# Cheap Chinese cleaver?



## SolidSnake03 (Oct 14, 2015)

Hey all,

So I'm looking to play around with a slightly smaller sized thin and cheap Chinese cleaver a bit after deciding that something like the Suien VC and Gesshin Ginga #6 were just bigger than i needed for home use. I had a CCK 1303 that was nice size and weight wise but looking for something different. Saw the Sugimoto #30 and Misono #61 but price would be an issue I think.

Live in Omaha, NE so locally there aren't any to be had, Asian grocery only has the very thick bone cleaver style so I need to go online. Online thing I've really seen so far has been the Wilco stuff off amazon but I'm a little leery of eBay having no real experience buying cleavers there.

Any suggestions on what cleavers to get or where to look? Hoping for crazy thin and cheap! 

Or you guys need to really sell me on the Misono or Sugi haha


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## berko (Oct 14, 2015)

i had both sugimoto and misono. misono has better f&f, sugimoto better edge retention. whats the budget then?


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## chinacats (Oct 14, 2015)

Crazy thin and cheap would be the 110x series of CCK. A full size cleaver that is very thin.


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 14, 2015)

Berko: between the two which was the better all around cutter? Least wedging?

Im ideally looking for dirt cheap super thin Chinese cleaver <$50 but was considering the Misono and Sugi if they had some substantial advantages. But again that wasn't my original goal. 

China: Specifically wasn't wanting full sized, I've owned full sized and stuff like the 1303, for small home cooking I prefer the 1303 size quite a bit.


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 14, 2015)

The Sugimoto is a good cutter. around CCK size but stainless. It has a nice grind, a little shorter than a 1303. Handle works personally don't care for western on cleavers & no skinny wa's. The steel is surprisingly efficient you can get it sharp & edge holding is decent.

Couple members here use them at work. I crapped out a few times trying to find stainless cleavers, never cared for Chinese stainless. Like the Sugimoto. If you hunt around you can get a better price on one. Have seen them for less than what I paid.


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## berko (Oct 14, 2015)

i sold the misono because the steel didnt hold an edge. will keep the sugimoto. weights 333g at 190x95. thats ok for me, its not crazy thin tho. you can get better ones if you raise your budget or if your good with crappy heat treatment. maybe have a look at this one.

i also had one of those maestro wus which you can get for pretty cheap if know how to, but i didnt, since communication wasnt possible with these guys, and i didnt manage to send money to that country. i bought one through the german distributer years ago. it was quite good, similar to the vg-10 ones rader8888kimo sells on ebay, but with a better handle.

did you check rakuten allready?


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 14, 2015)

Thanks Keith, definitely the sort of info and opinions I was hoping for.

Berko, I actually like that one from the German site but don't know how to buy one/where to go to get one..
What would you consider for a higher price point that would be the size I'm interested in?

Never bought from rakuten before, the prices on some stuff always seemed too good to be true and I've been a little leery. Doesn't mean it's a bad site just not my cup of tea, I will take a look though


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## berko (Oct 14, 2015)

ive bought from rakuten like 15 times and never had any problems. plus the deals get even better if you use the bonus campaigns.



> What would you consider for a higher price point that would be the size I'm interested in?



custom jürgen schanz in sb1, 300 bucks 

i had that f dick at one point, but unfortunately sold it. if it wasnt for the high shipping and taxes, id get one again. grind was great, f&f soso, edgeholding better than misono if i remember correctly.


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 14, 2015)

That f dick looks almost identical to the Victorinox Chinese cleaver with nylon handle on that kitchen supply site you posted. Looks a lot like the dexter russel ones too except the handle is a bit different and its stainless unlike the dexters carbon


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## berko (Oct 14, 2015)

i have the victorinox as well, they are not the same.


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 14, 2015)

The VG-10 cleaver on German site is made in Taiwan. I had that cleaver too, sold it. The one I had was pretty rough, had to work a while to get an even bevel on it. After fixed it worked OK. The Sugimoto is a better cleaver.


