We had two cleavers brought to us this month for rehandling and sharpening. The first belonged to a gentleman’s father or grandfather it was verified from the 1800’s it had no handle but was in other wise good shape.
The second one was found in the ground of a back yard by a plumber. The house was from the 60’s but prior to that the land had housed soldiers. It was a rust crusted archaeology find but the biggest cleaver I have ever seen. It of course needed a handle and the edge needed a complete reprofiling. Here it is after he cleaned it up with about a 15 inch overall knife for size comparison. Both knives received handles of center cut cherry boards from my grand dad’s chicken house he built in the 1950’s. My father had them milled when the house collapsed a few years ago. They were the central roof supports. They were still fine it was the rest of the building that collapsed. They still smell like Mississippi clay, hay and musty barn. Kind of awesome.
