Tiny Cleaver

I'm creating a miniature room that will be built into a Boston bookstore opening in early 2022, and filling it with miniature objects I'm crafting. The room includes a table with a cutting board, a cleaver, and some sliced acorns, and this Instructable describes how I created the cleaver (Note: In an ironic twist, this cleaver ended up so sharp that I actually got cut while shaping the maple handle pieces!).

Aluminum bar stock (⅛ thick")

Toothpicks

Maple scraps

epoxy

First, I sketched the cleaver profile on my aluminum bar stock. Then, using files, I thinned the stock, giving it an edge on the cutting side. After a lot of filing, I rough-cut the tang of the cleaver with a hacksaw, then shaped it and smoothed the edges with the files. I polished the cleaver blade with fine sandpaper, ending with 320 grit.

Next, I cut thin veneers on my bandsaw, and rough-shaped them to sandwich the aluminum tang. I drilled three holes in the aluminum blank--two in the tang, and one decorative hole on the front top of the blade. Using the tang as a guide, I drilled holes into the two pieces of maple.

Using two-part epoxy, I glued the maple handle pieces in place and pegged the holes with round toothpicks. Once the epoxy cured, I clamped the cleaver in a vise and filed the maple pieces to match the profile of the cleaver's tang.

I rounded the maple pieces with sandpaper to give them a comfortable look, then gave it a light maple stain. Final polishing of the blade with fine sandpaper gave it the final, finished feel.