Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
  Awesome Cleaver - Buy this for the Home now! December 22, 2008
The pictures just don't do this cleaver justice. If you are a home chef, or somebody who needs to chop through some poultry or soup bones now and then, this is a great buy! It's made in china, but the packaging is in Japanese... so basically this is a Made in China Cleaver for the Japanese market. That's a good thing, because the japanese rarely buy/market things that are poorly made (also it probably means the original design and manufacturing was at one time done in japan). Anyways, the blade is 7" so i really can't see some of the criticism for not being able to hack apart a t-bone or quarter of frozen beef!! It's simply not an industrial-focused Cleaver, rather it's a 7", well made, beautiful looking cleaver that does it's job in the home kitchen - where it was meant to be used. If you need an industrial style cleaver I highly recommend the Cajun Cookware 4lb-er!
I just made some soup stock at home recently and used this to cut some of the marrow bones so that they fit in my 12qt Stock Pot more nicely and it worked beautifully. I agree that since the handle is polished Brass and Stainless Steel, it's a little more slippery than say a Fibrox handle from Forschner that's NSF certified for Industrial/Commercial use, but i've never had a problem with it twisting or sliding while i used it - basically i dry my hands, pick this beautiful thing up, slam it down 2 or 3 times, and i'm done with it for another week or so.
Basically, if you're sick of using your favorite Chef's Knife to hack apart poultry, or just want a Cleaver to add to your collection, you really can't go wrong with a beautiful looking, full-tang, Japan Domestic Market Cleaver for under $20!
 PLEASING TO THE EYE, BUT...LIMITED FUNCTIONALITY! July 14, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This knife, come "pseudo" cleaver, is just that. In terms of what you can actually do with it, it's not much more useful than a heavy Chef's knife. As other reviewers have said, the picture does not do it justice in terms of appearance and finish! It's actually a very pretty, nicely finished piece. It is all metal; the one piece blade and tang obviously being steel, and the handle centers are brass, with the inner ferrules and the end pommel (butt) pieces also being steel. The handle has been ground and polished after assembly giving it a very smooth, blended, almost seamless appearance and feel. But, unfortunately, that's where any admiration ends! In terms of ergonomics and functionality the thing is not much good for anything other than splitting the lightest of chicken bones! Starting with the handle, both girth and length, its way too small for a man's hand to get a comfortable secure grip. The tips of your fingers will be digging in to the base of the thumb, and, will be jammed together in the short length. Finger grooves on the inside of the handle are virtually non-existent! Again, making for a very insecure feeling grip. In fact, the aforementioned smoothness and polish on the handle, along with no finger grooves and, not being able to grip it tight, make for a potentially dangerous situation. Get a little fat or grease on your hand, as I have done, and this thing could come out of your grip like...greased lightning! I have lost control of it, and had it twist in my hand! The handle is inline with the top edge of the blade, and with the blade being barely three inches deep at that junction, this puts all your knuckles within about " to 1" of the blades cutting edge. Bring the knife down on a curved rack of beef or spare ribs, or any other irregular surface, and I guarantee you are going to crush your knuckles at some time or another?
The handle needs a great deal more angle offset, or rise, above the top of the handle to eliminate this knuckle buster! And last, but not least, weighing in, slick with grease, this lightweight barely makes the scale at 1 Lbs (24oz).
It has no--heft--what so ever! Compounding this is the fact that, at 11" long overall, with approx' 6 " being blade, there's very little effective leverage! This pretty-to-look-at little mini-cleaver is good for chopping cucumbers or large, woody, carrots, and maybe the occasional chicken bone, but, if you're going to try and split a T-bone, separate a frozen solid rack of ribs right out of the freezer, or attempt to separate a frozen, fused jumble of knuckle bones for your hound dog, forget it, this lightweight ain't going to get the job done...!! I'm going to keep the knife just because I like the look of it, and this review is in no way intended as a negative reflection on Visiondecor. Their delivery was prompt and their overall courtesy and approach to me as a customer was...A1!
 Sturdy Concord Chef's Cleaver June 11, 2008
For the low price, compared to other cleavers, this cleaver is heavy duty and does not appear to be stamped/flimsy sheet steel. Excellent heft for chopping, dicing, julienning, etc. Fast shipping.
concord cleaver March 20, 2008
The picture does not do justice to this product. It is well made, well balanced and very sharp. It arrived promptly, and well before visiondecor's estimated arrival date.
A fantastic tool. March 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a nice, heavy cleaver; really solid. It's almost a full 1/4" thick along the back of the blade, and the tang is full-width; the handle is all-metal, two shaped pieces of brass secured to the tang. The overall feel is very sturdy. The cleaver also has a hole for hanging.
This knife performs well for all kinds of cutting. Obviously it works well for heavy jobs like opening coconuts or hacking up meat still on the bone, but I was surprised at how well it does more delicate cuts, too. I was able to reduce a steak to thin slices for stir-fry very quickly -- the weight of this knife will carry it halfway through a cut on inertia alone, and then an easy slicing motion will finish the job, again with the weight of the blade doing the work.
Overall a great knife to add to even a small collection of kitchen tools, and an absolute steal at this price.
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