I don’t know that I need a cleaver (I’ve never bought one before), but this one seemed worth the $5.
The santoku will get sharpened and donated to the food bank kitchen.
And I thought the strainer ladle was cool. 
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That’s a pretty nice lookingcleaver. I’d donate the Santoku too.
Hi John! Yes, the cleaver is the Messermeister 8" Chinese model.
I buy kitchen knives for the local food bank kitchen, as they’re always in need of replacements. (I also do all of their sharpening free of charge.) The difficulty is finding decent knives that are also industrial-dishwasher-safe. This immediately eliminates all nice wood-handled knives that I find, & forces me to search for plastic-handled or all-metal knives. This santoku is questionable for steel quality. If I can’t get it to hold an edge I’ll donate it back to the thrift store. 
Wow, how did you get a $100 knife (at least $60-ish the last cheapest I have seen) at $2?
I heard this is actually a good thin cleaver.
There are two particular thrift stores in town that get a fair number of usable knives. I just happened to be at one, looking thru their bucket-o-knives, when one of the employees dropped the cleaver in. I’m almost always looking for knives to buy for the Food Bank, but every now & then I find one for myself.
I’ve also found this 10" Wusthof Chef’s knife (normally $170)
And all of these Macs (but not all at the same time)
The Wusthof is pretty beat up. I’ll refurbish it, turn it into a partial bolster, & install a custom handle. Then I’ll probably sell it as a one-of-a-kind Wusthof.
I also have a few Victorinox/Forschner and older Chicago Cutlery knives in my “to be restored” box.
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Most knives especially the 2 in the first pic, they are in really good shape, I can’t believe the price.
Do you find them all the time or just rarely?
Greg:
Put me in line for the 10" Wust! I will even send you some stabilized koa scales!
Aloha,
Kaleo
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Awesome… these are good finds. So these knives are pretty much donated by people who no longer want them, right? Think of the possible good knives that have just been toss as trashes.
“when one of the employees dropped the cleaver in. ”
That is funny
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Hi naf,
I’d have to say rarely. I prowl the local thrifts when I can, & I’ve been doing it regularly for the past 4 or 5 yrs. So I’d say I find maybe 4 keepers a year, on average. The more you look, the more you find, right? On top of that, I might find another 6 per year that I can restore & donate.
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Hi Kaleo!
If you’re really interested, shoot me an email & we can discuss. I’d just be afraid that this one-off would still be beneath your standards for steel grade. Of course, I’d be happy to use your personal scales, & the handle would have my own mosaic pin & ergonomic contours integrated into it.
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[quote=“Chemicalkinetics, post:8, topic:7867”]
So these knives are pretty much donated by people who no longer want them, right? Think of the possible good knives that have just been toss as trashes.[/quote]
My own guess is that most of these knives are dropped off by people cleaning out the homes of deceased relatives, & not knowing that the well-used knife is actually something worth keeping. But I could be completely wrong. The cleaver, for example, could easily have been the casualty of a failed relationship. And yes, I suspect many excellent knives are simply thrown out.
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Great finds, I bought a lot of 3 cleavers on ebay just to see how they would perform and now they are used more than my chef knife. Love thrift stores.
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I got a IEC Centra MP4 Centrifuge on ebay for $150 and $150 shipping. New they run $10-12K+, used around $3500. So now I have two of these in my lab. The other one I got on ebay as well for $300 + $150 shipping but it is the IEC Centra MP4R Centrifuge. The “R” stands for refrigerated. So it keeps the contents cool during use. It runs at 14,000 rpm’s which is around 25-35,000 gravities. I use these in clarifying juices and separating liquids from solids like when I make a syrup from fresh or dried fruits; to use in cocktails. So I can make things like a clear Bloody Mary or transparent brown, Bourbon Fruitcake Old Fashioned.
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I am SO jealous of these finds. Whereabouts do you live?
[quote=“JMF, post:13, topic:7867”]
So now I have two of these in my lab.[/quote]
So … do you have a lab in your kitchen? Or a kitchen in your lab?
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Hi Joon,
I live about an hour north of Denver. We have a number of thrift stores around, but only a couple of them seem to get decent kitchen wares, so those are the ones I prowl.
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I’m in Denver quite often because that is where the grandkids live. When you say about 1 hr north that could be 5 miles from downtown. LOL Was just there last week and we went to one of my favorite restaurants (Panzanos) and it took about 30 minutes to go about 8 miles. Not use to traffic where I live. Would love to move out there but the housing prices are crazy.
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[quote=“Eiron, post:15, topic:7867, full:true”]
Actually it’s both. My ground floor/basement is one huge food/beverage lab and office. Part is at ground level and part below ground. It’s filled with almost every type of equipment such a lab needs. When I was building i I went and worked for awhile at the two top private beverage/cocktail labs in the US and the top one in Europe in London. I have two I have temperature controlled wine cellars, an alcohol fermenting room, a lactic fermenting room, my office, and the lab. Besides the centrifuges I have every type of digital and analog meter and measuring device including for brix, pH, salinity, alcohol, viscosity, weight, volume, color, temp., etc. that you could imagine. I have almost 300 botanicals, all also in tincture format at 95% abv, multiple immersion circulatory (sous vide) systems, dozens of filtration systems, chamber vacuums and hot sealers, hot food packing systems, stove, microwave, blenders and food processors, digitally controlled hot and cold food smoking systems, temperature and humidity controlled charcuterie aging fridge, assorted propane, butane, and natural gas torches, three refrigerators for different uses/temps., stand up and chest freezers, liquid nitrogen dewers, and every type of food grade acid, base, gel and hydrocolloid, stabilizer, and much more. I can make any type of fermented or non-fermented food/beverage, cooked/frozen food/beverage, molecular gastronomy/mixology, etc. Anything that can be digitally / computer controlled is, and usually with an analog version as well. I used to have a distillery, but sold off the equipment when my partner and I split off, but I have several friends who have distilleries and I can and do use their equipment when needed. I often prepare and/or cook most of a meal in my lab when I entertain, just traditional things are made in my kitchen.
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If it doesn’t require Top Secret clearance, I’d love to see photos.
Good that part is underground in a bunker. You can’t be too safe.
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Knives, and kitchenware in general, is not a category that most stores are knowledgeable about. Our local Goodwills mostly save up bins full and ship them off to as-is. They don’t know their brands and there’s no barcode to scan so good finds.
