Barrel, wa, scale, how do you like your chuka handles?

Hey folks, silly question.

What kind of handles do you like on chukabocho/Chinese cleavers? Local variants I see generally have a rat tail through a simple barrel handle with a metal ferrule, but many Japanese flavors have simple slab scales. I've seen a few variants with wa handles, but they seem to be the minority.

I'm thinking if I can refinish a decent cleaver or get someone to do it for me, I'd probably want to replace the handle as well. Only problem is if the tang is too puny to support a handle upgrade.

In your opinion, what is the best overall handle style for a veggie slicing cleaver?

 

Sugimoto is the best for my hand.

 

Ditto.

 

+1 on Sugimoto, After that barrel aka cck.

 

I wonder if Sugimoto ferrules can be found anywhere, as the woodwork doesn't seem that insane, but the ferrule seems like a pain in the butt to make.

 

Barrel, all day and tomorrow, they are usually made out of cheap light weight woods putting the balance point well ahead of the pinch. I've never used a chukabocho with scales so I can't comment on that, but I don't enjoy a wa handle on a cck because my coworker has one with an octoganal wa rehandle and the end of the handle impedes swift chopping.

 

What about a barrel sized and proportioned wa handle?

 

How would that differ from a barrel handle?

 

Meaning is there any specific utility to 'round' versus 'octagonal' lol…if the overall dimensions are maintained.

 

I don't see much of a difference between round and octagonal because chukabocho are 99% of the time pinch gripped, the only real exception I can think of would be ground fish for balls. Handle doesn't matter much except for balance and round is cheaper than octagonal. It'll help keep my knife bills down if anything.

 

Out of curiosity, anyone out there got dimensions on a Sugimoto chukabocho handle? Would be really appreciated!

 

So much of my hand is forward with a chuka it does not really matter to me. Barrel ala cck works fine for me. I even have a square one with rounded edges I like.

 

Like my... Oh nevermind. I like the short fat barrels.