School me on cleavers!

So I want a cleaver for home use, but cant justify the time to make one. Besides, I would like a decent respected one as a study piece to see how they are crafted by someone who knows which virtues are important in a cleaver. I'm thinking a slicing cleaver, not a bone basher.

Thoughts?

 

Pierre,

Andy777 wrote a review of all the cleavers he's used and the best "bang for the buck" was the Suien VC, which is sold by Jon Broida: http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com...y-type/cleavers/suien-vc-chinese-cleaver.html

If you want to read the article, it's here: http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/771029/

I have a stainless Gesshin Ginga. If you'd like to borrow it, drop me a PM.

 

This Suien looks interesting. I have a Chinese Knife I use a lot, but it is a cheap stainless one that wont take or hold a great edge. It works, but I know there are better out there, even within my meagre budget.

I spent many years living with and around Chinese chefs. The cleaver is almost all they use, and they were not expensive ones, and they could not hone worth a damn. But they still got great results day after day. I would like to find something that I can A) afford, and B) hone up to an edge I am happy with.

I am feeling the pull of the Chinese knife again...

 

I'm always torn between buying a cheap on from the asian market or going big for a good piece of steel. I interned for a Chinese lady and that was all she used, unless my sharp knife was within reach haha. Even cooking, she used a cleave to flip thigns ont he grill etc...

 

Pierre, didn't you make one or two cleavers in the past? Or were you just talking about it? I could swear I saw some shop pics with a couple cleaver blanks hanging on the wall.

k.

 

Yes, I made a couple. One prototype for a deal that went to pieces, the other was a custom. I want to get a solid authentic, cleaver. Carbon or stainless, doesn't matter really. I just have no frame of reference. Do they have "geometry"? I can make a cleaver shaped object that will cut, but it is beneficial to hold something you wish to make, or possibly improve/modify.

I may take Rick up on his offer, but would still like to get one. I usually gift my research pieces afterwards, a couple I keep.

 

The Suien is pretty asymmetric / right hand biased which is way rarer in cleavers than in gyutos.

 

A quick visit to china town with a crisp 20 in my pocket and I have a cleaver

 

Haha I did the opposite and have a DT ITK cleaver coming my way for far too many crisp 20's that won't be seeing my pocket anytime soon.

 

Cleavers are a bit like axes - they have to be tough rather than hard. I tend to lean towards the Chinese philosophy - you don't need anything too expensive to get great results.

I have an old Devonport stainless that I reground from hollow edge to convex and it will shave ultrathin slices of semi-frozen beef with no worries - seems to hold a useable edge for ages. No idea what the steel is but I paid only $17 for it about 30 years ago and I've used it for everything from chopping thru medium sized bones to splitting Aussie hardwood for kindling.

If you want to go ridiculous you could switch to a BSI chopper in M4

 

Bear, How is the cleaver project going?

 

I've got a a Suien that Matt re-handled and like it quite a bit. I bought it as an "intro" cleaver and while others have come and gone, it's still here. It does not get used everyday but on cleaver nights it rocks. I can make same offer that Rick did, if you would like to try it, drop a pm. Could even hand deliver during bird season...

 

Well, I received a cleaver from a gentleman in Tokyo. A nice looking piece that sells for a steal. A 3 layer san mai blade, super thin! Some observations. the edge is a long curve, no flat spots. The top and ends were all square, so I rounded them over, sealed the handle. Finish shows some grind marks, I'll see what I can do there. Core steel seems nice and hard, in the 61-62 range. Just need too get used to the height, it is a bit different to use.

 

Sounds pretty sweet. I'll have to go to Tokyo sometime and look for one.

P.S. Thanks for the core steel hardness estimate; I was really curious about it but don't have any easy means to test.

 

See what happens when I type crap online before I assimilate my required caffeine levels? The cleaver came from Taiwan... Thanks again!

 

My pleasure. I wonder if the lack of flat spot is a strong point against it. I know a few cleaver enthusiasts on various fora in the past have been picky about it...but curve seems pretty standard on most Chinese knives. I guess the profile could always be tweaked to make it a bit more flat if it's an issue.

 

Chan Chi Kee site. I have the 1303, it's really thin, and has some kind of coating to protect the carbon steel. Great for me since I'm used to lighter knives. The 1100 series is supposed to be great as well.

http://translate.google.com/transla...rev=/search?q=chan+chee+kee&safe=off&es_sm=93

 

The sweetest Chinese cleaver I have ever seen came with my husband. As a young Marine he was stationed in Hawaii. It was prior to statehood and they mostly confined them to base because they didn’t want any problems. (Marines + alcohol + girls = potential political problems). A local Chinese woman taught cooking classes. My husband decided that sounded like fun. We still have and use many of her hand written recipes. Ron bought a Chinese cleaver from a local store while he was taking classes. For something like 20 years, this 1958 vintage carbon steel blade was the only cooking knife he owned. Like Mrs Wong, he is able to do any slicing, chopping, carving task with it.


Dimensions are: blade is 3/32 inches thick ~ 7-15/16 inches wide ~ 3-3/32 high at the heel ~ 3-1/16 at the front ~ 3-1/4 high at the midpoint of the width. It has a very small flat section on the cutting edge: starting 1/4 inch from the heel and stopping at 2-3/4 inches. The remainder of the edge is a gentle rounded belly. With the flat edge resting on a cutting board, the front edge is 13/32 off the board.

 

Thank you, I appreciate it.

 

You can borrow some of mine and evaluate what suits your fancy. Let me know if your interested.

Sugimoto #7
CCK (the smaller slicer cleaver)
Dexter Russel (nakuri and reg size)
Ashi homo slicer (extra thin grind)
Moritaka slicer/chopper
Tojiro pro med slicer