Cleaver grind

M

mjderstine

Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
149
Hello friends and fellow knife makers. My brother has asked if I could create a cleaver for him to use in the kitchen. He does everything from butcher small game to chop veggies and a cleaver would be pretty useful for him.
I was wondering what would be the most useful type of grind for a cleaver. I have seen flat and convex grinds on cleavers and just wanted to know if you all had any experience.

To date I have been making knives via stock removal with a jig and files. The material I will be using is some 5/32 1095.

If this is one of those "no right answer" questions I understand but wanted to gauge some expert opinions.

Thanks ahead of time.
 
Does he want a western style cleaver or a Chinese style cleaver? Westerns are thick and can hack through bone and Chinese cleavers are quite thin and used for the things we typically use a chef knife for.
 
I made this one from 1/8" 1095 and took it down to about 20 thou before convexing the edge. It is sharp but not sharpened like a knife.

 
Small game ? My 'chicken ' cleaver is 8" x 3/32" ,which is all you'll need.Convex grind . Good enough for veggies too.
 
I would honestly suggest two cleavers. One suitable for chopping veggies is not meant to whack through chicken bones.
 
The way I do it is to use only the very back [ heel ] of the blade for bone chopping.
 
thanks guys. i gotta start designing the profile of the blade tonight. so many options with a cleaver that its hard to come up with something. its gotta be something simple and elegant IMO.
 
Hey guys, been working on this cleaver for a couple days now and have a question. I am getting the bevels about done and wanted to know how high you think the bevels should go. now they are at about 1"+. they should get a little higher when i get the bevels done, but do i need to take them higher?

any advice would be really helpful.

thanks guys.,




 
The edge is about .05 now and it's about a 4-4.5 degree bevel. Just gotta draw file one more side and start sanding.
 
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