- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
- Messages
- 1,528
Hi folks.
Just wanted to share with you this little refinishing project I recently completed for a very good friend of mine's Christmas present. My friend is a chef and has been talking to me off and on about wanting a meat cleaver since his el-cheapo cleaver broke. He has a really nice tree slab butcher block table that was given to him by his dad and is fairly old. Since he and I both share a love for older tools and their quality, I started searching for a vintage meat cleaver on eBay to refinish for him.
I was surprised at the amount of vintage cleavers on eBay, so I started narrowing my search to how much I wanted to (and could afford to) spend. I found several and did research on their age and history, but then out of sheer luck I happened on this cleaver. It was listed as Meridan Cuttery and looked like it was in good shape...and the price was $5.00 buy it now. $5.00? For a vintage cleaver? So I did some Googling and found out that aside from the obvious misspelling of Cutlery they had also misspelled Meriden. Meriden Cutlery was established in 1834 and ran till the 1960s. More Googling found similar cleavers with an estimated age around the 1930s-40s. A quick search for Meriden Cleaver found 4 with the most expensive one selling for $68. I immediately hit BUY and snagged this one for $5.00.
It arrived, as pictured below:
Dark patina on the blade with some rust spots. Brass rivets were tarnished up. The scales were dark and dirty and had lifted away on the butt on one side about 1/16". Overall the handle was still tight and didn't move and the blade edge wasn't chipped. The Meriden Cutlery USA anvil logo was still visable. There is also a stamping into the handle that says "SPECIAL". I've been unable to find out what that indicates.
So, I jumped into this project head first. Taking a green scotch brite pad and hot soapy water I washed/scrubbed the blade and handles down till everything was nice and clean. The handle scales really showed some nice grain and my research shows them to be Rosewood.
After I dried it, I set about putting some Tru Oil on the handle to bring the color back. 3 coats wiped on, soaked, then wiped off was all it took. After the handle had dried over night, I decided to add my own forced patina. First, I boiled some vinegar and wiped the hot vinegar on with cotton balls...this established a darker gray background. Then, I soaked paper towels in vinegar and wrapped them around the blade and let it sit till morning. A light steel wool scrubbing and drying took me to this picture.
I oiled the blade thoroughly and then waxed and buffed the handle.
For a finishing touch, I made an edge guard sheath to protect the freshly sharpened edge.
I gave the gift to my friend the other night as an early present. Mainly so he could get some use out of it before Christmas...and because I thought I would keep it for myself if I kept it any longer, LOL!.
I hope you have enjoyed my rejuvenation of an antique piece and I hope it serves its new owner well. Hopefully it can get another 70+ years of use.
Just wanted to share with you this little refinishing project I recently completed for a very good friend of mine's Christmas present. My friend is a chef and has been talking to me off and on about wanting a meat cleaver since his el-cheapo cleaver broke. He has a really nice tree slab butcher block table that was given to him by his dad and is fairly old. Since he and I both share a love for older tools and their quality, I started searching for a vintage meat cleaver on eBay to refinish for him.
I was surprised at the amount of vintage cleavers on eBay, so I started narrowing my search to how much I wanted to (and could afford to) spend. I found several and did research on their age and history, but then out of sheer luck I happened on this cleaver. It was listed as Meridan Cuttery and looked like it was in good shape...and the price was $5.00 buy it now. $5.00? For a vintage cleaver? So I did some Googling and found out that aside from the obvious misspelling of Cutlery they had also misspelled Meriden. Meriden Cutlery was established in 1834 and ran till the 1960s. More Googling found similar cleavers with an estimated age around the 1930s-40s. A quick search for Meriden Cleaver found 4 with the most expensive one selling for $68. I immediately hit BUY and snagged this one for $5.00.
It arrived, as pictured below:
Dark patina on the blade with some rust spots. Brass rivets were tarnished up. The scales were dark and dirty and had lifted away on the butt on one side about 1/16". Overall the handle was still tight and didn't move and the blade edge wasn't chipped. The Meriden Cutlery USA anvil logo was still visable. There is also a stamping into the handle that says "SPECIAL". I've been unable to find out what that indicates.
So, I jumped into this project head first. Taking a green scotch brite pad and hot soapy water I washed/scrubbed the blade and handles down till everything was nice and clean. The handle scales really showed some nice grain and my research shows them to be Rosewood.
After I dried it, I set about putting some Tru Oil on the handle to bring the color back. 3 coats wiped on, soaked, then wiped off was all it took. After the handle had dried over night, I decided to add my own forced patina. First, I boiled some vinegar and wiped the hot vinegar on with cotton balls...this established a darker gray background. Then, I soaked paper towels in vinegar and wrapped them around the blade and let it sit till morning. A light steel wool scrubbing and drying took me to this picture.
I oiled the blade thoroughly and then waxed and buffed the handle.
For a finishing touch, I made an edge guard sheath to protect the freshly sharpened edge.
I gave the gift to my friend the other night as an early present. Mainly so he could get some use out of it before Christmas...and because I thought I would keep it for myself if I kept it any longer, LOL!.
I hope you have enjoyed my rejuvenation of an antique piece and I hope it serves its new owner well. Hopefully it can get another 70+ years of use.
