Cleaver sharpening

jblyttle

jblyttle

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Sep 3, 2014
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I am glad this thread was started. I recently received an F. Dick cleaver that my Aunt gave me. It was her grandfather’s who was a butcher in the 20’s. It is in near mint condition. It has a fairly thick convex grind to it. I believe it is the original grind seeing how my aunt received it from him and never would have tried to sharpen it. I will post a picture soon.
 


My example may be a little dull but it shows the original convex grind. I need to get a good edge on it but I kinda like it the way it is.
 
jblyttle said:
Lol, you know I am dying to go limb something (not somebody!) with this thing. I know it would serve as a froe...
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That's what I would think as well.
Are you going to give it a leather lace handle wrap or just wear gloves ?
 
The thick "apple seed" edge of the one Brian Rust posted is what you want for an actual bone-chopping industrial cleaver. It should be sharp enough to cut flesh, but the point of a cleaver is to cleave, and so you need an edge that won't crumple on hard bone and will act as a force concentrator, much like a cold chisel.

However, it looks like it's already been significantly thinned, and so you may do better using it like an Italian manaresso or "woods cleaver" and just stick a thin wood-chopping grind on it. Manaressi are wonderful woods tools, and this one looks like it'd be a fine candidate for "conversion". :p
 
lyttle, they are supposed to have a convex grind. I think what I would do with that one is attempt to drill a hole in the handle. To pin a handle on. If it drilled easy w/ decent metal cutting bits. It's not heat treated and that should be done. First drill 2 holes for the handle then contact a
heat treater. DM
 
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David Martin said:
lyttle, they are supposed to have a convex grind. I think what I would do with that one is attempt to drill a hole in the handle. To pin a handle on. If it drilled easy w/ decent metal cutting bits. It's not heat treated and that should be done. First drill 2 holes for the handle then contact at
heat treater. DM
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What's this about it not being heat treated? If you mean just the tang, that's normal, and models like this were never intended to have scales.
 
David Martin said:
lyttle, they are supposed to have a convex grind. I think what I would do with that one is attempt to drill a hole in the handle. To pin a handle on. If it drilled easy w/ decent metal cutting bits. It's not heat treated and that should be done. First drill 2 holes for the handle then contact at
heat treater. DM
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It's edge is full of chips, so there's a chance it was quenched but not tempered.
It's obviously got some degree of hardness though.
 
I'm trying to get a clue why it's so damaged. Perhaps try filing the edge and giving it a decent bevel which may tell you something about the hardness. Even stone work would do it. Someone is going to have to repair it any way. DM
 
My guess is it was ground way too thin and then used as intended, but it's impossible to say. Cow bones will absolutely murder an overly thin edge with that much mass behind it.
 
David Martin said:
lyttle, they are supposed to have a convex grind. I think what I would do with that one is attempt to drill a hole in the handle. To pin a handle on. If it drilled easy w/ decent metal cutting bits. It's not heat treated and that should be done. First drill 2 holes for the handle then contact at
heat treater. DM
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This isn't supposed to have a pinned handle, it was made to be the way that it is. You may notice from one of the pictures that the metal of the handle is FAR thicker than a standard tang on a wood handled model. And the edge chips tell me that the edge is hardened. I'm just going to file a new edge and refine it with stones.
 
If it's knife-hardened it's likely you won't be able to 'file' an edge on it. Knife hard is typically beyond the range of most files. Knives are typically RC60 or higher. Common files skate on RC60. Special files are available that will cut up to RC 70. The chipping suggests a harder than average blade.
 
Square_peg said:
If it's knife-hardened it's likely you won't be able to 'file' an edge on it. Knife hard is typically beyond the range of most files. Knives are typically RC60 or higher. Common files skate on RC60. Special files are available that will cut up to RC 70. The chipping suggests a harder than average blade.
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Yes, we will see. I have some coarse stones that should serve if needed. Only one way to find out! It's in my project pile, I'll get to it soon and I will update this thread.
 
JB,
I cut this one down to use when camping/gardening
Convex 'axe' grind with a skandi grind close to the handle, works well on wood

slSYYpn.jpg
 
Square_peg said:
The chipping suggests a harder than average blade.
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Or abuse. Someone or someone's kiddo might have taken it to the woods to chop on anything they could find...steel bars, old metal barrels, or whatever. Maybe someone used it for busting up some bricks or concrete. Who knows...judging by some of the abuse we see on some of the axes people find, it wouldn't surprise me to find out the cleaver was treated/abused the same way.
 
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