Been a while since we had a Cleaver chat.

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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dtro said:
Custom. 145usd shipped, not tax due either. Grind is a little right hand biased but overall, very impressed. Takes an edge well (came a bit blunt), I'll report back if it holds it. It did OK with today at work.

Handle feels cheap but that can always be replaced.

Edit: also done in about 2 weeks including shipping.
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How would one contact them for a custom piece and what steel do they work with?
 
Hey question for all the cleaver heads out there: who are the western makers of custom cleavers doing interesting grinds at the moment?
I only got into cleavers after Tony Laseur got out of the game, so I can only lust after his curious looking P grind cleavers from afar, so wondered if there were others who you would suggest I check out for a custom?
 
I'm not sure on interesting grinds, I have only tried a few cleavers Lila Nordanskog, Willow Forge and Knot Handcrafted. The Nordanskog was really well done and heavy beast, if you want rusting he is fantastic. The S-grind from the Willow did not jive with me. My newest from @Knot Handcrafted is fantastic. Its on the thin side but cuts exactly how I wanted a cleaver to cut. Very highly recommended from me.
 
Matt Jacobs said:
I'm not sure on interesting grinds, I have only tried a few cleavers Lila Nordanskog, Willow Forge and Knot Handcrafted. The Nordanskog was really well done and heavy beast, if you want rusting he is fantastic. The S-grind from the Willow did not jive with me. My newest from @Knot Handcrafted is fantastic. Its on the thin side but cuts exactly how I wanted a cleaver to cut. Very highly recommended from me.
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Thanks Matt, I’ll check them out.
 
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NameAlreadyTaken said:
Hey question for all the cleaver heads out there: who are the western makers of custom cleavers doing interesting grinds at the moment?
I only got into cleavers after Tony Laseur got out of the game, so I can only lust after his curious looking P grind cleavers from afar, so wondered if there were others who you would suggest I check out for a custom?
Click to expand...
In no particular order off the top of my head

Knot Handcrafted
Isasmedjan
Fredrik spare
Lila nordanskog
Felippi porto
Merion forge
Milan gravier
Martin huber
Ben kamon
Hyde
 
Does anyone know the state of QC for CCK cleavers are these days? I really want to order a 1302 from CKTG, but the hassle and expense of returning one that has a warped or otherwise faulty cutting edge has put me into a major balk. My other two vintage chin kee lee cleavers have spines not straight, but the cutting edge is fine. Same with my newer Shibazi. I've read too many reports of CCK cutting edges with problems not acceptable, but hey, it's the internet.

I consider this forum a credible source. What do you think of my chances?
 
All the cck cleavers I've seen (and owned) had at least some level of warping. Based on my small sample size, I would personally expect to see some sort of inconsistency on any given sample you find. That being said, I did not notice it to have any major impact on the actual performance.
 
tostadas said:
All the cck cleavers I've seen (and owned) had at least some level of warping. Based on my small sample size, I would personally expect to see some sort of inconsistency on any given sample you find. That being said, I did not notice it to have any major impact on the actual performance.
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My carbon steel slicer from them is bent both vertically and horizontally...but yeah I can't really notice it when I'm actually cutting. The stainless steel one I got for my dad seemed straight at least
 
Agree with the above. Admittedly it's been a few years since I've used a CCK slicer, got a few of their heavier butchering knives though. They were always pretty rustic but performed well, never had any issues with them although I preferred to round out the tip and heel to give it a little curve. Most boards in the kitchens I've worked in were slightly warped so the super flat edges on CCK/Moritakas and the like didn't work too well.

CCK's are about double what I paid for mine now which would have been about 6 years ago I think. In hindsight, a steal back then but I don't know if I'd fork out the $$ for one now. Not sure about the rules regarding eBay links but if you search for Chan Zi Kee there's an Australian seller with those. Can't find any other mention of them anywhere but I have two carbon knives from them, 1 slicer (235x120 450g) and a chopper (225x115 650g) which are awesome and only set me back about $55-$60AUD about 4 years ago and they haven't increased in price. The stainless steel Peking duck knife is a piece of **** though.
 
JKerr said:
Agree with the above. Admittedly it's been a few years since I've used a CCK slicer, got a few of their heavier butchering knives though. They were always pretty rustic but performed well, never had any issues with them although I preferred to round out the tip and heel to give it a little curve. Most boards in the kitchens I've worked in were slightly warped so the super flat edges on CCK/Moritakas and the like didn't work too well.

CCK's are about double what I paid for mine now which would have been about 6 years ago I think. In hindsight, a steal back then but I don't know if I'd fork out the $$ for one now. Not sure about the rules regarding eBay links but if you search for Chan Zi Kee there's an Australian seller with those. Can't find any other mention of them anywhere but I have two carbon knives from them, 1 slicer (235x120 450g) and a chopper (225x115 650g) which are awesome and only set me back about $55-$60AUD about 4 years ago and they haven't increased in price. The stainless steel Peking duck knife is a piece of **** though.
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Thanks for the info and suggestion. I checked out the bay site on au. Too bad that vendor will only ship in australia.

I really don't know what it is about the CCK pricing. For just a little bit more you can get a Masahiro gyuto 240 that's so much better quality wise on all levels. It's just not a cleaver.
 
boomchakabowwow said:
My CCK is straight. I bought mine from a store in Los Angeles. I didn’t know about warp issues, so I didn’t even inspect it at all. I just bought it wrapped up on paper. Took it home oblivious of any trouble
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Lucky you, from what I've been reading here and elsewhere.

This doesn't matter, I'm just curious. Do you remember the year you bought your cleaver? You can't get them in any brick and mortar store in the states now.
 
JWK1 said:
Lucky you, from what I've been reading here and elsewhere.

This doesn't matter, I'm just curious. Do you remember the year you bought your cleaver? You can't get them in any brick and mortar store in the states now.
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I bought from Action Sales LA. They can ship too. Mine came with a pretty warped tip though... 🤷‍♂️
 
JWK1 said:
Lucky you, from what I've been reading here and elsewhere.

This doesn't matter, I'm just curious. Do you remember the year you bought your cleaver? You can't get them in any brick and mortar store in the states now.
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8 years ago?
 
Snagged this Dao Vua V3 52100 200mm from Tokushu. I wanted a cheap Wa handled cleaver, and this fits the bill. Punches well above its price point, IMHO.
 

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So even though I've done some overall thinning on it, I keep my Wok Shop #4 cleaver a bit thick at the edge. Sharp, but sturdy. These days I keep it in a drawer and pull it out only for rougher tasks like tonight in cutting up a cooked spatchcocked chicken. This guy handles splitting breasts, rib bones, etc. with no issue at all.

I was in the other room when the wife called out asking, "can I use this big one to cut a block of harder cheese?" She has a good understanding of different knives for different things and I love that she asked. I of course said yes go ahead and in short order she was mumbling in a tone I knew to be impressed so I ventured into the kitchen.

She was indeed impressed and started complimenting the knife and saying how she really liked the way it cut. Keep in mind, her favorite knives are a 150mm Pro M petty and a Murata paring knife. She's tried pretty much every knife I've ever had and even has her own @MSicardCutlery custom ko nakiri. But those two are the knives she uses the most and they are obviously quite a departure from even a small cleaver!

She washed it up, slicing a bit of sponge and commenting on how impressed she was by that after cutting up a chicken, dried and declared, "Yeah, I like that one. I don't know if I'd use it all the time but it's cool."

I immediately made space on the secondary knife magnet (hangs right by the primary) and told her she can use it any time she wants! She'd never wanted to try it before but here we are.
 
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