chukabocho / Chinese cleaver recommendation

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Asteger

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Hi all

Perhaps this is not a good idea as some people might be alerted to this knife when there aren't many left, but this chukabocho has caught my eye and I'm wondering if veteran cleaver users think that overall it'd be a good buy: http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/custom-zensho-yoshikane-kasumi-wa-slicing-cleaver-215-mm/?setCurrencyId=3

(As the seller is a vendor here I believe it is okay to post this link?)

Yes, the lightness of it would appeal to me. also the V2 steel. and it seems a decent deal for the price. however, would anyone have another suggestion that wouldn't really cost more but could rival this one in quality and performance?

Thanks for any tips
 
I think it is a good buy although I don't have the same cleaver. JKerr's post in the other thread seems positive though.

JKerr said:
[snip]

Profile wise, I think most cleavers are pretty similar. Too much belly seems to be a real turn off for most, as for super-flat profiles (a la CCK/Moritaka), that seems to be personal preference. I like a fairly flat heel with a slight rise to the tip, the Mizuno stainless is pretty much spot on IMO.

I think handles are a major issue with cleavers and as with any knife, it's going to come to personal taste. I don't really care between full tang/scales like the Konosuke, Mizuno etc or rat tail/barrel like CCK/Sugimoto, just so long as the handle is pretty fat. On the other hand, I hate wa-handles and long/thin handles on cleavers, I just find I can't relax my hand completely as they just sit too lose without a firm grip...hope that makes sense.

Grind wise, I like a slightly chunkier knife. Food release seems to be a problem with most cleavers I've tried; not to say it's bad, but some are just worse and can be quite frustrating on certain foods. For example, the sugimoto #7 and fujiwara teruyasu are both pretty good in this area those that obviously comes with the fact that they are thicker behind the edge. The Yoshikane from Maxim and the Mizuno stainless are great all rounders where as the Konosuke #6 really suffers in this area, albeit it is stupidly thin.

[snip]
Click to expand...
 
im a cleaver guy myself, if i didnt have a custom already in the works i would consider that knife definitely. compared to other cleavers that are available for sale, i think the zensho/yoshikane cleaver offers pretty decent value, considering what youre getting. the handle is nicer looking than production cleavers, and the steel and grind is going to be good also. if you pull the trigger and decide you dont like it, you can simply resell it here in the BST section. Im pretty certain you could sell it fast. i may even be interested if the time is right and i have the cash.
 
Great! That is a good point, although checking how things work it looks like it takes some time before people are allowed to sell here. I will have to write often ;)
 
If possible, I would suggest trying a cleaver with a wa handle compared to the traditional barrel or scales before dropping that much on the Yoshikane. It is a good cleaver; even grind, nicely rounded choil and spine, great taper, decent food release and steel is super easy to sharpen, edge retention is average, similar to white 2. However, I hate the handle. I actually knocked the old handle (burnt chestnut) off and replaced it with a slightly larger wa handle that I had around, but it's still too small and I think the length of wa handles just get in the way with cleavers. At some point I'll look into getting a custom handle for it.

So yeah, although it has a lot going for it, the handle is a big turn off for me, though I completely accept that this is personal preference, but it's enough to make it one of my least used cleavers.

Cheers,
Josh.

Oh, on another note, in reply to Randy's "Cleaver time" thread, I offered to send him tracings and measurements on a bunch of cleavers. I haven't gotten round to it yet due to a crazy schedule and some minor illness (Sorry Randy!) but I'll have them done tomorrow and figured it'd be a good idea to share with the forum members as well if that's something people would find helpful.
 
Just jumped onto JNS and noticed they have two versions of the Yoshikane cleaver. I have the burnt chestnut oct. handle, the custom cocobolo could possible be better, looks a bit fatter.

Sorry about that.

Cheers,
Josh
 
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