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 14, 2015)

Appreciate the responses, any comment on the dexter russel stuff? Price looks good but wondering how thin and if its a decent cutter at all


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## WingKKF (Oct 14, 2015)

Ugh, this should already be in a FAQ somewhere but when it comes to Cheap Chinese Cleavers The Wokshop is the place to check out. This is what I got and it won't get any cheaper: http://wokshop.stores.yahoo.net/vegcleav.html It's rough but after some elbow grease with sandpaper and a bit of thinning and wood finishing on the handle, it is now my main knife. It outperforms (especially in terms of edge stability) everything I've owned thus far including Hiromoto HC, Carbonext and all the stainless I've owned. Viva carbon steel.


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 14, 2015)

I have found that with stainless cleavers better to pay a little more & get the good stuff. As with chef knives a lot is about the grind. The Tojiro stainless handle Pro cleavers have a great convex edge. Metal handles are not for everyone but good blades Kato Jiro Tojiro Pro 153.43 on Rakutan

The Sugimoto CM 4030 is 91.26 on Rakutan that's a good price. These are vegetable cleavers no bones. I do a blended bevel on the sugi thin behind the edge spine close to the stone final bevel about 15%.


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## Castalia (Oct 14, 2015)

This site seems to have lots of cleavers large and small, cheap and expensive, but I cannot vouch for reliability. http://www.chefsmall.net/

I have not ordered from them.


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## Noodle Soup (Oct 14, 2015)

It can be a little complicated ordering from chefsmall.com but I have always received what I wanted in the end. Bought three cleavers off of them about 2 months ago and others before that. They have about the best selection of real Chinese made cleaver around on the web.


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## chipzaroy (Oct 14, 2015)

I've gotten a couple CCK's from Stanley over at ChefsMall. Never had any problems.


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## robertl234 (Oct 15, 2015)

Paying over $100 for a cleaver is way too much, especially for a carbon steel one. 

I would recommend Aliexpress for good quality but reasonably priced cleavers. Generally, you want a heavy cleaver and a thin cleaver. 

The knives are designed for professional chefs in China and are hand-forged and have very good fit and finish. You can click the store names to see their other cleavers but most of them are for home kitchen use. The stainless steel used is 4Cr13 which is about equivalent to 440C and better than the Dexters. Most chefs in China use carbon steel.

I've used the site and am very satisfied. The only downside is that it takes around 3-4 weeks for shipping.

Hope this helps.


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## Bolek (Oct 15, 2015)

robertl234 said:


> Paying over $100 for a cleaver is way too much, especially for a carbon steel one.
> 
> I would recommend Aliexpress for good quality but reasonably priced cleavers. Generally, you want a heavy cleaver and a thin cleaver.
> 
> ...



Thank for the links. I do not understand : for all it is writen SS


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## robertl234 (Oct 15, 2015)

Bolek said:


> Thank for the links. I do not understand : for all it is writen SS



Hmm seems like the links got edited out. The sellers are all in China and their translations are wrong. The kurouchi ones are for sure carbon steel. The Chinese product information even lists the exact steel type which is better than with CCK. 

Anyway search "Kinmen cleaver" and look for the kurouchi ones. Should be a heavy and light pattern one. 

The model for the stainless ones are mov-c1 and mov-p1.


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## XooMG (Oct 15, 2015)

I should check out some of those Zhou Guangxing &#21608;&#20809;&#33288; pieces. I don't like using Taobao but I might just consider it...


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 15, 2015)

Thanks for all the suggestions, I ended up ordering a pair of cleavers from the wokshop!

http://wokshop.stores.yahoo.net/vegcleav.html
http://wokshop.stores.yahoo.net/carsteelclea.html Blade #2

Figure for a combined price of <$20 I think it's worth a shot. I know they will be a worth in progress/project knife to some degree but figure it might be a fun to mess around with them a bit. Plus I mean it's <$20!!!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, definitely will considering getting the Sugi still depending on how this cleaver experiment goes from WokShop


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## jaybett (Oct 16, 2015)

robertl234 said:


> Paying over $100 for a cleaver is way too much, especially for a carbon steel one.



