Silky Saws’ Nata 240mm Blade

Last winter I ordered a few larger knives as well as a saw, with the aim of using them for woodwork outdoors. Camping, that sort of thing. Processing wood for fires, making shelters, etc.

One of the knives is a Silky Saws brand Nata, or Japanese heavy machete. When I ordered it, I ordered the 240mm blade length with the chisel grind, but I ended up receiving the double-beveled model. I contemplated returning it and insisting on getting what I actually ordered, I was very curious to see how a chisel edge profile would perform for a wood chopper. It would hypothetically be very efficient for limbing, de-barking, and chop-carving, which are all very important for building shelters in woodland areas. But after examining the version I received, I decided to see how it performed.

The double-bevel model is more robust, more of a general-purpose edge profile, and seemed like it would still be useful enough to keep around, especially since I suspected it would have substantially more chopping power than any of my knives which can be carried on the belt. Typically I either use some kind of machete for brush work or an axe or hatchet for wood cutting, not knives of this size, so I was curious to see how it would do in both areas of work, brush and heavier chopping.




It’s been a relatively busy spring and summer so I haven’t actually gotten out to use any of them yet, Nata included, until a storm put down a couple of fair-sized branches into the front yard a couple days ago. I decided to take the Nata out to break down and clean up the fallen wood.

Here’s a few pictures of the knife shown alongside a standard Stanley tape measure for scale, a picture of the wood after it was processed to show the volume of work done, as well as the specifications of the stock thickness, grind angles, weight distribution, etc.:


- .223” stock thickness
- .650” grind height
- .040” to .045” edge thickness
- 15 DPS edge angle
- 8 DPS primary grind
- 1lb. 9.5oz for just the knife, 2lbs. 1oz. With the sheath
- Balance point in forward grip is 2.875” from center of index finger, in rear grip it’s 4.25”

*Note that the edge profile described above has been modified from stock geometry, as-boxed it was 20 DPS at .025” thick. Robust, yes, but a little too abrupt, so I changed it.

Steel type is, I believe, SK4 at a quite high hardness, and it’s been electroless nickel plated for corrosion resistance, an extremely good idea for a finish on a carbon steel knife. I say “at a quite high hardness” because it’s surprisingly difficult to grind, shows exceptionally little burr formation (I can form one if I try but it’s not a gummy/brittle steel you’d see from being either burnt or badly HT’d), and it gets extremely sharp without any serious effort or need for burr minimization techniques.

















Notes on performance, basically first impressions/observations:

- A lot more power than you might think, easily keeping pace with a Fiskars X7 for example on this kind of work

- Very comfortable handle design, absolutely no hand shock, and I like the slightly negative angle of it

- Extremely fluid in the wood, no binding at all, even on heavy swings from the shoulder into soft green wood, which is expected from this blade geometry

- Sheath design is extremely handy, it’s significantly easier to tote around and work with than either a hatchet or machete

- Works very well for both limbing and bucking, no real effort required to cut up to ~ 4.5” diameter wood of this type so it’s a much better tool for this work than a hatchet

- Can either be driven into the wood to the full depth of the primary grind on a hard swing, or can be used with light swings to conserve energy if you’d be working with it all day

- The square point can be used to stick into wood and move it around or to stick the knife into the wood for temporary storage while using both hands for something else, similar to a billhook



Overall, after that initial work with it, I’m quite happy with the tool’s performance. I think I’d be perfectly happy to take this on my belt for camping, shore fishing, yard work, etc. I’m curious to see how it works compared to a machete for serious brush work, how much work is required before the higher efficiency of a longer and lighter machete is worth it, and what diameter of wood has to be encountered to make a hatchet or axe worthwhile over this. We’ll see, in due time.

Since your post on T0.1M [cliffstamp.com] I have been looking forward to hearing more about this knife. Thank you.

Some questions:

1. Does the sheath itself provide retention? Since it can be unclipped (nice feature) from its belt loop / snap-strap I assume so, but it is hard to be sure from photos.

2. Is the snap-strap on the belt loop there for secondary retention, or for balance during belt carry, or both?

3. Are you tempted at all to change the primary grind or add a transition bevel (ignoring, for the moment, the effort involved)?

---

I am sure it will end up in its own thread if and when the time comes, but for what it's worth, I am curious how the DFS has worked out, too.

Quote
alkali
Does the sheath itself provide retention? Since it can be unclipped (nice feature) from its belt loop / snap-strap I assume so, but it is hard to be sure from photos.

Not really. There’s some friction between the rubber handle and the sheath material when the knife is all the way down into the sheath, and the blade weighs enough to make it plenty secure for walking around, but for real assurance that it won’t fall out if you’re running, jumping, trip/fall, then you need the strap buttoned.

Quote
alkali
Is the snap-strap on the belt loop there for secondary retention, or for balance during belt carry, or both?

It’s really there for retention, see above answer for more detail.

Quote
alkali
Are you tempted at all to change the primary grind or add a transition bevel (ignoring, for the moment, the effort involved)?

No I won’t be changing the grind at all. For one thing it would require serious equipment that I simply don’t have, for another thing I think the current wedge profile is useful in a number of ways, and on top of all that it’s electroless nickel plated, so I’d rather not grind the plating off.

Quote
alkali
I am sure it will end up in its own thread if and when the time comes, but for what it's worth, I am curious how the DFS has worked out, too.

Edit to add: I haven’t done much outside of random cutting around the house with the DFS.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2021 07:20PM by Ryan Nafe.

These designs are quite intriguing though I don’t really have a use for one. Is there any manufacturer info on steel hardness?

Not that I could find, and it took a lot of digging just to find the steel type.

I think their Ono hatchet design is pretty interesting too, it looks similar to cKc’s medium hatchet.

i like that angle on the blade to handle. that should create a lot of sweeping power even though the blade is straight

Quote
cKc (Kyley Harris)
i like that angle on the blade to handle. that should create a lot of sweeping power even though the blade is straight

Yes it’s really comfortable to use. Much more natural feeling and intuitive than a straight grip, at least for chopping. And yeah you get a slight shearing effect I think, good for green vegetation.

So with the help of the Edge Pro, I reset the edge profile on this to the following specs:

- 15 DPS at 0.020”
- 12 DPS at 0.030”

The edge was finished on the PC 1200 stone (which clogs even with quite a bit of pressure on the 1095ish steel) and then the apex was rounded over with the strop to increase edge retention in chopping. This should be a big improvement in cutting ability over the factory edge of 20 DPS at 0.020” thick. This will go into the wood more easily and stop less abruptly, so stresses on the edge should be reduced a bit.