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boomchakabowwow

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I think I am going to Taiwan soon. There is a steel district that makes cleavers right? Any hints?

I was in Chinatown a few days ago. I found a store with boxes of cleavers. All messy and banging against each other. Despite this they were all super sharp. Most of them were less than $20. I passed.

I want something better, more unique.
 
There are the Maestro Wu bombshell cleavers from there but I've never been sure how much of that story is marketing hype. Very well made cleavers even if the Chinese weren't shelling the island with stainless steel artillery rounds.
 
I've had a Maestro Wu cleaver from Jinmen, and there's another maker in that neighborhood as well (neither are precisely on Taiwan, but there are plenty of Jinmen specialty stores that sell them and gaoliang liquor.

I think it's a fine knife, and I'm going to someday make a project of thinning mine, but a trip to even a lot of average stores can turn up equal or better blades. I picked up a knife branded "Yong Li" with stainless-cladded V-Toku (not sure which) steel and a pretty thin grind.

I think there's a producer or two in Taichung that can turn out high quality stuff, though I've not come across them yet.

I'm not as much of a cleaver guy as I probably should be, so I'm afraid I'm not too much help.
 
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