I bought an “Old Hickory” 7" Meat cleaver. Not a chinese cleaver, and not a big butcher’s cleaver, but the regular kitchen sized one.
Question: On a normal chef’s knife, you use a sharpening steel to keep the blade’s edge fresh. Do cleavers need a sharpening steel? Or will it harm the blade, because normally cleaver’s aren’t supposed to be that sharp, as they are for chopping up bones?
Technically, it’s a honing steel, not a sharpening steel (most of the time anyway…I suppose it’s possible you own a sharpening set.) AFAIK there’s no harm is using one on a clever, so you go hog wild!
Do use a honing steel. Do not use a knife sharpener with a preset angle for knives. The angle is different for knives and cleavers, and both should be kept quite sharp in their own way.
A steel does come in handy. Pay attention to the angle, since cleavers have a more coarse and different bevel than standard knives. For serious sharpening, use your whetstone.
[del]Only if your victims wiggle when you’re beheading[/del] Why no,why do you ask?