Dao Vua Knives from Vietnam

KnifeRep

KnifeRep

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Nov 5, 2018
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Picked up a Dao Vua 210mm carbon steel Wa-Gyuto last month, one of my knife dealers brought their line of knives into stock and I bought one, $58.00 plus tax (not including the saya cover) and holy cow is it sharp and a very impressive wood handle for its price point...

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Nothing like a little bare foot hammering and grinding...

They don't have a website but this dealer's site shows the Dao Vua line, https://homebutcher.com/collections/dao-vua-knives

Thought I'd share,
 
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As far as I know, they were on Chefknivestogo.com first - they definitely have more in stock.
Yeah, anybody who doubts that good blades can be made of leaf springs should try out their knives. I can't imagine sweating away in the humidity there, forging knives.
 
The shop I bought my gyuto from said that Dao Vua’s edge retention is just okay, I haven’t used it enough to judge it myself yet and I already steel/hone our kitchen knives often so it might be a while before I really put it’s edge retention to the test.
 
I've seen a few dozen comments on them - compared to hard Japanese steels, edge retention isn't great. It's not AS @63HRC.
But it will take an edge and should be an easy sharpener. Good knife to learn on.
 
One of my favorite Chinese style cleavers came from them. As for holding an edge, I give the knife a few quick sweeps over a diamond rod every time I pick it up.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
One of my favorite Chinese style cleavers came from them. As for holding an edge, I give the knife a few quick sweeps over a diamond rod every time I pick it up.
Click to expand...
That’s the secret to keeping all knives sharp! Edges roll before they dull! Honing with a Steel is the most important thing to do to keep your edges sharp
 
Japanese knives tend to be much harder and the edges don't roll as much as western knives
I rather strop than steel thin hard blades
 
Their original line of knives was made from leaf springs, there is now a line made from pipeline steel which is said to be harder.
 
I bought a Daovua Pipeline Steel tall nakiri. I don't have any of the original leaf spring knives, so I really can't compare.
The star of the the handle - really these guys should sell them by itself. Really something you'd expect to see on a more expensive knife.
For the blade itself - it looks rustic, with a kurouchi finish. The height is just under what you'd expect on a Chinese small cleaver, while being lighter and thinner. The edge is has some belly up front, while the back 2/3 is fairly flat.
While I say the blade is rustic, it is not without refinements. The corners are relieved, making for a comfortable pinch grip. The choil has a rounded cut into the blade (forgot the term for this), allowing a very forward pinch group if desired.
Whatever Pipeline Steel is, it is definitely some type of carbon steel - after cutting tomatoes and onions the first time, it took a nice blue-grey patina. The exposed blade did not easily rust though - I didn't wipe down the blade after pepping the veg, cleaned in hot water, and let it drip dry a bit before towel drying. No rust.
Out of the box I could cut thin, clean slices of tomato - no issues with the skin, no sawing. It took to sharpening easily taking a nice refined edge (12K).
As a thin blade, it easily zips though produce without any wedging. The flat profile is most appropriate for choppers and push cutters.

I wouldn't recommend this as a first knife, but it is a fun knife and great with produce. I'm sure it's fine with boneless meats. If somebody wanted a knife to learn how to sharpen while sparing their "nice" knife the scratches, it is a good knife for them. Really if you can't learn to sharpen with this steel and the flat edge, you just can't learn to sharpen.
 
I'm surprised at the steel being used as from looking around about pipeline steel, it is typically low carbon steel of 0.1-0.3% carbon content which is too low to make a very good knife. Could be that in Vietnam they use different steels for pipelines, but I believe in the USA it's been low carbon steel in pipelines for quite a while, at least since the 1950s and earlier?
 
They must be using something different in Viet Nam or something got lost in translation. It's been sharpening like something that's been hardened, not all mushy and sticky like soft cladding steels or iron.
I've seen a review by somebody who has both the spring steel Daovua and a Pipeline Steel Daovua and they mentioned the pipeline sharpened like something harder than the leaf spring steel
 
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