Sharpening a cleaver

[edwardsboi]

I've got a chinese cleaver, but its not as sharp as my chef knives.

Are chinese cleavers not supposed to be that sharp? And, if they are supposed to be sharper, how do you sharpen them? Is it the same method that you'd use to sharpen a chef's knife?

[hzrt8w]

I've got a chinese cleaver, but its not as sharp as my chef knives.

Are chinese cleavers not supposed to be that sharp? And, if they are supposed to be sharper, how do you sharpen them? Is it the same method that you'd use to sharpen a chef's knife?

←

Cleavers are like any other knives. They get dull over time/uses.

To sharpen... I use a small grinding stone. And apply a lot of patience. If way too dull, you can use a fine file to file it first, then grind. Or a motorized grinding wheel first, then hand grind.

[Hard H2O]

How do you sharpen your other cutlery?

I would use the same method as any other blade.

[Peter the eater]

I've got two cleavers, a European one and a Chinese one. I sharpen them with a dry stone just like my other knives. The cleavers are the easiest to sharpen because the blade is so deep -- you'll easily see if you drift away from the correct angle. The hardest one is the fish knife -- long, narrow, curved and flexible.

[jo-mel]

I've used used the wetstone and once in a very long while I will resharpen all my cleavers that way. BUT-- I find that just using a cleaver in each hand and swiping them against each other -- the way you would a cleaver and one of those sharpening sticks -- works just fine.

Just before I have my cooking classes, I take all my cleavers and just go to work, using two at a time, and after 50 or so swipes - on each side - they are sharpened just fine. 50 swipes really doesn't take much time at all -- 30 seconds a side?