This time I am restoring a super old rusty cleaver. It looks hand forged with a maker's stamp on it. It is in terrible shape including the handle. Handle is partially made from leather and thin pieces of wood.

About The Rusty Cleaver

I did research about the maker's stamp on it and found nothing. It seems that this blacksmith was local. I would presume that he made this one for personal use since the details like tang, handle and the blade itself are not lined well and with different thicknesses. Pluss during this cleaver restoration I see the hardening hasn’t been done properly either. From what I have seen this looks like it was made out of iron, unfortunately.

The Restoration Process

I started by removing the old handle and tried to remove surface rust as much as I could with a steel brush. Then I soaked overnight old cleaver in oxalic acid solution. This helped really to dissolve the rest of the rust.

I sanded and grinded the blade multiple times, reforged the cleaver tang to be more even in thickness and slightly longer. Also I did hardening of the cutting edge.

At the and I attached freshly made wooden covers and hammered copper pins to hold the handle in place. Applied teak oil to the wood as a last step of this restoration.

Please subscribe if you want to see more of my upcoming restoration projects! And DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT Japanese Vietnam War Era Jet Pilot's Survival Knife Restoration Video:    • Japanese Vietnam War Era Jet Pilot's ...  

Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/3qdKp3B
Become a member: https://bit.ly/3m7dJ9H

Timestamps:
00:00 Before restoration
00:08 Restoration in progress
12:58 After restoration

Thank you for watching, see you in the next one!
Stay safe and ATB