The keepers

[Andy777]

The patinas on all of these are amazing.

I was thinking the opposite. after looking at that patina thread I'm embarrased for cleaning mine. I promise from this point forward I'll let more of a patina develop. I can't tell you which pictures are which because the place I'm working today has all photo sites blocked. In fact my access to this site is hit and miss today.

JohnnyChance
A lot of great handles there, including the great Fish Mizuno handle, but that Takeda handle is just perfect, one of my favorite wa handles ever. Very nicely done sir.

I have a love-hate relationship with that handle. From a craftsmanship and comfort standpoint it is probably the best I've ever made. However, the brass kind of clashes with the kurouchi for me. I've been this close (picture my hand and my thumb and index finger mere millimeters apart) from tearing it off and making a new one. I was thinking something shorter and stubbier made of ironwood burl with nickel silver highlights. What does everyone think?

[hax9215]

I am not a religious man but it would be a SIN to tear that handle off! If it does not speak to you, sell that one and do another with the ironwood burl etc. In all honesty, I do like the 'stubby' hande profile but I can say with certainty you could find a buyer!

Hax the Cook CLEAVERS RULE!!!

[kalaeb]

Good show. Thanks for posting.

[Dave Martell]

What a collection of "keepers" Andy.

[malacara]

Thanks for posting pics of your (impressive) cleaver collection and for your comments about them And as hax9215 says: Cleavers rule

[Johnny.B.Good]

I was thinking something shorter and stubbier made of ironwood burl with nickel silver highlights. What does everyone think?

Ironwood burl with nickel silver spacers would be my preference, but the existing handle is impressive (fit and finish wise) and doesn't look too out of place. Maybe you can reuse the existing handle on anther knife and/or sell it to fund the materials you have in mind.

[bikehunter]

I have a love-hate relationship with that handle. From a craftsmanship and comfort standpoint it is probably the best I've ever made. However, the brass kind of clashes with the kurouchi for me. I've been this close (picture my hand and my thumb and index finger mere millimeters apart) from tearing it off and making a new one. I was thinking something shorter and stubbier made of ironwood burl with nickel silver highlights. What does everyone think?

Well, I'm not even a cleaver fan, so I can't pick'em out by brand, except for maybe the fish ones. But if you are thinking of tearing off the gorgeous handle on the one at the very top, with the almost black kurouchi.... I think you should seek the help of mental health care professionals.

[David Metzger]

Hi Andy777

I am wondering if you might enlighten us about the weight of cleaver you like best? I was also wondering if you like the grind above the edge symmetrical or perhaps flatter on one side? Do you try to make the edges the same angle? I have always wondered if the 220mm x 110mm is ideal, it just seems a bit taller than needed? Can I ask 1 more question? How thick do you like the spine - I guess this has more to do with overall weight and comfort in holding blade?

Beautiful cleavers, I think you should keep them all!

Thanks
David

[mr drinky]

That's an impressive keeper collection. I was lucky enough to land one of your cleavers with a fish handle (Masahiro M3). I'm grateful for your collection, but I am also grateful for what you have sold off

k.

[Andy777]

Well, I'm not even a cleaver fan, so I can't pick'em out by brand, except for maybe the fish ones. But if you are thinking of tearing off the gorgeous handle on the one at the very top, with the almost black kurouchi.... I think you should seek the help of mental health care professionals.

All right you guys have me convinced. I still need to decide which one to sell, it may very well be that one. It is probably the best cleaver I have as far as everything I love in a cleaver, but it has the least sentimental value. We'll see. I just really want to get my collection down to a size where I use every knife on a weekly basis. It's just so hard with such a big collection.

I am wondering if you might enlighten us about the weight of cleaver you like best? I was also wondering if you like the grind above the edge symmetrical or perhaps flatter on one side? Do you try to make the edges the same angle? I have always wondered if the 220mm x 110mm is ideal, it just seems a bit taller than needed? Can I ask 1 more question? How thick do you like the spine - I guess this has more to do with overall weight and comfort in holding blade?

I still don't consider myself much of an expert but I do know I love to cook and the cleaver is by far my preferred tool for that task. I don't think there can really be a wrong type of cleaver, it all just depends on what you want to use it for and what qualities you are after. For my #1 everyday go to slicer I like it light, ~400 grams is great. I can't say if I'd like a lighter cleaver because once you take a super thin piece of steel, make it 22x11 and add a handle the high 300's to low 400's is about where it will always come out at the lowest. You want to body behind the cleaver because that is where its strength lies is letting the blade do the work. A lot of times I love using my sugimoto #7 that comes in around 550 grams for that reason.

I don't really worry about how each side is ground as long as it is thin, my Masahiro M3 was nearly flat on one side, I didn't find myself with a preference to my 50/50 knives. With the slicers being so thin and the blade being so tall I don't think it matters as much as it does for other styles of knives. I will say one thing, I know US knife makers consider it a point of pride to have one single grind from spine to edge, however, with a cleaver being so wide I don't prefer that, I like a thin blade that is ground to super thin the last two inches or so. Otherwise you get really bad suction to the blade, and you can't thin it as you use it. I don't know if I'm making any sense on that point, let me know if not.

You are right on the spine thickness. The Sugimotos have very thick spines right in front of the handle, and it quickly tapers to the end of the spine and down the edge, that is super comfy to hold. a thicker spine is pretty much better on all counts for comforts sake, you just have to factor in overall blade thickness and weight. For a slicer you obviously want thin and light, so there is a tradeoff.

As far as size goes, I really like 220-230 and 90-110 wide. If the blade is relatively flat I get the same cutting area as a 270 gyuto, I just like that size, like some like a 210 gyuto or a santoku, there's not a wrong answer it's just preference. Any less wide and the feel in the hand changes for me. It becomes more like a gyuto with a broken tip or a nakiri, not bad but not what I'm after. I like to feel like I'm not top of what I'm cutting, plus you have the scoop factor etc. This is what you have to understand, when I joined knife forums 7 years ago the only cleaver that ever got talked about was the Dexter. Knife outlet and Japan woodworker sold the M3 but no one had one and google searches turned up a few places like the wok shop, your standard made in China Dexter type cleavers occasionally on eBay and around the internet. No one was willing to drop cash on a nice one if it did turn up because there was no one that already had one to ask about it. No one talked about the cleavers like you saw on Iron Chef and if they did it was not in a complimentary manner. Why would anyone pay $100 letalone $400 for a cleaver, I can get a great one with a steel handle for $10 at the Asian market. I wish I had some of the old threads from KF to show. The main theme was that Chinese cuisine consisted of greasy buffets, so you would never need a good knife. These are the same people who were already knife snobs and mocked people with Henkels. None of us gaijins had ever heard of CCK. I started buying cleavers just because no one else was interested or willing in seeing what was out there. Koki at japanesechefsknife started tracking down different cleavers for me and I got better at my google searches to bring up Japanese sites with their badass chukabochos. I never planned on owning 30 different cleavers, but I was curious and wanted to help our understanding about what was out there. I honestly did see it as a strange research project of sorts. Now all of the sudden there were pictures and descriptions and reviews of these mysterious $400 blades. I unwittingly had become the source on these things for a lot of people. I preferred a 220 length and since I was the only reviewing them everyone thought they had to have a 220 as well. But really that's just what I preferred. If someone wants a 180 and that fits their style more power to them, just make sure to post a review and some pics! I've rambling now so if I didn't answer all your questions let me know.