Tag Archives: cleaver

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

How to Find Big Cleavers to Restore on eBay – August 2020 Edition

Some years back I wrote a post on how to find cleavers and figured it was time to update it with better search routines for eBay plus to add a few tips not in the original.

One of my favorite things to do is to restore an old cleaver. I’ve done a ton of them over the years and posted many photos along the way. In response to the photos or sales listings in my online store, guys will ask how to find a good deal on one to restore themselves.  

The best deal you’ll get is at garage, barn and estate sales – no two ways about that.  Antique dealers usually jack their prices into orbit and I’ve not seen a good deal at an antique dealer in a long, long time.

My challenge is that I don’t have time to go hunting for stuff so I do a lot of automated searches on eBay.   What I am going to do in this post is try and give you some tips plus also live searches of eBay using key words that frequently turn up cleavers to keep an eye on.

This is a New Haven Edge and Tool Co Cleaver

That leads us to tip #1 on eBay – set up searches that email you when they find stuff.  What you do is enter your search term on eBay and then click “follow this search”.  EBay will then give you options for alerts and so forth. You can experiment and figure out what works for you. For me, for example, just searching on “cleavers” is useless because of all the junk that comes back so I keep refining my searches based on key words both to include and to exclude.

 This is a 16.5″ Foster Bros #8 – Fosters is another favorite brand

Learn some of the phrases folks use to describe / market these big cleavers.  No doubt, I like big cleavers so I use search phrases like “giant antique cleaver”, “giant hog splitter” and what not.  In general, the hog and cow splitters are big.  These huge cleavers were used in the days before extensive automation to chop up big farm animals such as cows, hogs, lambs and so forth giving them their name.

When searching, look in descriptions and not just the titles if given the option. You may need to use the advanced search option and add key words to exclude when things you don’t care about are included in your searches.

 This is a 16.5″ Lamson

There are also certain brands that I really like such as Fosters, WM Beatty, Lamson and New Haven Edge Tool Co.  There were a lot of makers including folks on farms and village blacksmiths forging their own cleavers so it really takes some digging.  I found searches on Google to turn up interesting information about the history of the makers and so forth when I could find some kind of logo or marking.

 This is a 20″ WM Beatty and Sons

Another tip I would give you is to look out for old cleavers that are shiny.  Somebody probably sanded or ground the rust off.  I have bought a couple that were utter train wrecks from guys trying to make something look good for sale.  Just be careful.  Nothing that was used is going to be bright silver steel any longer.

Do not worry about rust, dirt and dings – you are going to be working on it anyways.  How far you want to go with the wood is up to you.  The most fascinating cleaver I ever worked on had a trashed handled that I built up with epoxy.  It was stunning wood under decades of grime.

Be careful on the measurements – look for the blade size and overall lengths plus the weight.  I like to look for cleavers that are at least 18″ overall.  Call be weird but the smaller ones are okay but just not as interesting to me.  I do have an exception though – some of the small Fosters are just wicked.  They were forged, have a thick blade and quite a heft.

Watch out for photos.  Sellers try all kinds of stuff to make them look big, in great shape, etc.  You are especially focused on whether the blade is intact, meaning no big nicks or any cracks, and the dimensions.  The photos are nice eye candy but don’t base your whole purchase on them.  I certainly use them to try and judge the condition of the blade.  If a seller doesn’t have an angle you want to see, ask them to send you what you need.  Many sellers will oblige these requests.

Giant 24.5″ cleaver with a 1/2″ thick blade from an unknown maker – my all time favorite

Now be patient and don’t rush.  Watch the prices these things are selling at and don’t start bidding until the last minute.  Also keep an eye on the seller’s ratings.  New ones with fewer than 20 sales make me nervous.  Read what folks have to say about the seller.

Keep an eye on shipping charges.  Some guys will do stuff like list something dirt cheap and then charge a fortune for shipping.  Don’t just assume shipping & handling charges will be reasonable if it isn’t listed.

