R-2 Damascus kitchen knife from Custom knife maker Hiroo Itou New Batch (Large selections) of Mr. Itou R2 Custom Damascus Kitchen Knives                   On April 1 and 2,we had a Spring Knife Show in Seki City.There were about 40 custom knifemakers attended from all over Japan. Among the custom knifemakers,we found an interesting knifemaker,who is hand making Gyuto type Chef knives out of the special powdered steel called R2. His name is Hiroo Itou from FukuiCity, northern part of Japan. He has explained me that this powdered steel is made by Kobe Steel Company (Kobelco), one of the biggest steel maker in Japan. He said they never show him the chemical analysis of the steel (it seems they want to keep it confidencial to prevent being copied by other steel makers), but he found this steel the best for the kitchen  knives in terms of the sharpness, edge retention, durability and rust resistance. I have asked him how good it is compared with other powdered steel such as Cowry (Daido steel) and ZDP (Hitachi steel), and he said, oh, uncomparable..... it is much far better  than those powdered steels. He uses this R2 powdered steel for the core edge heat treated to Rockwell Rc 62,hand forged with 16 layered hard and soft stainless steel materials (total 33 layered Damascus blade).                   As seen on the other expensive custom knives, the full tang blade is tapered to the end of handle for a perfect weight balance, and each blade and handle varies in size,shape and weight due to the hand made knives. He uses the selected handle materials,hand contoured and polished very carefully for a perfect grip.   UP!! Mr.Itou Santoku 175mm Abalone Handle Abalone Handle Santku 175mm Total Length:295mm Blade Thickness:2mm   Total Weight: 186g  $400.00 SOLD OUT    UP!! Mr.Itou Gyuto 240mm Abalone Handle Abalone Handle Gyuto 240mm Total Length:365mm Blade Thickness:2.5mm   Total Weight: 230g  $560.00   Sold Out    UP!! Mr.Itou Gyuto 270mm Turquoise Handle  Turquoise Handle Gyuto 270mm Total Length:405mm Blade Thickness:2.5mm   Total Weight: 285g  $650.00 Sold Out