Antique 1800s Wm Beatty & Son Cast Steel Hog Splitter Butcher Cleaver Turned... For Sale

​Antique 19th-Century Wm. Beatty & Son (Chester, PA) Cast Steel Two-Handed Hog Splitter / Butcher’s Cleaver

​Up for sale is an authentic 19th-century hand-forged butcher's hog splitter made by the renowned early American edge-tool maker Wm. Beatty & Son (Beatty & Co.) of Pennsylvania. Founded in the early 1800s, Beatty was famous for producing heavy-duty laminated cast-steel axes and butcher cleavers built to last for generations.

​Key Features & Construction:

• ​Maker: Wm. Beatty & Son / Beatty & Co., Pennsylvania.

• ​Blade: Heavy hand-forged cast-steel blade featuring an upswept, forward-weighted profile, gently curved chopping edge, thick spine, and a punched hanging hole at the upper corner.

• ​Handle: Original 19th-century lathe-turned hardwood two-handed "baseball bat" style handle. It features carved concentric grip rings along the shaft, a heavy tapered wrought-iron ferrule collar at the neck, and a rat-tail through-tang peened over a washer at the bulbous pommel end.

• ​Blade Length (Cutting Edge): 9 inches

• ​Blade Width: 5½ inches

• ​Weight: 3 lbs. 12oz.

​Condition Assessment:

• ​Offered in untouched, "as-found" antique condition with a heavy, even dark rust patina and surface pitting across the blade and iron ferrule collar.

• ​We have intentionally left the patina uncleaned and unground so the next owner can either conserve/clean it to their standards or display it as-is for its great primitive rustic look.

• ​The cutting edge is intact with normal age wear and no major structural chips or cracks.

• ​The turned wooden handle is sturdy and retains a deep, dark age patina. There is expected age wear and minor splitting/chipping right at the top shoulder where the wood meets the iron collar from decades of heavy use, as shown in the close-up photos.

Please see photos for complete description and condition. Please contact me with any questions you have.