Mr Itou Custom R2 vs Hiromoto Honyaki Gyuto, Thoughts wanted

Hi All,

I have been given some money as a birthday present and have finally decided I want to get a nice knife (something I would be happy to keep for a long time), and am considering both of these.

I know some people think the Mr. Itou knives are gaudy but there are a few there which I like, and as it is a "special" knife I like the idea of it being visually appealing to me.

On the other hand I have I do like the Hiromoto in terms of it being a very goody knife and knowing I would want to use it always (hopefully).

Anyway just after some thoughts on these two knives.

Thanks.

Malexthekid

I don't have expierience with either of those particular knives, I did however purchase one of the white#2 270's (san mai) Hiromotos from JCK, it was quite thick behind the edge out of the Box, I sent it to Dave to have it thinned out. I'd be a bit wary of the hiromoto, as thinning a honyaki would not be a fun task. I haven't heard much about the performance of the Itous.

Is there a reason you have narrowed it down to those 2 knives?

I haven't necessarily narrowed it down to these two, however they are the current front runners.

Would happily be open to other suggestions around this price tag.

After a 240 Gyuto that is in some way "special" be it looks or construction/performance. Though of course no matter what I still want it to be a good usable knife.

So the Budget is $500-$650 ish

Both knives you listed have western handles, one is stainless & Damascus, the other Carbon do you have a preference?

I like the looks of the Yoshikane SLD Gyuto for sale in this thread, it fits your price, I have used a number of Yoshikanes ( although not this particular model) and have always been very impressed. It also has a custom handle and Saya
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/18825-Yoshikane.

There are plenty of knives that are available in your budget, hopefully someone with experience a with the itou/hiromoto Honyaki can chime in with some info

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Tanaka Ironwood.

Thanks for the recommendation, and the Tanaka is one I want to consider however I can't find anywhere that has one in stock.

Don't look too hard, you might find the one I'm saving up for and I would cry. It's not an ironwood though.

Can't speak to the Hiromoto or Tanaka, but I've owned and used a bunch of Mr. Itou's. His R2 easily and quickly takes a great toothy razor sharp edge and seems to hold it forever. His stag handles are remarkably comfortable and in person the damascus cladding is far more beautiful than any picture I've seen.

They were all thin behind the edge and the the spine thickness was pretty much the same regarless of type and size. Itou's have a stout feel to them but they're not particularly heavy.

Here you have two Tanakas in R2, not Ironwood but still very beautiful.

https://toshoknifearts.com/shop/knives/brand/tanaka

Ruso said:

Here you have two Tanakas in R2, not Ironwood but still very beautiful.

https://toshoknifearts.com/shop/knives/brand/tanaka

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oooohhh Wa ebony. Nice..

****. You found mine. There's only one of that 240, too.

i like both of these options. I have a few Hiromotos, and these latest ones have a much better fit and finish than i have seen on many of the others. My favorite hiromoto is still the old blue steel ones that were found in a box about 4 years ago nice and thin profile, and i was expecting these newest ones would be similiar. Once the bolster and scales were removed and replaced with a set of redwood scales, it has become a "special knife" is everything but cost. The new ones are a little heavier and thinker, feels more like a hard working knife. I recieved it around christmas and it has spent most of that time in the orginal box. The closest knife that i have to this is my Devin Thomas ITK, for the shape, thickness and weight. My ITK is the work horse for me, the one i go to when i have a few hours of preparation work to do... I typically only use the hard steel knives when i am going slow for a dinner for just the two of us.

I find the Itou's more challenging the sharpen, i have only done it twice for a friend, just take my time... But in the kitchen is a quicker more nimble feel. The Itou's are beatiful, and have seen a bunch of them up close. No one is every going to mix one of these up with something else in the kitchen.

Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice.

While I had a look at the Tanaka's listed, once shipping was added the cost was starting to get up to get them to Australia and after much deliberation I decided on the Mr Itou Gyuto with abalone handle

It arrived yesterday, and does it look beautiful. I know it isn't to some people's taste but I love it. Used it last nice, and as someone describe it earlier it does definitely feel stout. I quite like the feel. And the handle is surprisingly comfortable.

