Issues with Chinese Cleaver

I just got a cheap carbon Chinese vegetable cleaver. My sister picked it up for me at The Wok Shop in San Francisco. There were some obvious fit & finish issues, as to be expected. I eased to spine & the choil a bit and sanded the handle, so it's definitely much more comfortable to hold. However, the edge is not straight. If I pinch the blade right behind the edge and feel along the length of the blade I can feel some waviness near the tip end. Looking down on the edge, I can see a bit of a s-curve. I'm sure this would cause a problem with sharpening, right? Is there a relatively easy way to correct this? If I did try to sharpen it, would that curve gouge my stone?

This is my first time trying a cleaver and my first carbon knife. It's only a $10 knife so it's not really worth sending back to the shop. What would be the best way to deal with this?

 

Depends on how much of a curve we are talking about. You may be able to sharpen higher near the tip on the side with the curve to compensate, but otherwise call it what it is....a cheap chinese cleaver. Use it for a while, it may not even affect performance. I have had some pretty rough cleavers that still cut like a champ.

 

Had a chance to take a closer look at the blade and take some pics. It kinda looks like something dropped on the blade and dented it. And there's a bit of a curve near the middle of the blade that I really didn't notice until I saw the pic. But it's definitely there.

You're probably right, Matt. I shouldn't expect much for ten dollars. I tried it briefly on some carrot and it cut okay. But that was before I eased the spine and choil, so I didn't spend a lot of time with it. I would love to see what it does after a good sharpening, but I'd hate to unduly wear my stone if I won't be able to a proper edge with all the curves. And at worst, gouge it. I'll play with it more for a while as it is, and if I come to like using a cleaver perhaps I'll spring for a better quality one.