# Itou r2 petty vs Saji r2 petty



## stimpy (Nov 9, 2015)

So I've got acouple weddings coming up which really just means an excuse to buy more knives  I picked up a Itou r2 rosewood 135mm pettey and a Saji r2 cowbone 150mm petty off JCK. Each of the knives cost 300 and arrived from japan 8 days after ordering with free shipping. Well done JCK!! Please keep in mind that I am relatively new to j knives and and the opinions in this review may not be shared by everyone.




First impressions:

Wow the saji is big!!! It felt at least twice as heavy as the itou probably more. It is hard to tell by the picture but it is much thicker at the spine and much larger heel. It did fortunately thin down nicely behind the edge. The blade measured 146mm long. Ootb it was very dull. The cowbone and damascus looked great but I was ultimately disappointed in the bolster which was quite uneven and felt rushed.

The Itou was the complete opposite to the saji, light then and with a much better bolster. Its blade measured 139mm. Ootb it was sharpened but not what i would call "sharp". (slice cut phonebook paper, stuck into thumb nail but not sticky sharp, and was capable of taking hair off my are but not hair popping sharp). The grind on the left side seem significantly steeper than the left and this was confirmed with and angle cube. I am not sure if this will be a problem but at the moment it does not effect cutting.



Cutting:

I brought both knives to the 1000grit chosera and did abit of cutting. I am not the best hand sharpener but was able to get them both decently sharp. They cut tomatoes and onions easy. I then took them to my WEPS sharpener and brought the primary bevel to 14 degrees on the saji and 15 on the Itou (i am waiting on the low angle adapter to see what they can really do) and sharpened down to 1600grit ceramics and gave a light stropping with 1.5micro paste. Both knives were a pleasure to sharpen. I am not sure why r2 steel gets such a bad wrap. The final edge was quite impressive. Both knives push cut phonebook paper at a 45 degree angle. With alittle slice at the beginning they would push cut at 90 degrees. both were sticky sharp and stuck into my thumb nail with little to no pressure. After 20-30 cuts with think polyester rope I retested and both knives preformed just as well on the phonebook paper but did feel slightly less sticky against my thumb nail.

Conclusions:

These knives are some of the sharpest in my kitchen. The itou does feel much better in hand as it is much lighter and more maneuverable. The saji feel like a super heavy gyuto that been cut to 146mm :S After using it abit I have warmed up to it abit but still prefer the itou. Blade wise they are pretty much equal and hold their edge much better than my mcusta aus8 knives, however the mcusta do have that bling factor that is hard to describe. These are arguably my sharpest double bevels and in my opinion are just as sharp if not sharper than my super blue 180mm gyuto (forget the brand but cost about $250 used). They are not quite as sharp as my single bevel sakai takayuki inox deba or yanagi but i dont think that is a fair comparison.


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## Smurfmacaw (Nov 9, 2015)

I've got a Mr. Itou Gyuto and it gets crazy sharp and holds a great edge.


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## malexthekid (Nov 10, 2015)

I really love my Mr Itou gyuto. I think i will have a second at some point.


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