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Asian8640

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2022
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13
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Location
New York
Hi! I've been lurking for quite some time and never felt the impetus to post until now. I've been chasing my idea cai dao for a while now, although technically I already have it. What I want is a second one because what I have is a very old, VERY thinly ground Dexter that weighs less than 270 grams, almost 70 grams less than the average Dexter of today. As it is, aside from my golden sample Dexter, I have 2xHo Ching Kee Lee vintage slicers (1970's), 1 Chan Chi Kee KF1103 from the early to mid 90's that is ground like a laser, 1 NOS Russell Harrington Cleaver, 1 RaderKimo VG-10 Slicer (from before the VG10 export ban so actually VG-10), a Misono No 61, a modern dexter that was flattend and in the middle of being thinned back to usefulness, and a Chopper King Blue No 2 Slicer from Taiwan.

The Ho Ching Kee Lee Cleavers were NOS from Chase Intl Trading Company in San Francisco. They have a very interesting profile insofar as up front, the thickest part of the blade is about 50cm from the tip and then thins out as it reaches the top of the blade. This transitions 3/4 of the way back to a standard thin at the edge to thick at the spine.

The CCK 1103 large Slicer is about 80 grams lighter (445 grams vs 525 grams) than the other 40 or so samples at the store when I purchased it, so it is somewhat of a golden sample if you're looking for light weight and super thin/slicey in a 220mm by 115mm slicer.

The NOS Russell Harrington was a nice find because it had orignal box, plastic bag, and original handle sticker and 2 knives for only $40. One was a wedding gift for a friend, and the other one stayed with me.

The Rader Kimo Slicer is a fun one, because of just how thin and scarily sharp it came. Very few knives come sharp enough to whittle hairs and are super thin at only $56. It's now $89, but still worth it. Probably not real VG-10 any more because of the export ban, but as you know, profile is everything and I've had nothing but a great slicing experience. It's also the only knife where cutting is so easy that I'm worried that I'll accidently take part of my finger... for the third time. Every other knife I'm confident with, but when everything feels like hot knife thorugh warm butter, it can be a bit disconcerning. Great performance, but I don't know if I have the skill to keep my own hands safe with this one.

Misono No 61 has the most consistent factory grind out of any Chinese chef knife that I've had. It ticks off EVERY box for what I want in a good all purpose blade: Stainless Steel, Thin at the edge while remaining thin as it goes up the blade, a distal taper for balance, and good height to work with. At only $140 it is the only knife I regularly give away as gifts due to the fantastic fit and finish combined with the consistently fantastic grinds. There are only two downsides though. 1. It needs to be sharpened out of the box, which means the knife has to go through me before I gift it instead of just being able to send it via mail from the reseller. 2. The large western style handle looks great but doesn't function as well as a barrell handle because of the sharp edges on the front of the scales and it not being round. I feel that I have more control with knives that have barrel handle and bolster versus this design. If the scales were a little bit smaller and rounded at all edges instead of just most, it would be perfect.

Blue NO 2 Chopper King: Needed MAJOR thinning and reprofiling when I purchased it. Good thing that the cladding was soft and made for relatively fast work, It only took me 3 weeks to properly thin it exacly how I wanted with stones. Once I did though, it has the absolute best steel out of all my knives. Easy to sharpen, stays sharp for a very long time, perfectly balanced. Only real issue to me is that it is Edge Bit San Mai construction, so the hard core steel doesn't run all the way up the knife. As such, it has half the sharpening life of a monosteel blade. I have old cleavers in the family that are multi-generational blades that started as large slicers generations ago and are now long duck slicers. These knives will definitely see use after I kick the bucket, and having a knife that can't be used until it's a pick is kind of a bummer.

I can't talk on the modern Dexter because it has so much work ahead of it to get it where I want it. It's just too front heavy compared to even the heavier 440 and 525 gram larg slicers that I have, therefore making it more fatiguing than it really should be.
 
