Recommendation? “Cleaver” with thickness of Chef Knife?

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SLC_Blades

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Aug 20, 2018
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Hey everyone! I was recently approached by a friend that wants me to basically recreate a knife that his father has used for about 42 years (just recently snapped at the tang). I haven’t received any pictures, but he described it as a hidden-tang cleaver with a rounded handle and ~8 inch blade. What confused me was his description of the thickness.

He said, “thin, very thin,” which surprised me because why would you want a thin cleaver, especially after just having one snap? I showed him a picture of a cleaver with a stock thickness that I considered to be even a little too thin (probably about 1/8”) and he said, “no, that’s way too thick, it was probably about 1/16.” I realized that this was basically getting into chef knife thickness and said that I’d most likely be able to do this with some 0.94” 15n20.

Are there cleavers (of any value) that are really made this thin? I’m very skeptical and thought I’d check before I went and sold him a knife that would break in the same way the original would. I asked him what his father used the knife for mostly and his response was, “I dunno... everything really besides bone.” Super useful!

If anyone had any input it would be greatly appreicated, thanks!
 
veg cleavers are way different then meat cleaver look up Chinese vegetable cleaver i miss the one i made for the house years back then sold. think 4x8 inch blade spine no thinker then 3/32 full flat ground (cheaper ones use thinner steel and a shorter bevel) little to no belly. i ll have to look for pictures of ones i had made in the past as im not sure if i have any on my site
 
Agree... it’s not actually a cleaver, it’s an Asian vegetable knife. They have a much finer edge geometry and designed to cut rather than chop (cleave).

Very useful for chopping (slicing) loose leafy vegetables, cabbage etc, then sliding the cut produce onto the wide blade with the heel of your hand to transfer to the cooking pot.

Very handy!
 
Thin cleavers are very popular in China and takes the place of a chef's knife. It would be the same thickness as chef knife, 1/16" to 3/32" and 8" inches long. Otherwise the profile is the same as a meat cleaver, just less thick.

I've also had broken tangs on these types of knives with hidden tang and think full tang construction is better.
 
These gentlemen are right. Look up Martin Yan on YouTube and you can see one in use. I have a CCK cleaver that's very handy.
 
.060" to .090" long convex grind to the edge. Chops and minces easily. Will also slice well. Depending on what the use will be, 6X3" to 8X4" plus handle. You can even make them with a rounded wooden handle going down the whole spine and no tang extension ( like a long sharp dough cutter).
 
Chinese cleaver, cai dao, sang dao:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/cckcleaver2.html

1.9 mm or 0.075" at the spine. Used by Chinese as a do it all chef's knife but not for chopping bones, just like a really good western chef's knife actually... Edited to add: Just speaking with my dad in our dialect of Chinese, it translates literally as "vegetable knife" but the actual meaning in use is "kitchen knife".
 
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It could be a nakiri
or tall nakiri,similar shape but I'd guess more common than a Chinese cleaver here in the west
 
does sound like a CCK cleaver, keep in mind those knives handles are kinda short, its a feature of that design and if you are recreating it dont forget that. It has a big impact on the balance that someone using knife for 40+ years will absolutely notice.
 
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