The Great and Powerful Algorithm is at it again, suggesting a new direction for my bedtime YouTube viewing. Maybe it’s because I regularly consume Ted Woodford’s guitar-repair videos, or that I enjoy James Condon’s resurrection of generators and small engines, but TGAPA thinks I might like to see the restoration of rusty old tools.
Maybe you’ve stumbled across videos like these yourself — no face, no narration, minimally captioned, annoyingly exaggerated audio. Hands clad in black nitrile gloves dismantling and rejuvenating the damnedest things. Originating in Europe, mostly.
As with everything else, some of these disembodied restorers are better than others. Naturally, yeah, I’ve been drawn particularly to videos about axes and knives — I’ve found them informative, educational.
I don’t have any specific channel recommendations for you, though. So why, then, do I bring this up?
Because I have this old cleaver.
I paid 30 bucks for it at a Flippin antiques shop two years ago. It’s a hundred years old, give or take, and it’s in remarkably good condition considering its age and evident use.
When I brought it home, I wasn’t sure if I’d do anything more than wipe it down and put it to work. Alas, I haven’t touched it since.
I pulled it out of storage yesterday and looked it over. Perhaps inspired by similar projects I’ve followed recently, a plan began to take shape in my mind.
I wouldn’t want to over-restore it. The bloodstains on the blade and the overall patina should be preserved, for the most part. The handle slabs appear to be in fair shape, though they need new rivets or bolts. The spine requires re-dressing. The cutting edge isn’t horrible but needs a complete and proper sharpening.
It’d all have to be done with tools and supplies I have available. One of the first things I’d do is give it a good soak in white vinegar, but even before that, the hardwood handle slabs would have to come off.
I decided to start there yesterday morning. The picnic table made for an ideal workbench.
At some point in its younger days, this cleaver lost half of each of its brass rivets and, as a result, one of the slabs came loose (or fell off). The owner used glue to re-attach the wood to the tang and filled the empty rivet holes with gobs of it — effective, but I’d have to carefully remove that decades-old residue before the wood would budge.
Dental picks were the right tools for the job. It was painstaking work, since I was trying not to damage the wood. Once I’d successfully cleared the first hole of dried glue, I began easing a utility-knife blade between the slab and the tang to break that bond.
Applied with patience, the technique seemed to work.
The glue made a crackling sound as it released, which (along with color and consistency) led me to believe that it was some sort of protein-based adhesive (hide glue, e.g.). That stuff hasn’t been in common household use in 70 years or more.
I picked out all the glue I could. The blade slid easily between wood and steel. With a little upward pressure, a gap developed.
I took my time. I didn’t force the issue. I knew it’d let go when it was ready.
And it did.
You can see the glue on both the tang and the slab. Also notice that the rivet barrels (from the other side) protrude above the surface of the tang.
I had no way of knowing how much glue (if any) had made its way past the surviving rivets and might be holding the other slab in place. I’d have to take a different approach to that side.
I clamped the cleaver securely to the tabletop. With a ball-peen hammer, I tapped the first rivet until it was flush with the tang — light blows at first, hoping to break any glue bond with the wood (and avoid splintering it).
Then I placed a punch on the rivet and drove it out the opposite side. I repeated the process for the other two rivets.
The slab came off easily. There was a bit of glue around the rivets but none on the wood.
And that seemed like a good stopping point. I’ll pick this up again soon.
Next steps: soaking the blade in vinegar, followed by scrubbing with a wire brush and steel wool; hand-file the spine square and sharpen the blade with stone and strop.
I’ll scrub the wood slabs with warm, soapy water, then sand and oil them. I’ll measure for and order bolts to replace the rivets, do a test fit and re-drill if necessary.
It feels like a fun project. Stay tuned.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable