Help Me Choose a Cleaver

I bought a cheapie cleaver from Taiwan, made of VG10. I find myself reaching for it more and more often, so I think it's time to upgrade. My budget is $300, though I could break that budget for the perfect knife.

* My current cleaver is pretty close in size to No1 (220mm x 90mm), and that size fits me pretty well. I would consider a taller cleaver, but first choice would be 90mm or so in height.

* I do find that corners of the spine dig in and make the knife uncomfortable after maybe half an hour at most. I'd like to change that. The profile of my knife is pretty thin all the way up. I did round the spine, and that improved the situation only a little.

* I would prefer a knife that isn't too high maintenance. Stainless, semi-stainless, or carbon clad in stainless would be my first choice. A less reactive carbon knife would be second choice, but would be in the running. Would prefer to stay away from a highly reactive carbon (like certain reports of Ashi Hamono).

* Edge retention is first priority, followed by ease of sharpening and ability to take a sharp edge. Of course, all of these are important.

* I prefer a round or octagonal handle, but handle isn't a high priority.


What fits this profile? Heiji No1 semi-stainless sounds perfect, but I don't know if he makes them. I may have to send him an email. Other possibilities:

* No1 Sugimoto, available on Rakuten. Based on what others have said about the No6, this may be the most comfortable for extended use. How reactive is Sugimoto cladding?
* No1 Ginga stainless. Blueway has the No6, maybe they can get the No6.
* Sakai Takayuki, available on ebay
* Sakai Ichimonji, available from their website

What are other good options. Any comments on the choices above?

One vote for the Gesshin Ginga cleaver from JKI:

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com...-ginga-number6-chinese-cleaver-wa-handle.html

Rick

+1 on the Ginga.The edge profile is thin so no bones.The Gesshin steel sharpens up easy,takes a good edge.As stainless goes a good choice.

You would need twice the budget for a Heiji. I love using mine very much.

Sugimoto would be very reactive in my experience. And that was the main reason I asked Heiji to build a semi stainless cleaver for me.

From your budget and initial list, stainless ginga sounds like a winner.

Ashi Hamono makes nice cleavers; you could either go with the Gesshin Ginga PT recommended, or see if you could have a custom one made, either ordering directly from Ashi or through Blueway Japan. I've got a custom Ashi that I picked up used and I like it a lot. Distal taper, nice steel, cuts great, nice chunky rosewood handle. But, it is a little different than what you're looking for, in that it is relatively lightweight (400 grams or so), full-sized, carbon steel, and doesn't have a round handle!

Anyway, the point being that I think you could probably have a somewhat lower-profile and thicker knife made in Swedish stainless for around your price. I will say that I find the white #2 of my Ashi quite unreactive, once you get a nice patina going. Lots of grey, some blues and rainbow hues; no orange and no brown. So, don't rule carbon out. But, from what I hear, the Swedish stainless is really nice, too, so might as well go that way, since it doesn't make a huge difference in price. For instance, I think ordering directly from Ashi, the stainless runs about $25 more than the carbon.

i would also recommend the ashi ginga. got one in white no.2 and one in stainless, love em both.

Of my cleavers, the one with the best edge retention is Mizuno. It's not the easiest to sharpen, but once it has an edge it will hold it for a long time.

The Sugimoto is the best all around cleaver, that I've used. I've got the 220x110mm version. It is the ideal size and weight for a cleaver. The strong distal taper has a thicker back end, and a thin front end, which makes the cleaver fairly stiff. The handle is comfortable and the spine and choil are rounded.

Most cleavers are roughly finished. The Sugimoto is on the rougher side. What it sacrifices in appearance, it more then makes up for in performance.

The steel is reactive, but it's not the turn the knife black. More of a grayish hue on mine.

Jay

One of the chukabocho nuts here, JKerr, has me convinced Sugimoto OMS is the way to go. The OMS would have a better finish I think, though cost more.

So I grabbed the Sugimoto OMS No 6 on Rakuten for $432 plus shipping. For the curious: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/subaru/item/4106/

That was a bit out of my comfort zone, but not as much as the Heiji (I did get a response; price was 52500 yen plus paypal and shipping).

Hopefully it won't take too long to arrive. Thanks for all the useful comments.

Lee

Nice.. grab, Lee.

As much as I like my Heiji and Shig Chuka, I still miss Sugimoto handle comfort ... rat-tail tang, light rounded rectangular shape handle. It does feel very nice in hand.

Cool! Post some of your thoughts once you receive it and begin your choppin'.

Congrats excellent choice, my Sugi is the most comfortable cleaver I own.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good call. The OMS#6 is my go to knife at work. Love it.

What's the upgrade value on OMS? Have you used both models?

Yeah, I've got a standard #6 kicking about somewhere, had a #7 which I sold on and I picked up the OMS#6 a couples months back.

I'd say the differences are subtle; rosewood handle, slightly better f+f on the spine/choil, hand engraved logo, comes with a faux leather case thingie. In terms of the practical differences, I think the OMS feels better on the stones and holds it's edge slightly longer. As for whether the steel is different or it's in the HT, I haven't a clue.

It's about an extra $200 for the OMS model. Whether it's worth it or not is gonna come to personal taste. I've always been a fan of Sugimoto's knives; I've used about 6 or 7 now and they've all delivered and their cleavers suit me more than any others I've used. So to me, it's worth the extra cash, I don't paying a bit more for a premium product from a company I'm loyal to.

Thanks!

So I've had this knife a couple of weeks. Up until today, I've mostly done small jobs with it (I'm a home cook). Today I made a big pot of winter soup (beans, cabbage, ham hock. etc), and I really loved how the knife handled. So much more maneuverable than I was thinking it would be. I figured there would be an adjustment period, and then I would either get used to it or not. Instead, I took right to it.

The edge retention is superb -- I haven't even stropped it yet, and it's still quite sharp. So I can't comment yet on ease of sharpening. OOTB sharpness was the best I've ever seen, just screaming.

Another pleasant surprise on this knife was the food release. Just fantastic. I was dicing an onion and accidentally cut back all the way through the stem, instead of leaving a bit of uncut onion to keep it all attached. I pulled the knife out, and the onion stack didn't fall apart (or even budge, really). I'll have to try dicing a pototoe and screwing that up, too, to see just how many mistakes the knife will cover for.

Reactivity seems to be low for carbon. Not sure what the steel is, but I've diced a good 10 onions with it, and I'm only seeing the very beginnings of a patina. You wouldn't notice them if you weren't looking for something.

The only substantial downside I've found is F&F. It's not that the knife is ugly, but in this price range, you might expect a prettier knife. Not an issue for me, though -- I'm starting to really love this knife.

Good to hear that you are happy with Sugimoto #6, Lee.

Sounds very nice!

Sounds like you went through a couple comfort zones and came out with a really nice blade.

Great! You're helping to convince me to pull the trigger. Right, so will have to sell a gyuto and/or some stones...

JKerr said:

I'd say the differences are subtle; rosewood handle, slightly better f+f on the spine/choil, hand engraved logo, comes with a faux leather case thingie.

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I found looking on various J-sites that while the fatter rosewood handle, with those Chinese-style grooves in it, is the most common OMS handle, it isn't the only type. If memory serves, there are handles without the groves, maybe not quite as thick, and in other woods.