There are knives, and then there is the Chopper King Big Tuna. At 2 lbs 11 oz with a 190mm blade height and a 5mm spine, this is not a general-purpose kitchen knife. It is a purpose-built tuna-breaking cleaver - designed to quarter and break down large whole fish with the kind of authority that a standard gyuto or sujihiki simply cannot provide at scale. Chopper King produces this from Taiwan using Takefu Steel V-toku1 (Blue #1 carbon steel), the same high-quality Hitachi steel found in premium Japanese knives, forge-welded san mai with stainless cladding and hardened to 64 HRC - genuinely hard for a blade this size and heavy, which contributes to the edge retention and sharpness that serious fish work demands.
The geometry is straightforward: a tall, curved belly profile that maximizes the usable cutting surface through large cross-sections, a 285mm blade length that gives the reach to work across a full bluefin or yellowfin, and enough mass to do work that lighter knives push through rather than cut. The 64 HRC Blue #1 core takes a very sharp edge and keeps it through demanding use, and the stainless cladding protects the reactive core across most of the blade road. This knife is also, as the original copy rightly notes, an extraordinary conversation starter at a BBQ cook-off or fish market.
What Customers Are Saying: One reviewer - who actually uses it on large tuna - describes it as scary sharp and says it makes quick work of quartering out big fish. There is not much more to add to that.
Care Instructions: Blue #1 is a reactive carbon steel. The exposed core at the edge will develop a patina with use. Wipe and dry the blade thoroughly after use and avoid leaving fish or acidic materials on the edge. Hand wash only. Apply camellia oil before storage. Sharpen on large-format quality water stones - the blade size requires either a long stone or working in sections.
The geometry is straightforward: a tall, curved belly profile that maximizes the usable cutting surface through large cross-sections, a 285mm blade length that gives the reach to work across a full bluefin or yellowfin, and enough mass to do work that lighter knives push through rather than cut. The 64 HRC Blue #1 core takes a very sharp edge and keeps it through demanding use, and the stainless cladding protects the reactive core across most of the blade road. This knife is also, as the original copy rightly notes, an extraordinary conversation starter at a BBQ cook-off or fish market.
What Customers Are Saying: One reviewer - who actually uses it on large tuna - describes it as scary sharp and says it makes quick work of quartering out big fish. There is not much more to add to that.
Care Instructions: Blue #1 is a reactive carbon steel. The exposed core at the edge will develop a patina with use. Wipe and dry the blade thoroughly after use and avoid leaving fish or acidic materials on the edge. Hand wash only. Apply camellia oil before storage. Sharpen on large-format quality water stones - the blade size requires either a long stone or working in sections.
- Blacksmith: Chopper King
- Location: Taiwan
- Construction: Hammer Forged, San Mai
- Edge Steel: Takefu Steel V-toku1 (Blue #1)
- Cladding: Stainless
- HRC: 64
- Weight: 2 lbs 11 oz (1.2 kg)
- Blade Length: 285mm
- Total Length: 350mm
- Spine Thickness: 5mm
- Blade Height at Tallest Point: 190mm
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