Do some research on blade shapes and the differing shapening techniques. Chicago Cutlery used to always use the Hollow ground sharpening technique. It creates a concave shap from about half way up the blade to the cutting edge. It is easy to manufacture as the knife is simply run between vertically circling grinding wheels. The method produces a very sharp factory edge. The problem with this grind is that as the knife is resharpened, the edge metal width grows exonentially and becomes progressively harder to sharpen. Also, the hollow grind causes the knife to "wedge" itself through hard veggies such as carrots, cabbage, winter squashes, etc. This make the cutting chore much more difficult.
Chicago Cutlery now sells knives sharpened with a straight grind. That is, the blade thickness decreases in a straight line from the spine to the cutting edge. This surves to decrease the force required to push through hard veggies. The knife slices through rather than wedges itself through.
Chisel grinds are very sharp and easy to sharpen. But the knives tend to angle themselves either into or out of the straight and desired path do to the fact that only one side of the blade is sharpened.
Each sharpening technique has its strenghts and weaknesses.
When you are sharpening your knife, there are also techniques to consider. The V-edge is the simplest knife edge to create and sharpen. It is achieved by runing the knife edge forward through successively finer ginding stones, usually lubricated with oil or water, at about a 30 degree angle until the knife is as sharp as you desire. The edge cuts cleanly and easily, but also, is the easiest of the edge shapes to dull. It requires a lot of maintenance.
A better edge is the compound edge. This edge starts with sharpening as for a V-edge. After that edge is complete, the knife is again sharpend at a steeper 40 degree angle. This makes the edge less prone to folding and it holds its shape longer. It is a more time consuming task however.
Finally, the convex edge is the strongest, and intially, the hardes edge to produce. It is achieved by changing the grind angle cotinuously from almost paralell to the blade, to about 40 degrees. This creates an edge that arcs from the top of the cutting edge to the cutting edge in a convex, or outward curve. It is the strongest of the edge shapes. This edge has the advantage of being sharper, and holding its edge much longer than either the V or the compound edges. And once it is achieved, is easy to maintain simply by steeling, or when the knife does begin to dull, grinding after the same manner that was used to originally shape the edge.
I took the time to reshape my Chroma 10" chef's knife with the convex edge. It made a significant difference in the knife's performance, in a very good way. I also own some Chicago cutlery knives with the hollow-ground blade. Even these slice through meats much easier.
And remember, the weight of the knife isn't nearly as important as how sharp the edge is. A light and sharp knive will slice through carrots and celery with ease. A heavier, and equally sharp knife will do the same. But if you have to do a lot of knife work, the heavier blade will cause fatigue much faster.
A heavier blade does chop better. Think of the difference between the spliting power of an axe, and an 8 lb. splitting maul. The heavier maul actually is easier to use as the mass applies greater energy to the wood being split than does the lighter mass of an axe head. It takes a bit more to get it moving, but once moving, it has far greater kinetic energy.
I would opt for heavy if I were purchasing a knife or cleaver for chopping.
One more thing, the curve on the blade's cutting edge is called the belly. For slicing chores, select knives with more belly. This surves to lengthen the edge with respect to the blade length, giving you more slicing length per stroke.
For chopping chores, the cutting edge should be more straight, giving you more surface that contacts the food with each chop.
Hope this helps.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
