Bluecleaver Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Cleaver with Blue Resin Handle and Damascus Steel Guard & Leather Sheath | Butcher Kitchen and Chef Gift | RK-0010

The Bluecleaver pairs a hand forged high carbon steel blade with a blue resin handle and a Damascus steel guard. Seven and a half inches of blade, twelve inches overall, and a leather sheath to keep it covered between jobs. The result is a cleaver that feels heavier in the hand than it looks on the screen, which is exactly what you want.

The reason a cleaver is shaped like that is worth knowing, because it is not about brute force. The height of the blade does three jobs at once. It puts the handle well above the board so your knuckles clear the surface on every chop, which is the single biggest cause of hand fatigue with a shallow knife. It gives you a wide flat face to crush garlic and ginger against the board and to scoop a pile of chopped vegetables into a pan without touching them. And it puts more mass directly above the edge, so the blade does the work of cutting through a dense carrot or a squash rather than your arm doing it. Chinese kitchens have used a tall bladed cleaver as the general purpose knife for centuries for exactly those reasons, and it is a very different tool from the short heavy bone cleaver a butcher swings.

This one is forged and finished in the Czech Republic, from bar stock through heat treat, grinding, handle and guard fitting, sheath making and final sharpening.

Specifications

How to actually use a cleaver, and what to keep it away from

Most people use a cleaver badly because they treat it like an axe. It is not one. The correct motion for a kitchen cleaver of this type is a controlled drop rather than a swing: lift the blade a few inches, guide it down, and let the weight of the steel carry it through. Your hand is steering, not powering. That is why a heavier blade is less tiring than a light one over a long prep session, not more.

The flat of the blade is a tool in its own right. Lay it on a garlic clove and press with the heel of your hand to split the skin. Use the face to sweep chopped onion off the board and straight into the pan, which is faster and cleaner than a bench scraper. Turn the blade over and the spine will crack a crab shell or tenderise a cut of meat.

What you must keep it away from is bone. This is a vegetable and boneless meat cleaver with a hardened edge, not a butcher’s bone splitter, and a hard thin edge chips against bone rather than cutting through it. Keep it off frozen food for the same reason, and out of the dishwasher, where heat, detergent and the knock of other items will do more damage in one cycle than a year of correct use. See our chef knife guide for how the kitchen pieces compare.

Why high carbon steel and not stainless

No alloy tricks here. This is 1095 high carbon steel, forged, hardened and tempered by eye, then ground to an edge and given a black polished finish. Hardened into the mid fifties on the Rockwell scale, it is the most forgiving steel to resharpen and the least forgiving if you leave it wet.

That is the whole trade, and in a kitchen it is a sharper trade than anywhere else, because a kitchen is wet by definition. A stainless kitchen knife can be rinsed, left on a rack and forgotten. This one cannot. What you get in return is an edge that goes keener than stainless will and comes back in less time on a stone, and a blade that develops a patina with use rather than staying anonymously shiny. Cooks who like carbon steel like it for exactly that reason, and cooks who do not want to think about their knives should buy stainless without any embarrassment. More in high carbon versus Damascus and Damascus versus stainless.

The blue resin handle and the Damascus guard

The handle is blue resin: dimensionally stable, chemically inert and effectively maintenance free. Nothing to oil, nothing to feed, nothing that swells when it gets wet or shrinks when the kitchen dries out. On a knife that lives near a sink that is a real advantage over a natural handle, and it is why resin has become the default on working kitchen pieces.

It also keeps its grip when wet, which matters more on a cleaver than on a paring knife because of the mass involved. The Damascus steel guard between handle and blade does two jobs: it stops a wet hand sliding forward onto the edge, and it caps the front of the handle where water would otherwise sit against the joint. Being forged Damascus, it carries its own pattern, so no two guards look the same. Wash the whole knife by hand in warm water, dry it immediately, and it stays exactly as it arrived.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. A cleaver gives you more usable flat than any other knife we make, so full names, dates and longer phrases sit comfortably on the face of the blade. It is the reason this piece is a common choice as a gift for a cook. Layout and lettering examples are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

High carbon steel patinas and will rust if neglected. Wash by hand, dry immediately, and never leave it in a sink or on a wet board. Before it goes into a drawer or a block for any length of time, wipe a thin film of food safe mineral oil over the blade. Store it out of the leather sheath for long periods, because leather is tanned with salts and holds moisture against steel. Sheath care is in leather sheath care and the steel routine is in steel care.

Sharpening is where carbon steel pays you back. Match the existing bevel, work one side in overlapping passes until a burr rises along the full length, turn the blade and match it, then strip the burr with light alternating strokes. A tall blade is easy to hold at a consistent angle because there is so much of it to reference against the stone. For kitchen work go on to a fine stone: unlike a rope cutting knife, a food knife wants a polished edge. The whole method is in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

Every Bluecleaver is hand forged, not machine made and not bulk produced, so the knife that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The depth and tone of the black polish, the swirl in the blue resin, the pattern in the Damascus guard and the exact line of the grind all vary because each one is worked by hand. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Can I cut bone with it?

No. This is a kitchen cleaver for vegetables and boneless meat, with a hardened edge that will chip against bone. A butcher’s bone splitter is a different tool with a much thicker, softer edge. Keep this one off bone and off frozen food.

Will the blade rust?

It will if you leave it wet, because it is high carbon steel rather than stainless. Wash by hand, dry it straight away, and oil it before long storage. It will also darken into a patina with use, which is normal and protective rather than a fault.

Why is the blade so tall?

Height gives you knuckle clearance above the board, a broad flat face for crushing and scooping, and mass directly over the edge so the weight of the blade does the cutting. It is what makes a cleaver less tiring than a shallow knife over a long prep session.

Does the handle need any maintenance?

None. Blue resin is stable and inert, so there is nothing to oil or feed. Just wash and dry it with the blade rather than leaving it standing in water.

Is the guard really Damascus?

Yes. It is forged Damascus, so it carries its own pattern and no two guards come out the same. It also stops a wet hand sliding forward onto the edge, which is its real job.

Can it be engraved as a gift for a chef?

Yes, and the wide flat of a cleaver takes lettering better than any other shape in the range. Use the rune converter for an Elder Futhark line, or choose your own design in the engraving option and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle.

What is in the box

• One Bluecleaver hand forged high carbon steel cleaver
• One fitted leather sheath
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Sitting beside it in the catalogue: Chef Knives, Viking Knives, Hunting Knives and Engraved and Personalized. Most of the questions that come before a first order are answered in the guides.