Not sure about JKI's sales number but Jon seems to be doing fine, they sell other knives too.
Been a while since we had a Cleaver chat.
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LOL whoops...wrong thread!
LOL whoops...wrong thread!
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I want to try the stainless one with the stubby wa handle some day, grind looks really nice.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Do they have a cleaver?
It is really nice, thinner than most Japanese made Chinese chef, cuts very nicely. I especially love the steel, feels almost like carbon but do keep a nice edge for quiet some time, I sometimes regret selling mine.
Some interesting videos of the Sugimoto factory popped up on my YouTube feed. Vids are 11 years old, but the footage looks a lot older. I think I put them in order. First vid appears to be inserting the core steel via the warikomi method maybe, then hammering out the shape followed by working on a springhammer (power hammer? I don’t know the technical term) in the following vids. Might be from when they were still making full tang cleavers. Wonder if there’s a full video somewhere.
Jville
I used to work in a Mexican restaurant
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She makes her cleavers out of thrown away nonstick pans.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Added final touches to the overhaul of my Matsubara ginsan with a new custom handle I just finished making. Now I finally got a nice stainless cleaver that can compete with my favorite carbon ones.
And for anyone interested, here's some shots of the handle
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...ks-finished-handle-projects.49832/post-921939
- Rounded and polished spine/choil
- Shortened "machi"
- Ground down the protruding heel at the back into a gentle S
- Reprofiled the dead flat edge to a slight but continuous curve
- Thinned, bevels evened out on stones, full kasumi, and a beastly edge off the suita
- Custom stabilized blackwood/bog oak handle
And for anyone interested, here's some shots of the handle
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...ks-finished-handle-projects.49832/post-921939
Very interesting, I always thought Sugimoto cleavers are all monosteel, but turns out they do have a cladded line.
Yeah, the sandblasted finish covers up the real cladding line, it’s usually closer to the edge than the sandblasting indicates.
boomchakabowwow
Senior Member
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I'm liking that:
but I am pretty sure it won't gain me much beyond my very boring CCK 130something. I refuse to drop real money on a cleaver, because I think it spits in the eye of what a cleaver is all about FOR ME. just a basher, Do it all, zero frills, check out my tiny green onion slivers, kitchen tool.
Kagayaki High Carbon Steel Chinese Cleaver
but I am pretty sure it won't gain me much beyond my very boring CCK 130something. I refuse to drop real money on a cleaver, because I think it spits in the eye of what a cleaver is all about FOR ME. just a basher, Do it all, zero frills, check out my tiny green onion slivers, kitchen tool.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
I have yet to find a western handled cleaver that I like. But this one looks like it may be worth trying for the price.I'm liking that:
Kagayaki High Carbon Steel Chinese Cleaver
but I am pretty sure it won't gain me much beyond my very boring CCK 130something. I refuse to drop real money on a cleaver, because I think it spits in the eye of what a cleaver is all about FOR ME. just a basher, Do it all, zero frills, check out my tiny green onion slivers, kitchen tool.
Is it a bone chopper or bbq chopper? Looks really tall to me. I also want one but not sure which one.
Could be the BBQ chopper. Just looked it up and that one is listed at 125 mm tall and 850 grams, way too tall and heavy for me. If I were to try and justify one for home use, I’d go for one of the smaller bone choppers like the 1203 model, 112 mm tall and 620 grams.Is it a bone chopper or bbq chopper? Looks really tall to me. I also want one but not sure which one.
This is very true I have a giant one but I never use it because I don't have a board that can handle it. The bone chopper I've actually used the few times I've needed one for barbecue is a small vintage American one.
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Yay, more excuses to buy more stuff then
PausedPhoenix
Member
Reading through this thead got me all exited about cleavers again. My suien has kinda fallen by the wayside since i started working proffessionaly but spent about an hour thinning it and can safely say it's gonna get more use moving forward.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out for my first big thinning job, slides through carrots much better now.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out for my first big thinning job, slides through carrots much better now.
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The Suien is such an underrated cleaver. Just a solid hunk of monosteel with a great heat treat. Needs an hour (or maybe a couple) of thinning out of the box, but for the price, it can’t be beat. Pretty nice stock handle too.Reading through this thead got me all exited about cleavers again. My suien has kinda fallen by the wayside since i started working proffessionaly but spent about an hour thinning it and can safely say it's gonna get more use moving forward.
