Oct 12
16
Meat Cleaver as Hatchet
We posted on our Facebook page:
Some comments we received:
Comment #1: It doesn’t work very well for big stuff,but it does o.k. if you’re just splitting small stuff. Nice find by the way.
Comment #2: I’m guessing it is going to wedge too often to be used as an axe (splitting). It may work decent as a hatchet, but don’t expect perfect slices of tomatoes afterwards.
Comment #3: It all depends. The thicker, old style cleavers that meat cutters use are thick enough for posting and chopping, really heavy for throwing unless you are well muscled. I would also wear gloves to save the hand from injury if chopping hard surfaces. The thinner cleavers are light enough for swift sweeping combat, ok to throw with lots of practice, but will probably break soon if treated like that. I would not cut wood with a thinner bladed one, but you’d get by with shaving kindling with it. I personally prefer high carbon steel over stainless models. They require more care with sharpening, but will serve you well if cared for. I would recommend only full tang, thicker high carbon steel types, as you can burn off the old handle scales, drill better holes to affix longer handles or a paracord wrap, or rebolt a new handle that fits your hand and use preferences. I might do a handle with a curled foot like you’d see on a Golock machete.
Comment #4: Depending on the weight of the blade. If it can hack through bones, it would be powerful enough to penetrate the wood, but the wedge might not be wide enough to split the wood like an axe or hatchet is made to do. You might be able to split it with a little more force but it won’t split wide open like an axe or hatch would do.
