I think most people buying Chinese knives from Japanese makers are professionals. And being professionals, they probably sharpen their knives daily. When you sharpen daily then white steel is better, because it’s easier to get sharp. Plus the knife is cheaper.
But for lazy home cooks like me, that don’t want to sharpen very often, blue is better… 
Yeah, the thick cleaver is CCK bbq choppper. 
Watanabe all the way to the left, then Ginga 180mm petty, followed by Masamoto KS slicer.
Beautiful knives. Nice custom handle (I assume) for the Watanabe gyuto too.
Took me a few seconds to understand why there is a choppa video. 
Wow Chem!! I am really excited for you…seriously. Not much is more fun than getting a new knife. I am REALLY impressed with the Watanabe blades. I have one of their Nakiri’s , a 180mm Gyuto and a 150mm Petty. The Nakiri is impressive…if the Cleaver is anything like it’s little brother, I think it will make a really nice addition to your collection of very usable knives.
Yeah. When I opened the box, I was both careful and quick. Do you remember how kids open their Christmas gift boxes? I was just like that. Right now, I have applied tung oil to the handle, and then later some beeswax to fill some tiny gaps.
I will wait for 3-4 days for the tung oil to cure a little before sharpening and using it.
Yeah, I have a Watanabe Nakiri. The handle also has some small gaps. It is probably useable right away, but I filled the gaps with melted beeswax to make it more waterproof. The blade of the Nakiri is best I have seen.
Oh yes, you can see most of the existing knives are of G10 fiberglass plastic handle, but I want a wooden handle – both because of look and feel, but also because of lighter weight. So Shinichi-san made this fifth one for me. Actually the wooden handle is cheaper than the G10 handle.
Ok. Another Shi Ba Zi from a supermarket. This one is stainless steel handle. $25. Model P-03
It may look not as pretty as the other one (M0717-1), but this actually has a more reasonable weight and thickness. I would say this one is what I consider to be a regular Chinese chef’s knife/vegetable knife. The other one is thick – like a hybrid between a regular knife and a small bone cleaver.
Hi chem, congrats on your new knife! The weight suggests it is a medium thickness cleaver, like a #6 - is that correct?
Thanks for your question. I would say this Watanabe is still on the thin side - thin-medium?. Its size and weight is actually closer to the larger CCK (similar to KF1103, not KF1303, ).
For now, I took three photos for blade thickness comparison.
As you know, Kiwi knife is often known as thin. It is thin, but its reputation truly come from the hollow grind, so the first 0.5 cm or so is very thin.
This time I put the Watanabe on bottom
Kiwi on top and Watanabe on bottom. Kiwi is thinner at the hollow grind section, but not thinner after that, maybe even thicker
Chem, pls don’t keep us waiting - please tell us how you like the new Watanabe?!
Are you having fun?!
I haven’t seen @drrayeye lately. I hope he is watching. I imagine he would find it tantalizing.
Ha ha ha. I see what you did there. In all honesty, there is a reason for this, Watanabe makes very good knives and he always sharpen his knives to perfection (both my Nakiri and Chinese knife are very nicely sharpened out of the box). However, Watanabe knives often have small gaps in the knife handles, so I have been applying tung oil and later beeswax to fill the gap. I hope to start using the Watanabe knife coming Monday.
Doubt it. He does not like any of these knives.
Yeah, I hope he is okay and starts contributing here again soon - this place is a bit boring without Ray!
Okay we have to wait until Monday… 
Lol just kidding, should be a great knife!
i’m waiting with baited breath…I ordered my Sugimoto before i saw the Watanabe cleaver… I love my other Watanabe’s.
So, chem, how was your Monday?! … 
It’s just another manic Monday (Woah, woah)
I wish it was Sunday (Woah, woah)
'Cause that’s my fun day (Woah, woah, woah, woah)
My I don’t have to run day (Woah, woah)
It’s just another manic Monday
Was that a poem?
I hope to write a review for the Watanabe knife after a week or two of usage. I have sharpened the Watanabe and the CCK KF1103 Saturday and have been using them side-by-side. The Watanbe knife so far is doing well. It sharpen very easily and seems to be holding the edge better than the CCK. I will have to use them longer to be sure.
The top is the CCK KF1103
Middle is the Watanabe knife
Bottom is the CCK KF1303
Sort of I guess…
That is whack. They are very impressive.