Thanks again for the advice.

I don't believe you.

I am a little confused as to what you don't believe.

He wants pictures...

Us too

Here we go...












Only concern so far is that it might be a bit thick behind the edge, though I am too new to knives to know this is what the problem is, or if it is just not sharp enough...

I had had a go at sharpening it tonight, and I think I have got it really sharp, but it doesn't slice through potatoes as nice as my Blazen...

So that has me a tad concerned...

Or I am thinking maybe it is just a thicker blade then koki said and I might just have to save it for different tasks then coping potatoes and carrots

So firstly, my thumb can attest to the blade being reasonably sharp, after an second of absent mindedness while doing some practice cuts after sharpening...

So I am thinking maybe it might just be the knife geometry or something, so I might just have to adjust the technique with this knife... Which doesn't bother me, cause I have enough knives so having different ones for different purposes is fine by me.

Though would love some comments, if the photos are any good to go by.

From the choil shot it does look very thick or heavily convexed. Unless that's just a light/shadow illusion.

If you like the way it cuts leave it alone and just sharpen normally if you dont, thin it. If you dobt feel comfortable thinning it maybe send it to john at jki im sure he could thin it without making it look used and im sure you would get alot more joy out of it. Up to you though.

Thanks for the input guys. I put my graduating caliper to it tonight and measured it as being 1.5mm basically right behind the edge, where my Ryusen Blazen was measuring about 0.9mm at the same point, while it is only 0.6mm I am assuming that the thickness is the difference I am feeling, given that on all other tests I have done (cutting paper, shaving) the Mr Itou feels sharper to me. As a bit of an extra, the Blazen measured 3mm (or just over) at the spine as opposed to 2.4mm for the Itou, with both having approximately the same blade width.

Though I do find it a little amazing that that small difference can cause the big of a difference in cutting.

Have emailed Koki at JCK just to see what he has to say, not after a refund or anything, given I have used it and sharpened it, but if it is possible to send back and have thinned out by Mr Itou or something like that would be preferable to me. Not to keen on sending it over to the states to have it thinned, as much as I have had good dealings from Jon at JKI. And would definitely no attempt to thin it myself, no where near skilled enough and don't want to ruin the etching.

So I shall see what I do depending on the reply I get and how it feels over the next few days.

In absolute terms the Hiro may "only" be .6 mm thicker behind edge. In relative terms its 60% thicker. You mentioned sharpness tests such as paper and shaving and while these can be informative how do the knives compare on food? My Hiro kind of plowed through food, definitely not a laser, but I remember release being quite good.

In the end its more about geometry (which makes my brain hurt) than absolute measures. If you like it, all is good, If you would like to improve it, thin per advice given. If you hate it, sell it.

jai said:

If you dobt feel comfortable thinning it maybe send it to john at jki im sure he could thin it without making it look used and im sure you would get alot more joy out of it.

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malexthekid said:

Not to keen on sending it over to the states to have it thinned, as much as I have had good dealings from Jon at JKI.

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Send to to Leight at Chef's armoury in Sydney. He should be able to help you out easily.

Just a better photo I think. What are you thoughts, to me in this image it looks reasonably tapered, but as I said, I am relatively new to this and don't necessarily know what I am looking at.

That looks fine to me, but the heel shot might be deceptive. My Saji R2 was thicker in the front half, but it looked hellishly thin at the heel.

I have an Itou that is very slightly overground on one side at the heel. It makes the choil shot look thinner than it performs. That being said I really like the knife.

I must say that I do really love how the knife looks and feels in my hand. And it feels great when slicing through stuff like onion and spring onions, it just when I have been cutting potatoes with it, it feels like after going in about half way, the potato starts to split rather than nicely slice through.

Though I must say, last night it was quite good if I started slicing right from the tip, rather than about half way along the blade. Might just mean adjusting my technique slightly until I have the nerve to attempt to thin and re-etch, or justify spending some money to have someone do it for me.