JapanBargain 1564, Chinese Chopping Knife Japanese Butcher Knife High Carbon Stainless Steel Kitchen Cleaver chef knives with Wooden Handle for Home and Restaurant, Made in Japan

This is an excellent Chinese chef's knife. It is very light and can be sharpened to a razor edge. The steel is not as hard as some Japanese knives, but not quite as soft as the typical western chef's knife. This is a good balance - it stays very sharp under heavy use but you can still easily maintain the edge at home. Harder steels are harder to sharpen and this does not suffer from that issue. It arrives with the typical Japanese "factory" edge so will need to have a proper "Western" edge put on by a knowledgeable knife sharpener. Be aware that it is a Japanese knife making tradition to not presume to know the kind of edge that you, the customer, want. Once that edge is on, you can maintain it to razor sharpness using a ceramic honing rod. Do not use a steel honing rod - if you have one, please throw it away as they are not really recommended anymore for maintaining an edge. It is not made of the same kind of stainless steel that many European knives are made from and it will rust if you leave it soaking or with water/food on it for prolonged periods. Also, be aware that it is not a cleaver - those are made of thicker, softer steel, have much more weight, are sharpened to an axe edge, and are intended for cutting hard items like bones and coconuts. All in all, this is an excellent chef's knife for the price. I use it daily and love it. My knife-shop sharpener who used to be a chef also loves it and thinks it's a great deal. More tips: When you have it sharpened, have the spine rounded so that it does not cause a callus to form on your knife hand. Un-rounded spines are common among all knives except for very high end (expensive) ones. I also find it is well-suited to use with a pinch-grip.

First I should say that knife making is my hobby. I'm not about to be on Forged in Fire but I know my way around a knife. This is a well made light weight cleaver made for slicing and light chopping. It is not made to chop through bones. I'd make one of these myself, but the cost of materials to make this cleaver is more than the finished cleaver costs. Others have said that it is a single bevel knife but mine definitely was not. It has a round wood handle that is held in place with a single pin. All in all it's a great deal. The cleaver slices well and the cleaver design makes it easy to scoop what ever you are cutting off the cutting board. As received, it had two bevels and was sharp but not scary sharp. I took it out to my shop and it is now a scary sharp, single bevel, right handed cleaver. If you have the ability to change the edge geometry, or a facility that you can take it to, you can definitely improve the cutting ability of the cleaver. Since I have my own shop, I may replace the handle with a higher quality handle that is a little more comfortable and has two pins. If you are looking for a heavier cleaver to chop through small bones this is a nice alternative. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0725FWT1P/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Firstly, I should say that I'm a bit of a knife snob, have an enormous stable ranging from top-dollar Japanese knives to free things I've gotten at the supermarket. While this isn't a knife I would begin to compare with high end boutique knives, I think it does have a great deal of merit, especially for a stainless steel knife, which I've come to hate over the years. Anyway, this being my first foray into this style of Chinese vegetable cleavers, I wanted to try something relatively well-reviewed that would answer the question of whether or not it was something I should invest in more seriously. Out of the box, this knife was sharp. I wasn't about to try it for shaving, but within reasonable limits. People have stated in previous reviews that the tang bolt is uncomfortable in the hand, and while I understand that if you were planning to take apart a pig with it using brute force, that's not the intended use for this knife. Holding the blade with your thumb and forefinger, as one should with this style of knife, predominantly using the handle for balance, the stud doesn't even touch my large hands. Another item to address is the pattern on the blade. As with other knives from the lower end of my collection, there are often finishes intended to be decorative, but which detract from the performance of the knives. Again, consistent with this crowd, I have found that the simple process of cleaning the knife removes the sticky finish in short order, exposing the steel beneath, and resolving this issue. Of note, I clean the flats of my knives with a plastic scouring pad, which not only removes discoloration on high carbon steel blades, but also makes short work of these "decorative" finishes. Once I had the edge tuned up and the finish largely removed, this knife began to show its colors. It's actually a very sturdy knife. I greatly enjoy the large flat of the blade for sweeping and carrying large amounts of food to the pan, etc. I also wouldn't hesitate to use it for moderate butchering through raw bone, as it does have a bit of weight to it in addition to solidity. As I used it more, I began to be bothered by a point on the spine where it meets the handle. There it projected slightly, and definitely began to chew up my hand a bit. That said, I took the knife out to the garage, rounded the corner with my rotary tool, and since then this knife has been a workhorse; comfortable in the hand, effective and non-sticky, quick to take an edge and slow to lose it. When gripped properly, it also has a wonderful balance which the price wouldn't suggest. All in all, this is an incredible knife for the price, and I absolutely without hesitation use it over virtually any of my German knives. Despite my bias against stainless, this knife has found a place in my kitchen when stainless is the preferred material. I think for it to be a more true representation of a vegetable chopper, it might benefit from being slightly lighter and faster in the hand, but it is a wonderful performer all the same, which eats up any work in the kitchen. If you are considering expanding your knife collection, and are daunted by the prices some of these fair to middling German knives command, I would definitely recommend this as an eye-opening experience bound to redefine what you pay for in a blade. As for someone just building their kitchen and looking for something better than you can find at a department store, this is it. Bon appetit!

