"Omelet" > wrote in message
news
>
> Awesome collection dude! :-)
>
> I'll have to look for Japanese knives. The cleavers I have were made in
> China, but they've worked very well for me.
> --
> Peace, Om
>

Thanks Om and nothing wrong with the Chinese cleavers. CCK comes to mind as
I have 2 of them. I have their very heavy bone smasher BBQ cleaver and the
very thin and light 1103. The only difference in them and the Japanese is
the steels. The CCK's for example will not hold and edge like the Japanese,
but then it won't chip as easily as the Japanese steels. You don't want to
be throwing the Japanese steel into your sink with a load of dishes/pans for
example.

The Japanese cleavers are also much more expensive for example the black on
with the octagon handle is custom made by Takeda. It cost me about $200 a
couple of years ago and now costs almost $400 for the same cleaver. The
Sugmoto #6 (flat looking red like handle) is about $300. I also have 2 there
with custom handles a Suien VC and a Masahiro M3. All are carbon steels by
the way.

I think the best of the under $40 cleavers is the Town Food Service #1 which
is made in the US. It has a very large blade in length and width however it
is also very thin. It sells for about $30 and though like the Chinese steel
it won't hold and edge as long as the higher end cleavers. Because of the
size I wouldn't recommend one to a new cleaver user.

Joe Cilinceon