Be patient!  You can get some very decent cleavers for under $100 but what you consider a fair price is entirely up to you.

Here are some realy time eBay Searches to help you get started using keywords I use in my own searches and you can buy these right now!! Note that some sections may be empty if there are no current matches,

Giant Antique Cleaver

There will be times you want to qualify a search phrase and “antique cleaver” is one of them. If you search on that you will get matches for things people call cleavers that are just a few inches long. When sellers have a big cleaver they tend to use words like HUGE or GIANT in their description. Of course, most will not be very big but it is something to look for. Let’s try “giant antique cleaver” first:

Next is “huge antique cleaver”

Hog Splitter

This one is searching on “Hog Splitter” and excuding the words “stereo plug mono” because some stereo cords get matched and would be included otherwide.

Cow Splitter

True clow splitters are rare so when you search on eBay you will often get quite a few near matches from their search engine and wind up with a long list of things to exclude such as “witchblade stereo cord wind extender cable engine cent paring comic glove knob”.

Beatty Cleaver

Beatty cleavers come in a variety of sizes from small to big splitters so be sure to carefully read the description. Sometimes the photos make them look bigger than they really are.

Foster Cleaver

Fosters are also very good cleavers. They made a bunch of different models to read the description carefully.

Antique Cleaver

Just to show you what antique cleaver sucks in, here you go:

Vintage Cleaver

Large Vintage Cleaver

I hope these tips and sample search terms help.  My biggest tips are to carefully read the descriptions, consider the seller’s ratings carefully and watch out for shipping. Also, don’t rush and get caught up in auction fever – only buy what makes sense to you.

Happy hunting!!

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

2014 Restoration of a 21-1/8″ New Haven Edge Tool Co #3 Cleaver

This dates back to August 2014.  I scored a beat up but fascinating New Haven Edge Tool Co #3 Cleaver.  It was quite large measuring approximately 21-1/8″ long and 3.187 pounds.  The exact age was hard to say – it could be anywhere from 100-150 years old given the way it is made.   After doing some digging, one person doing research said that “New Haven Edge Tool Company” was  a Sargent Brand and the listed it discontinued in their 1911 catalog so that would mean this cleaver is likely older than that.  Regardless, you would never know it now.

It would appear to be cast iron and is just a big no nonsense brute of a cleaver.  It’s either ready to go to work or to be one heck of a conversation piece.  Let me tell you a bit about what we did after we bought it:

The handle was cracked and we stabilized it internally with a special Cyanoacrylate glue that penetrates wood very deeply.  We also used glass reinforced epoxy to seal the front of the handle where the blade is inserted.  The blade is actually secured via rat tail tang that goes through the whole handle and is peened over at the pommel to firmly secure it.  Once we had the handle all fixed up, we sanded it and then applied four coats of a penetrating combination of boiled linseed oil (BLO) and turpentine.

The blade was actually in very good shape and most of our work was cosmetic.  We did some sanding to shape it, abrasive blasted it and then used an acid etching based on apple cider vinegar and phosphoric acid (click here to learn more).  Once it was all set, we applied a thick coat of engine oil to stop the rusting.  If you plan to use this to cut meat, and it definitely will do the job, be sure to was the blade and then apply a cooking oil to the blade.  This will avoid making your food taste funny plus it will prevent rust.

So, here’s how it turned out before it found a new home:

Approximate Dimensions

Overall length:  21-1/8″

Blade length: 9-5/8″

Blade height by the handle:  3-7/8″

Blade height at its tallest point:  5-1/2″

Handle at its thickest point: 1-5/8″

Handle at its thinnest point in the middle:  1-1/4″

Weight:  3.187 pounds

By the way, the BSI Super Thin glue is fantastic for taking care of cracks.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

Restoring a Giant 24″ Hog Splitter

Everyone needs a hobby.  I guess mine is creating or fixing things in my own way.  Back in 2014, I bought an absolutely massive beat to hell 24-1/2″ hog splitter off eBay.  This thing was absolutely a diamond in the rough.  Clearly it had been used very heavily – probably for decades – yet there was an amazing design in that beat up cleaver as well.  First off, the blade was almost a half inch thick and it weighed about five pounds.  Back in the days before machinery, you need mass to butcher big animals and this was (and still is) the most massive cleaver I have personally worked with – imagine a baseball bat with one hell of a heavy end is what it boils down to.