I'm very pleased with how it turned out for my first big thinning job, slides through carrots much better now.
BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
I’m gonna get my **** together and ask Porto to make me a 240x120, aka fancy CCK 1101. I’ve gone from 180x75 to hopefully this monster. Size matters.you might be a cleaver guy, but just need a bigger one
You cant just say that without showing us a pic, I need to see that monster.
BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
Anyone want to take a chance at this? Heard some good things about forge to table stuff.
https://www.forgetotable.com/product-page/classic-cleaver
https://www.forgetotable.com/product-page/classic-cleaver
drrayeye
Senior Member
Very interesting. Great product development story. Interesting American-Chinese partnership. I have questions about the steel chosen: can they get it to Rockwell 58?
Can it chop bones--at least chicken bones?
Can it chop bones--at least chicken bones?
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I was in a Chinese supermarket yesterday stocking up on industrial quantities of Laoganma (in Chinatown you can get catering size jars!), and thought I ought buy a new cleaver as well, to really emphasise how serious I was about the whole affair. And not just any cleaver, I bought a Shibazi, so now I too can have opinions...
They actually had both a CCK cleaver at £78, and a metal handled Leung Tim at 40 quid , but I have quite a few from those brands already. And my new Shibazi cost £11 (!)
It's 195mm x 95 in the middle and 90 at the toe and heel. Which is right at the very bottom end of what we can reasonably call a cleaver, anything smaller is just a glorified nakiri, and really one would want something larger. @BillHanna knows where it's at.
It's also stainless (40CR13); the first stainless knife I've ever bought, but they only had one model, so it is what it is.
The fit and finish is extremely good, wildly better than any cleaver I've bought before, with the exception of the Tinker Tank, if that counts. They've done a 'sandblasted' kasumi effect on it, which actually doesn't look too bad in person tbh, though will probably get completely ruined if I try to thin it.
And the handle is really nice, the whole thing has been put together extremely well. I have zero idea how anyone is making money on this, especially given I bought it from a shop bang in the middle of central London.
It's about 2mm thick at the spine, with no distal taper, and a grind that's chunky in comparison to CCK and LT. Which isn't something I mind personally, I can't be doing with namby-pamby, wafer-thin cai dao. The full tang handle also adds to the reassuring heft and solidity.
It isn't sharp, they never are. But I will report back once I've put and edge on and given it a spin. Assuming the steel's alright I think I'll probably get along with it nicely.
Also it was £11. Eleven.
They actually had both a CCK cleaver at £78, and a metal handled Leung Tim at 40 quid , but I have quite a few from those brands already. And my new Shibazi cost £11 (!)
It's 195mm x 95 in the middle and 90 at the toe and heel. Which is right at the very bottom end of what we can reasonably call a cleaver, anything smaller is just a glorified nakiri, and really one would want something larger. @BillHanna knows where it's at.
It's also stainless (40CR13); the first stainless knife I've ever bought, but they only had one model, so it is what it is.
The fit and finish is extremely good, wildly better than any cleaver I've bought before, with the exception of the Tinker Tank, if that counts. They've done a 'sandblasted' kasumi effect on it, which actually doesn't look too bad in person tbh, though will probably get completely ruined if I try to thin it.
And the handle is really nice, the whole thing has been put together extremely well. I have zero idea how anyone is making money on this, especially given I bought it from a shop bang in the middle of central London.
It's about 2mm thick at the spine, with no distal taper, and a grind that's chunky in comparison to CCK and LT. Which isn't something I mind personally, I can't be doing with namby-pamby, wafer-thin cai dao. The full tang handle also adds to the reassuring heft and solidity.
It isn't sharp, they never are. But I will report back once I've put and edge on and given it a spin. Assuming the steel's alright I think I'll probably get along with it nicely.
Also it was £11. Eleven.
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Too small and I seriously doubt they forged that particular steel. Looks like a lot of the other cleavers you will see on Chinese websites.
You reckon?
If we define forging as heating something up and bashing it into shape, then I imagine they probably did, it isn't particularly difficult unless you're trying to layer the steel. And you can always take an angle grinder to something afterwards. Otherwise they'd have to be buying sheets of metal that looked like that already...
(Maybe I'm missing something...?)
drrayeye
Senior Member
Your reaction was very similar to mine when I bought my Shibazi f208-2. The overall appearance and initial performance of the cleaver was out of whack with the $33 I paid for it. Made no sense.
