Damascus Cleaver with Stag Antler Handle and Tooled Leather Cover

A meat cleaver is a tall rectangular blade with a straight edge, built for chopping with the weight of the blade rather than for slicing. It is forged in Damascus, a 6 inch blade on an 11 inch cleaver, and the handle is one piece of natural stag antler with a polished brass collar. It ships with a broad leather cover cut to the shape of the blade and tooled by hand.

Specification

The blade

The steel is Damascus, pattern welded over a high carbon core and etched so the light and dark layers stand out, with a ladder pattern across the tall face and the bevel polished bright. The blade stands about 3.5 inches, which gives a cleaver its drop and keeps your hand well above the board. A hanging hole is punched near the top rear corner so it can hang on a hook. The trade is the carbon core, which darkens with use and rusts if the blade is put away wet.

The handle

The handle is one piece of natural stag antler with its knobbly bark texture left on, pale cream shading into tan, and a polished brass collar where the antler meets the steel. The tang here is hidden, not a full tang. It runs into a channel bored down the middle of the antler, so you see antler all round with no pins. That is the traditional build for an antler handle, since a natural piece is not split into flat scales.

What it is for

This is a chopping tool for the board. The straight edge lands flat along its whole length, so the work is a drop of the blade, not a push or a draw. The tall face is also an easy way to carry what you cut to the pan. It suits kitchen prep where the cutting is repetitive. It is not a slicing knife, so for long strokes reach for a cimeter instead.

The leather

Cleavers get a cover rather than a sheath, and this one is cut to the shape of the blade so the tall face is held flat. The leather is vegetable tanned. A belt loop is stitched to the back, a strap with a snap that closes over the antler, and a welt sewn into the edge so the stitching sits clear of the sharpened side. The hand stitching is cream thread against the tan. The face carries a carved thistle inside a stamped border, cut and shaded rather than printed.

Who it suits

Stag antler and an etched Damascus face make this the cleaver people leave out on the wall instead of shutting in a drawer, and it is easy to buy for someone else.

• Cooks who want a cleaver for daily prep
• Buyers who prefer natural antler over wood
• Anyone shopping for a gift that gets used
• Collectors who like a Damascus face

What comes in the box

• The Damascus cleaver
• The tooled leather blade cover
• A care card
• Engraving quote on request

Every piece is different

Each cleaver is forged, ground and finished by hand in small runs, so no two come out the same. The Damascus pattern moves with the forging, and every antler has its own texture and color. Yours will not match the photographs exactly.

Looking after it

Hand wash it in warm water and dry it straight away. Never leave it in the sink and never put it in a dishwasher. The gray patina that builds with use is normal and it protects the steel. Wipe on a light coat of food safe mineral oil before it goes away. Sharpen on a stone, following the bevel already there. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits on the blade, and clean line art engraves well where a photograph does not. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. Free on orders of 10 pieces or more. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is the hole near the top for? A hanging hole, so it can hang on a hook.

Is it full tang? No, the tang is hidden inside the antler.

Why buy a cleaver? The tall blade chops with its own weight.

Will Damascus rust? It can, the core is carbon, so dry it after every wash.

Can it go in the dishwasher? No. Hand wash and dry it straight away.

Will it look like the photo? No, the antler and pattern differ on every piece.

For this steel with a wood handle, see the Damascus meat cleaver in olive wood, and for the wide bellied butcher shape the Damascus Serbian chef knife in burl wood. More sits in cleavers and butcher knives, in Damascus steel, and in stag horn knives.