought of even trying to make something by hand, having never seen the process come to fruition. I've read the comments below by fellow "smiths" and others and, frankly, am disapointed and perturbed by so much ignorance and arrogance. To the "laughing guy," below, last time I looked a torch/stove/forge was not a "power tool" (unless you call a hand-cranked blower "powered"). I see no gears and motors, no electrics hanging off of his torch, nothing moving but the gas through the tube. Too many people can't wait to say "gotcha," even when there is no gotcha, instead of "thank you" or offering some respect. Finally, as a blacksmith myself, not every blade or tool (esp. a machete) is forged within an inch of its life "proving what a studly, accomplished smith I am." A guild member of ours makes a military contracted, very expensive, battle tomahawk and 95% of it is made by stock removal. Stock removal by means of filing and/or grinding (I also have a hand powered grinder, for the smart-ass in waiting) your brains out, depending on the intricacy or complexity of item or desired finish, is a common part of craftsmanship, period. I don't know one smith in our guild that doesn't have a drawer full of hand files, rasps, air or electric powered rotory files, die grinders etc., even some job specific and hand-made by them, at times... So "nuts" to you who would say filing is not for "real smiths" but neophytes and fools. Apologies for the rant and thanks again, sir, for a great series of videos that are entertaining, to the point and don't drag on with a bunch of heming and hawing, drawing breath through empty minutes of air and finally spitting out the point. Please make more.

Convicts manage to make knives and shives in prison environments all the time. Where there's a will there's a way, indeed.

Wow, I'm gonna try and do it in the summer, I've had a semi-done machete lying around but had no idea how to finish it! Thanks for the instructions!

Indeed a great craftsman, wish I could find guys like you to build my stuff.

Wanted to see shit gettin chopped with it! Could have at least took a bit of your pinky off, just for sport like? :(

"I'm not going to use any power tools." Pulls out a fucking blow torch XD

Thanks for the video. I have to admit that I own the Walmart version , but the thought of making one myself is very cool. I don't own any fancy cutting or sanding equipment so this method appeals to me. I hope to be starting my project soon. Thanks again for your time the video is very informative.

Thanks for showing this, I enjoyed watching.

George W Bush now makes knives for a living?

Starts with almost complete machete which has been cut with precision power tools then uses hacksaw and a file to get it a little bit more in shape.

Thanks for all the videos Walter! Just made my first machete! It's not perfect and it's not the best, but I made it. Please keep making videos

You make it look so easy!!

Lowes has them for 15

That torch is a power tool

video not only makes its point but it's highly educational as well, at least for beginners like me

Wow, that's beautiful. Well done.

No power tools then uses a blowtorch

the information is great. but your voice puts me to sleep

Wow thats a lot of work Mr. Walter. I have been enjoying your videos.

Excellent video and explanations Walter, very inspiring for me. You got my subscription and thumbs up

Dude Walter you’re an inspiration and badass! Nice work.

Never would have dreamed that with a meager investment in equipment and the right know how I can make a better machete than what I buy in stores. From what I see they are so cheap partly because the makers must forego the somewhat more labor and time consuming tempering stage which also explains why they all feel so flimsy and cheap. With the exception of a Seabee machete someone lent me years ago to clear a lot gone wild. That one was strong and rigid and was the first machete I ever held and I mistakenly must have thought that was a typical example of most machete craft(?).Thanks for the very well done and methodical instructional video. Professional class.

Walter I find your knowledge depth invaluable. Thank you. G.S. Gibbs

so much respect for this guy

I didnt even have the patience to watch you do that by hand! You are awesome!

nice job on the machete man. all the tools you got I got to write my garage about to go make one right now thank you

Excellent project, brilliant execution!

Artisan fabricators starts as little kids in your dads shed with hand tools. Last month I made a Dirk dagger from a large fish tail bolt I found inside a 12meter crushing trommel using just hand tools for the hell of it. Very tiring but very rewarding, it awesome how a piece of waste steel can be turned into useful and artistic item, Also great video mate even a dope like me can follow your instructions.

Excellent build. Inspires me to keep going with my forge

I always loved the no nonsense approach you have taken when making your blades and explaining your methods and techniques to the rest of us. Any chance of you forging a neo tribal type short sword or waki with a hammered or rough sanded finish. That would be cool.

I have allot of respect for you sir keep on doing what your doing.

Truely a manly blade you made there, Walter. Love it. Great video!

i love you work you give me a idea and now i making spears and shords with out power tools

Outstanding, Mr. Sorrells!

Turned out really nice! Thanks!!

Fantastic video, defiantly going in my favorites.