Bought an old cleaver, please tell me what you think

[Pondoro2310]

I bought an old cleaver for $1.50 at a garage sale. I sharpened it and was amazed at how easy it was to get a really sharp edge on it. It went fast and got really sharp, I tested it on a soft tomato and I was right, it was really sharp. So I am guessing it is a soft but tough carbon steel and the sharp edge will not be long-lasting. Not that I care, it is a cool old cleaver, next step is to cut some meat with it.

Do you agree with my theory that easy of sharpening = softer steel than my expensive knives that I learned to sharpen on?

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Well a pic would be nice to start, is hard to give you an opinion with what little info you've provided.

Here's what I can tell you, cleavers are not typically slicers if they're thin enough to slice tomatoes it's more likely a type of food prep tool. Typically cleaners are used to cleave, separate/quarter chickens, ribs but cleavers are always heavy and thick.

Asian cuisine uses a type of light knife that looks like a light weight cleaver but it's really used for slicing and scooping during good pro for stir frying.

 

[Pondoro2310]

It's actually pretty thick and has a convex grind. I did not make it thin, just put an edge on it (it was pretty dull). I left it convex but was shocked at how quickly it got sharp. I'm not slicing with a burr, I removed the burr. I know a burr can create a false sense of sharpness. I sliced that tomato because it was handy, and I wanted to eat it. A big chunk of meat will be the true test.

I won't be able to post a picture for a few days. I'll measure the thickness then as well, I'll be home and have a camera and a caliper.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I have an older Japanese-made 'Cleaver' (as labelled on it's cardboard slip-on blade cover) of unknown stainless, likely '80s vintage or earlier. It was part of an 'inexpensive' set given to me by my mother years ago. It's 0.08" thick at the spine, and I thinned the edge on it a while back. Don't really know if qualifies as a 'true' cleaver, but it is a great tomato-slicer as well.

As far as 'ease of sharpening' goes, even so-called 'super steel' can be relatively easy. It just depends on what you use to sharpen it (S30V is pretty easy on diamond hones, for example). Simple kitchen-variety blades in inexpensive steels will almost always be minimally wear-resistant in nature, meaning they'll sharpen easily on most common tools, requiring nothing fancy. Edges may not last all that long, but the flipside is, they're also very easy to tune up and keep sharp.


David

 

[HeavyHanded]

I don't have a ton of experience with the older carbon kitchen cutlery, but my observations match with yours. A few years ago I sharpened all of the Mother in laws old Sabatiers and one newer Calphalon. They were all in terrible shape, profoundly dull. Using the coarse side of a Norton SiC stone, I was able to grind a new edge on one of the Sabatiers so fast I thought I was seeing things - was like aluminum. I actually reconditioned one of the 6" utility knives using nothing but black compound on paper over a Washboard - ground out the damage and by adding a few drops of oil to the compound was able to refine it to a great kitchen slicing edge from butterknife dull.

The Calphalon (made in China with German stainless steel according to the company literature) behaved a lot more "typical" in that I used both sides of the combination stone and some fine compound to properly sharpen it. Took a few minutes to get it done.

Nothing but speculation, but I believe the older kitchen knives (and some of the newer ones as well) are left low RC so its easier to sharpen them, they respond far better to the use of a steel - grooved or smooth - than ones made from a higher RC. The older manufacturers might have understood this better especially when working with carbon steel over stainless.

 

[eKretz]

I picked up a little cleaver the other day for prepping rabbits and squirrels, and am going to sharpen it soon. Any of you guys able to suggest a good angle for the edge? Since it will need to go through some decent sized bone in rabbit hindquarters I'm thinking it will probably need to be more obtuse than my normal 30° - 40° I use for most pocket and kitchen knives, but not really sure.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Chinese food prep cleaver...

Meat cleaver...