This knife represents a good value--nice quality for a very reasonable price. My Sekiryu chopping knife is nicely finished, the handle is tight to the blade, and it has a nice edge. There appears to be a little faux cosmetic finishing going on--the blade appears to be made from a single piece of stamped steel and the frosted finish seems to be from acid etching rather than being the result of the more expensive and superior process of forging layers different grades of steel and grinding to reveal the core cutting steel. But for the price of this knife, you shouldn't really expect that kind of work. I specifically bought this knife for chopping through questionable food items that might be too hard for my expensive yet delicate traditional Japanese blades. If the blade ever chips, I can grind a new edge _multiple times_ before I run out of steel with this knife. Note as others have said that this knife is not intended to cleave through bone and such. I have another inexpensive $10 stainless steel Chinese meat cleaver specifically for this purpose. All in all, I love this knife and recommend it fully for its intended use. UPDATE (12/18/2018): I see that this knife has increased in price quite a bit since I purchased mine. I bought mine for $13.50 including shipping. It is now selling for $24.99. I couldn't recommend this knife at this new, higher price as there are knives made from better steel and with better fit and finish in this price range.

Cheap. Dull as hell.

I've been cooking for 50 years, and I do love this knife! I've had one for several years. ~~It is so sharp, and works wonderfully! I waited for 2 years for it to get a little less expensive to buy another to have as backup when the first one gets old. ~So sharp! Will slice a tomato, or slice your meats like for butchering, cutting up chicken, etc. Cuts right thru the joints. Great all around knife. ~Definitely recommend!

Love that this is authentic made in Japan. It's really sharp, Don't use dishwasher on any of my knives especially if the handle is made of real wood such as this. It still looks like new and really cuts well.

It's sharp, and feels really light. It seems you have to use more force to cut down, it's so light. My old one is heavy, but it uses less force. I could use it's weight to cut down, using less pressure. I just have to get used to this new knife. I didn't care for the it's handle. It has little BB's on both side of the handle and it bothers my hand, when I'm cutting. Again, I just have to get used to this new knife.

Good knife

This is an excellent knife. Very sharp. Holds an edge well. It feels nice in the hand. I use it for all of my asian cooking

重い包丁ってどうなんだろうと思ってましたけど、実に使いやすい！ 切れ味も良好。買ってよかったです。 グリップは木製で滑りにくく、刃の固定もしっかりしています。 ステンレスのなかでも錆びにくいもののようで、雑に扱ってもサビが浮く気配もありません。 そのかわり、切れ味の劣化はやや早いようです。 シャープナーは必須ですね。

for the price it is a very good knife. the fitting is a bit loose around where the handle meets the blade tho. but comes very sharp and stays sharp rather impressively.

しっかりしていて普通に使う分には問題ないです。透明な箱に入ってきます。