Hi! I've been lurking for quite some time and never felt the impetus to post until now. I've been chasing my idea cai dao for a while now, although technically I already have it. What I want is a second one because what I have is a very old, VERY thinly ground Dexter that weighs less than 270 grams, almost 70 grams less than the average Dexter of today. As it is, aside from my golden sample Dexter, I have 2xHo Ching Kee Lee vintage slicers (1970's), 1 Chan Chi Kee KF1103 from the early to mid 90's that is ground like a laser, 1 NOS Russell Harrington Cleaver, 1 RaderKimo VG-10 Slicer (from before the VG10 export ban so actually VG-10), a Misono No 61, a modern dexter that was flattend and in the middle of being thinned back to usefulness, and a Chopper King Blue No 2 Slicer from Taiwan.

The Ho Ching Kee Lee Cleavers were NOS from Chase Intl Trading Company in San Francisco. They have a very interesting profile insofar as up front, the thickest part of the blade is about 50cm from the tip and then thins out as it reaches the top of the blade. This transitions 3/4 of the way back to a standard thin at the edge to thick at the spine.

The CCK 1103 large Slicer is about 80 grams lighter (445 grams vs 525 grams) than the other 40 or so samples at the store when I purchased it, so it is somewhat of a golden sample if you're looking for light weight and super thin/slicey in a 220mm by 115mm slicer.

The NOS Russell Harrington was a nice find because it had orignal box, plastic bag, and original handle sticker and 2 knives for only $40. One was a wedding gift for a friend, and the other one stayed with me.

The Rader Kimo Slicer is a fun one, because of just how thin and scarily sharp it came. Very few knives come sharp enough to whittle hairs and are super thin at only $56. It's now $89, but still worth it. Probably not real VG-10 any more because of the export ban, but as you know, profile is everything and I've had nothing but a great slicing experience. It's also the only knife where cutting is so easy that I'm worried that I'll accidently take part of my finger... for the third time. Every other knife I'm confident with, but when everything feels like hot knife thorugh warm butter, it can be a bit disconcerning. Great performance, but I don't know if I have the skill to keep my own hands safe with this one.

Misono No 61 has the most consistent factory grind out of any Chinese chef knife that I've had. It ticks off EVERY box for what I want in a good all purpose blade: Stainless Steel, Thin at the edge while remaining thin as it goes up the blade, a distal taper for balance, and good height to work with. At only $140 it is the only knife I regularly give away as gifts due to the fantastic fit and finish combined with the consistently fantastic grinds. There are only two downsides though. 1. It needs to be sharpened out of the box, which means the knife has to go through me before I gift it instead of just being able to send it via mail from the reseller. 2. The large western style handle looks great but doesn't function as well as a barrell handle because of the sharp edges on the front of the scales and it not being round. I feel that I have more control with knives that have barrel handle and bolster versus this design. If the scales were a little bit smaller and rounded at all edges instead of just most, it would be perfect.

Blue NO 2 Chopper King: Needed MAJOR thinning and reprofiling when I purchased it. Good thing that the cladding was soft and made for relatively fast work, It only took me 3 weeks to properly thin it exacly how I wanted with stones. Once I did though, it has the absolute best steel out of all my knives. Easy to sharpen, stays sharp for a very long time, perfectly balanced. Only real issue to me is that it is Edge Bit San Mai construction, so the hard core steel doesn't run all the way up the knife. As such, it has half the sharpening life of a monosteel blade. I have old cleavers in the family that are multi-generational blades that started as large slicers generations ago and are now long duck slicers. These knives will definitely see use after I kick the bucket, and having a knife that can't be used until it's a pick is kind of a bummer.

I can't talk on the modern Dexter because it has so much work ahead of it to get it where I want it. It's just too front heavy compared to even the heavier 440 and 525 gram larg slicers that I have, therefore making it more fatiguing than it really should be.
Chopper King only three weeks — !
You’re gonna fit in here just fine. Welcome!
 
Chopper King only three weeks — !
You’re gonna fit in here just fine. Welcome!
It was more a matter of my wrist getting too tired after 2 hours of grinding so I'd stop. When you're hogging of material with a King 300, it's probably not the best idea. Only upside is there is no chance of ruining the heat treat. It's a lot easier to hog off on a 2x72 belt sander but also much easier to overheat.
 
It was more a matter of my wrist getting too tired after 2 hours of grinding so I'd stop. When you're hogging of material with a King 300, it's probably not the best idea. Only upside is there is no chance of ruining the heat treat. It's a lot easier to hog off on a 2x72 belt sander but also much easier to overheat.
To probably misquote Kipling:
you’re a better man than I am, Ginga Din.
 
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