Hattori Knives Review

Ichiro Hattori is famous for his hand made knives. At age 66, he has been making knives for nearly 50 years. There are Three lines of kitchen knives that bare the Hattori name. The three lines are KD, FH and HD. Each has very different features and price points. The purpose of this article is to give you a review of each line and our opinion of the knives from both an aesthetic as well as a performance viewpoint.

Hattori KD line of knives are hand hammered in his small factory located in Seki City. The blades are made with steel called Cowry X along with nickel stainless Damascus steel. The cowry X is made from tough powdered steel that was originally developed by Daido Steel Co. for high performance cutting applications. It consists of a mixture of 3% high carbon steel along with 20% hi Chromium and 1% Molybdenum and .3% Vandium. The steel can be tempered to Rockwell hardness of HR 63 or higher without the brittleness of other types of steel. The result is a gorgeous knife that can be sharpened to an incredible edge without the blade edge chipping. The handle is made of Linen Micarta which is a black synthetic material that is very attractive and feels great in your hand.

We found these knives to be works of art and many collectors buy them. The high cost associated with the knives make them prohibitively expensive for most users. Currently the larger Chef's knives cost in excess of $1,000.

Hattori FH is the newest line of Hattori knives and were produced with a great deal of collaboration between Hattori and a group of knife enthusiasts in the United States that participate in the knife forum. The blade steel ultimately selected was VG-10 Cobalt steel for the regular line. The handle material chosen was again Black Linen Micarta and was chosen for durability and comfort. The knife also has an attractive solid stainless steel bolster.

We found these to be excellent knives at a fraction of the price of the KD Line. For most, this line gets our highest recommendation. We loved the fit and feel of the handles and the balance is outstanding.

Hattori HD Line is made of VG10 steel core cutting edge forged with 63 layered Nickel Damascus stainless steel blade. VG10 is the newly developed High Carbon (0.95 to1.05%) Molybdenum (0.90 to 1.20%) and Vanadium (0.10 to 0.30%) stainless steel plus 1.30 to 1.50% Cobalt added to increase strength. Hattori knives have a Rockwell hardness of 60 to 61 HRC. The beautiful Damascus blade is hand engraved with Ichiro Hattori's name and permanently welded with stainless steel bolster. All Hattori HD knives come with a full tang and black Pakkawood handles and three stainless steel rivets.

We like these knives for general users but the edges are often ground a little to steep for our taste. Chipping of the edge is a somewhat common complaint with knives sharpened this way using this steel.

What We Think:

Our staff has used Hattori knives for the past 12 months and we love them for their sharpness and lightness. Our staff feels that the FH line is the preferred line. They are easy to sharpen and are the first knife of choice for most of our picky staff. Like all Japanese knives you should take special care and never cut on hard surfaces like plates or ceramic cutting boards and of course dishwashing is out of the question.

Hattori Knives Review

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