In the eBay listing, the seller was up front – this thing was on its last leg.  The wood was all busted up, dirty as heck and the blade was loose.  Of course, I had to buy it!  Here’s what it looked like when it arrived.  Why I did not get an overall photo at the start, I do not know.

There were no maker’s marks anywhere but it was too professionally done to have been a village blacksmith.  I still wonder who made this as I would love to track down more of them.  If you have one, or find one, and are interested in potentially parting with it, let me know.  I’d even be happy with just the giant blade.

Getting back to the story, I had to look it over and take stock.  This thing was stunningly heavy and the wood was busted up because it was thin and hollow.

There had to be more than what I was seeing so I broke the frozen on nut and pulled the handle off.  Wow.  There was the largest rat tail tang I had ever seen – and still haven’t seen one bigger!!  That’s how they spread the load.  What an interesting design.

Now, the wood totally intrigued me.  There was something about the color that caught my eye so I decided to fill it with glass reinforced epoxy.  Now not all epoxies are equal.  When you do structural work like this, you need an excellent shock resistant epoxy.  My go to epoxy for stuff like this is Acraglas liquid epoxy from Brownells.  

I but it in quart bulk containers and meter it out using syringes or a digital scale.  I use 5/32nds milled glass fibers and black dye to color it.  Fortunately, it’s the same dye I use for my plastics but you can either buy from Brownells or elsewhere.  So, over the course of several days, I mixed, poured and let it sit overnight as it takes Acraglas 24 hours to cure so this work is done in steps.

I used wood stripper to try and get all the grease and oils out of the handle plus I drilled open the end to fill it easier.  By the way, if you heat epoxy with a heat gun, it will get thinner and flow more readily until it cools.  Gentle warmth also accelerates curing of the epoxy but remember that just because epoxy feels dry to the touch does not mean it has fully cured – read the instructions for whatever brand you go with.

Next, I sanded, sanded and sanded.  The wood was very interesting – maybe a cherry or mahogany.  I’m not really sure.

The rat tang was HUGE.  I carefully marked where it was at and drilled holes for two brass pins just to play it safe.  I’ve never had Acraglas let go from a clean prepped surface but never say never.  The pins are a cheap insurance for a giant blade like this.  I inserted the 3/16″ pins with epoxy and then added epoxy to all the imperfections followed by more sanding.  Notice how I blasted the pins before gluing?  Epoxy always, always, always does better on a rough surface.  Do not epoxy two shiny metal surfaces together and expect them to last – they probably will not.

Now this took my breath away.  I used a 50/50 combination of turpentine and boiled linseed oil (BLO), put it in a tank I have just for these big cleavers and let it sit for a few hours before I pulled it out.  The color blew me away.  Wow!!  I wiped it down and then applied additional coats of BLO to seal it.

My last steps were to acid etch the blade (click here for our guide to acid etching), seal everything with BLO and then make a blade guard.  Mission accomplished.

To protect the blade edge, not to mention protect other things from the edge, I made a protective cover out of 0.093 Kydex and 3/8″ shock (bungee) cord.

That bad boy weighed 5-1/4 pounds and was solid as a rock.  I keep looking for another one like it.  I never did find out where it was made but it sure was a stunner.  This is another project that part of me wishes I had kept it but it went to a very happy new owner shortly after I finished it.

3/4/2020 Update: This is still the most wicked restored cleaver I have done. The wood was simply gorgeous.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

The following is a real-time search of eBay using keywords that have worked for me in the past and I hope they help you find something (note a few odd items might show up just like any other search does):