Prop Predator machete build finished.

[Demetrius]

Hi All,

Have been very impressed with the many fan films of the Predator franchise and I am also In the middle of shooting a short Pred film. Been building and procuring props for it over the years. Some items are expensive or hard to find so I decided to make a Predator Machete from aluminum.

I started with scaling up a picture of a Jack Crain example to 20 inches and scribing it on an aluminum 1/4 inch stock piece. I would have rather placed it on a thicker piece as the original have a thicker "tang"(?) and had been stepped down along the blade, but oh well. this will be featured in a short shot.


Rough shaping of the edge, I have no belt sander so this is done by hand. Think ill start the cross guard.


I also had a one inch thick aluminum block so I cut this out and shaped it.


I found a piece of oak wood and started the grips. Also cut out the sub hilt and pommel.


Almost done. It is raining today so I will post the finished knife in a few days.
Cheers all!

 

[cayman shen]

Re: Prop Predator machete build

That's looking pretty sweet!

 

[Broilermaker]

Re: Prop Predator machete build

That's pretty cool

 

[Apollo]

Re: Prop Predator machete build

Looking good!

 

[Demetrius]

Re: Prop Predator machete build

Drilled and tapped a hole to secure the grips with a hex screw.


Rough sanded the grip with an angle grinder. Much easier.


This will be polished and stained later. I think the original machete was parkerized a darker shade to contrast with the edge. I will apply a sander to the flat side to achieve a satin look. the shape of the grip is not entirely accurate but in fairness most examples of the Crain machetes vary in appearance.

 

[Demetrius]

Re: Prop Predator machete build

Pretty much finished but have to do some polishing and fine adjustments. It is not exactly spot on as looks go but it fits the bill as a mean looking machete, I used a sander on the flat sides to get a satin look and waited for a few days for it to darken then polished the edges with sand paper and then steel wool. the grips were finished with a heavy dark stain but I felt they were not dark enough so I lightly dusted some black spraypaint to it and they seem to match, they have some wear as I have been handling it a bit.