Custom Knives / Classic Cleaver

Classic Cleaver

Who's a cleaver boy?

From £350.00 - £470.00

Start customising your knife
WEIGHT 540 gms
BLADE LENGTH 8" | 200mm
OVERALL LENGTH 330
HANDLE SIZE 14c28n
Customise your Knife

While many cleavers rely on a wide grind angle of 25º and a dull edge to compensate for their poor-quality steel, we believe a bade from a carefully-hardened piece of high-carbon steel can both retain an edge and lend an element of precision previously missing from the cleaving experience. You need power when you have a blunt instrument – when you have something that is both sharp and durable, you need not flail around like a man (or a lady) possessed, but instead use a bit more dexterity and a bit less brutishness.

Hefty enough to tackle most tasks, the Classic Cleaver will help you tackle almost all of your home butchery. We make another Cleaver (which we affectionately call The Beast) if you need something stupidly hefty, but after making many versions of this standby design over the years, this one is the chap we keep coming back to.

Highlights

  • Solidly weighted cleaver
  • Contoured and ergonomic handle for a firm grip
  • Carefully hardened steel protects the edge

WHY CHOOSE SAVERNAKE

A knife as unique as you

You receive the knife you’ve always wanted. Not the one we have on the shelf. 50+ hours and a 42 step process of expert work, every Savernake knife is created to order in our West Country workshop.

Names not numbers

From the moment it is entered into our ledger, your knife is known by your name. It is deeply engraved on the tang of your blade from the outset, and referred to by that name throughout its journey in to your hands.

Working at the micron scale

Each Savernake blade is precision engineered using the same CNC machine preferred by Formula 1 engineers. This allows us to create our signature concave blade geometry. Beyond even the most skilled artisan and unimaginable to mass manufacturers, our concave blades cut better, weigh less and sharpen more easily. When you pick it up it’s poetry in your hand.

Tradition meets innovation

To achieve perfectly flat handles and crisp chines we use a surface grinder that is over 50 years old. Once perfectly shaped, our knives are hardened in small batches. Rapidly heated to 1080ºC, they are then removed and clamped in under 100 seconds before being cooled to -81ºC and returned to room temperature. Only this diligent process can achieve perfect hardness and longevity, whilst maintaining the crucial internal radius of each blade.

By hand and by eye

Some things can only be achieved by a master-craftsperson. Our expert knifemakers thin the lower inch of the blade by hand; the concave cheek expertly blending into a tapering convex cutting edge of less than 100 microns. Once complete your knife undergoes a half-day of specialist corrosion resistance treatment. This prevents staining and odors, and protects your blade from the effects of salt and acid.

The perfect fit

We have spent years perfecting our handle design. The result is both aesthetically pleasing, whilst adapting to all hand sizes. It is conceived to enable hours of cutting without fatigue, muscle ache or blistering. Our handles feel fabulous in the hand and beg to be picked up and used again and again.

Sharpening

Now we add the knife’s most important quality; its cutting edge. Each blade is painstakingly sharpened to create a 15º bevel. This allows for the perfect balance between cutting efficacy and edge strength. Our high tech Swedish steel is incredibly strong and tough. This means it requires a great deal of scrupulous work to create the optimum cutting edge. But once created it stays razor sharp for a long time.

The final flourish

Finally, your knife leaves the main workshop to come upstairs. Here, in the light afforded by the large windows overlooking the Wiltshire countryside, we add your personal engraving. It’s the final touch to a knife as unique as you. We then spend a final hour or two meticulously removing all signs of manufacture, leaving only your immaculate and deeply individual knife.

Delivery

Ready Made Knives

Gift Cards, Maker’s Choice and Ready Made Knives are all despatched on the same day if ordered before 2pm. Otherwise they are send out the following business day.

Custom Knives

We aim to despatch all orders within 3-4 weeks, depending on the complexity of the design and the materials we use.

All orders will be delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed in specially-designed tubular Savernake packaging. This delivery method is insured and requires a signature from the recipient.

International Delivery

We charge £40 flat rate delivery for delivery worldwide

Lifetime guarantee

Our products are guaranteed for a lifetime. We also offer a reconditioning service for damaged knives for a small fee.

We’re sure you’ll love your new knife. If there’s something not right with your order, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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COMPLIMENTARY ENGRAVING

Personalised engraving is included on all knives

LIFETIME GUARANTEE

With proper care, our knives are guaranteed for a lifetime of use

INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY

Delivery to UK included, flat rate shipping worldwide