Shiraki R2 - its a KNS special, shiraki did 2 R2 blades before retirement from my understanding. Steel is defiantly heat treated for easier sharpening, not quite ginsan level, but noticeably easier than others. Edge retention havent played with much, really i polished this knife into a mirror then back to a katsumi, tried to sell, nobody is biting because nobody knows what it is as far as i can tell. Im happy to keep it none the less.
Mr itou R2 - wifes, grind isnt even righty bias and wife is lefty, Heat treat is very good. damascus has texture will probably thin it out and fix that in the next 6 months or so. she loves it. Purple handle, with deep damascus. for me the balance is off, im sure i would get use to it though. Looses initial edge a little faster than the others on this list, but still keeps that keen edge moderatly long. edge geometry has alot to play with this.
Shiro kamo R2 - a daily driver - when i want stainless. - Damascus needed some work, grind is very good after i get use to it a little, has a small wide bevel in the grind, then a concave anti-stick portion above, with kinda a "takeda" shoulder. i think this is how alot of super tall blades are ground. edge retention is the best of the lot, the steel i think is also hardened the most .. so a little more work ... but really ideal for what i want the knife for.
Takamura uchi&red Handle R2 - Taka's are great ... red handle is super thin ... maybe too thin. Uchi has that deep damascus again. I really only keep this knife as a show piece and take out when guests are over. its stainless so i dont worry too much. its an amazing damascus that gets alot of attention, and it is very similar to my other sakai blades, so i dont have toget use to it much. red-handles make all other knives look **** admitedly, but long sessions dont go that well. plus i prefer 240's ... im just use to the lenght and where my hands should be. wife also bought this knife for me for my 25th birthday, so it has some sentemental value there, and it was one of the first couple blades that really captivated my heart when i started.
Why i sold:
blazen R2. - Sold because i got it on trade. and the cladding started to scratch after washing. i figured it would be best to sell before the scratching became deeper, wanted to retain as much value as i could ... i didnt want to keep all the blades above, and this. it was a total performer .... but im constantly trying to pair down the collection. (hence even trying to sell the shiraki above) (itou couldnt sell becuase its wifes/ kamo because i want to have a knife to learn with play with damascus more/ takamura uchi has sentemental value and was a first love ... the blazen had no real "place" and i want to try other things. Im really not missing out on anything performance wise with the collection i have above. Remember in a home kitchen an R2 edge will last a stupidly long time ... your lucky to waste maybe 0.1mm-0.2mm-0.3mm / year maybe being moderately conservative with sharpening, just putting an edge on. lets say blade life is between 5-7mm off the heal. ... your looking at 5-10years of use (which i would argue is the professional life span of a knife daily sharpened, Nvm home use ... still ... i have 10-30 years of R2 daily use in the collection above. I can probably use 1 for my life if im honest .... so thats why i sold.
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