Respectfully disagree. 

Jay


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## Noodle Soup (Oct 16, 2015)

I know the sky is the limit for Japanese versions but it is probably too much for a real Chinese one. I bought a couple "high end" ones in Chengdu a couple of years ago out of a shop that was supposed to cater to the local pros. Something like $25 and $30 U.S. Most pro models seemed to run in the $10 to $20 range there. Home cooking version were more like $5.00-$7.00. Not that you can find those prices for the same knives here in the U.S. but the Wok Shop comes close.


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 16, 2015)

The Wok Shop pricing was the reason I jumped for it, I figured those are closer to the prices I've seen in Chinatown in SF and in NY when I've traveled there. Thought for the price i might as well do it, plus having used some pricer cleavers in the past (suien vc and ginga #6) I think it will be interesting to see how well they cut/stack up given the enormous price difference


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 16, 2015)

The steel in the Suien VC is better than the cheap carbon blades. However the cheap ones will sharpen up and cut well. The CCK carbons used to be cheap used them for years at work. Vegetable, multi purpose, & bone all CCK because they preformed well. Still Chinatown here is has best prices. Chinese Chef Mall is expensive for CCK's. Also some knife sites can't believe the price of a 1303 these days. 

Have tried over the years some Chinese stainless cleavers, they did not sharpen up or work as well as the carbons. For home use these days like stainless cleavers. My stainless are Japanese. You can use a quality harder steel in a vegetable cleaver not cut hard things just like a fine Gyuto. For Bone cleavers the softer steels work better with a lot of toughness. Steels used in hatchets work well in bone blades. Try to cut bone with hard steels & you will mess up the blade.


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## WingKKF (Oct 16, 2015)

I forgot to mention, you may also have to seal the handle to blade junction on those wokshop cleavers with silicone sealant if you don't want water to seep into the tang.


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## Chicagohawkie (Oct 17, 2015)

Have you checked out the Moritaka cleavers? I'm pretty sure that it will be my next cleaver. It's profile is dead flat and makes a great chopper. Price may be a concern as their pretty pricey, but made of AS super steel and they're thin and super sharpe.


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## SolidSnake03 (Oct 17, 2015)

I'm not really interested in the Moritaka stuff based on pricing, looks pretty high and for that pricing I would rather get something from Sugimoto or look at some other options. 

No problems with sealing the handle, I've sealed a few handles before with super glue and it's never been much trouble. Thanks for the heads up though, appreciate it.

I liked the Suien steel and thought it was a good cleaver it's just bigger and heavier than what I was looking for/what suites me best for home use. If they made a small size Suien that was maybe 190-200 and 85-100 tall and weighed a good deal less and was thinner I would definitely look into it....


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## natto (Oct 18, 2015)

robertl234 said:


> I would recommend Aliexpress for good quality but reasonably priced cleavers. Generally, you want a heavy cleaver and a thin cleaver.
> 
> The knives are designed for professional chefs in China and are hand-forged and have very good fit and finish. You can click the store names to see their other cleavers but most of them are for home kitchen use. The stainless steel used is 4Cr13 which is about equivalent to 440C and better than the Dexters. Most chefs in China use carbon steel.
> 
> ...



I looked up alienExpress and saw a lot of funny stuff. But there are interesting looking cleavers also. 

YY triple steel 62HRC
YY triple steel duck knife
Kinmen 
sorry for German link, this site makes me crazy, couldn't find this one on the English page. I wonder how much of their cleavers I found...

@snake
your cleavers are on their way, but one more can't be bad

@Robert
Thanks


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