"Chavetta" options

[HKRolling]

Hi
I'm looking at options for what to cut with. So far I've found a few pizza cutters that are very cheap and a couple of knives that are a bit more expensive.
I'd love to hear any opinions on whether the knives would be any better than the pizza cutters, and if there's any difference between the pizza cutters I found.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I have a carbon steel one like this.

Professional Stainless Steel Chaveta (Cigar Knife) #5

New, Made In USA Professional Chaveta (Cigar knife). Same as the American Style Chaveta except it is half of the thickness.

wholeleaftobacco.com

 

[deluxestogie]

Any curved blade can be used. A blade that allows you to place your hand directly above it, rather than extended beyond the blade like a kitchen knife, is easier to control for cigar rolling. So the chaveta (like @ChinaVoodoo has shown), and the ulu blades would be preferred over the sheath knife and the meat cleaver. My preference is to be able to place my hand close to the center of the cutting edge, rather than high above it. The traditional ulu blade positions the handle too high for me.

Bob

 

[HKRolling]

Thanks for the replies.
I was thinking to reverse the knife and hold it by the blade. I should have said.

 

[Knucklehead]

I have both the traditional chaveta and the mezalluna by kuhn rikon. Deluxestogie posted a thread here:

Kuhn Rikon Mezzaluna 6" for pipe shred

Kuhn Rikon 6-inch Mezzaluna I recently purchased this Kuhn Rikon 6" Mezzaluna blade for about $16. It was to be a backup, should my prized Kuhn Rikon 6" Kulu blade need to be replaced. For about a decade, I have used the Kulu blade for all my pipe tobacco shredding of whole leaf. (It has...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[deluxestogie]

My impression of both the Kuhn Rikon Mezzaluna and their Kulu is that they are a remarkably poor choice for home kitchen food preparation, though probably useful in a restaurant kitchen (i.e. for dicing a pound of parsley or slicing 10 heads of celery). Despite their both being excellent for tobacco preparation, Kuhn Rikon apparently found them insufficiently profitable to justify their continued production.

A chaveta works well, as is, for cigar production. By contrast, a chaveta begs for a handle (or thick segment of split Tygon tubing) on its spine, for comfortably applying the pressure required to slice the various forms of pipe tobacco (rolls, plugs, flakes).

Bob

 

[HKRolling]

Thanks for all the input.
I think I'll likely just pick up a cheap pizza slicer for now and see if I can get a good edge on it. Then maybe splash out into one of the better ones later.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

A member here used to use a fabric cutter that looked like a tiny pizza cutter. I've never tried anything like that.

I use scissors at work and other places where I don't have a cutting board. If money is an understandable object, take your time in deciding to buy what's right for you.

 

[deluxestogie]

Here is what @MarcL was using:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/VerPetri...lting-Fabric-Sewing-Fabric-Leather/1928241417

Bob