Carbon Steel Carbon Steel

Carbon steel is reactive — it will rust quickly if not properly cared for. Always wash immediately after use, dry thoroughly, and apply a thin coat of food-safe oil (camellia, mineral) before storage. Over time it develops a patina that offers some natural protection and, for many users, becomes part of the knife's character. Rewarding to use, but not recommended if you want a "wash and forget" knife. Takefu Special Steel, Japan 🇯🇵

V-Toku 2 V金2号

Hardness

62–64 HRC

555759616365+

V-Toku 2(V特２号, V-Special 2) is Takefu Special Steel's take on the classic Hitachi Blue 2 Steel. As a alloy carbon steel, its chemical composition is very close to Blue 2 with some addition of Vanadium, combined with the higher claimed purity by Takefu, V-Toku 2 should have a slight improved wear resistance than the Blue 2.

V-Toku 2 have excellent hardenability, which allows it to be brought up to HRC64, many makers will take advantage of the hardness to produce razor-thin blade that will slice through food extremely well. As Takefu also produce laminated billets with copper or bronze layers, V-Toku can also be seen on knives from European and American makers, which allows many chefs to benefit from the excellent cutting experience of a carbon steel knife.

Compare with

V-Toku 2

—

1.25% 0.9% 0.6% 0.3% 0

1.05%

0.35%

0.2%

1.25%

0.5%

0.35%

0.03%

0.25%

C — Carbon Cr — Chromium V — Vanadium W — Tungsten Mn — Manganese Si — Silicon P — Phosphorus S — Sulfur Ni — Nickel

Hardness 62–64 HRC

555759616365+

Steel

V-Toku 2

What's in V-Toku 2

What each element does in your knife.

V-Toku 2 element composition and spec ranges
Element	Spec range	What it does in your knife
WTungsten	1.0–1.5%	Forms hard carbides for wear resistance and edge stability, and keeps the steel hard even at elevated temperatures.
CCarbon	1.0–1.1%	The primary hardening element. More carbon means a harder edge that holds longer — but past a point it trades away toughness and rust resistance.
CrChromium	0.2–0.5%	Raises corrosion resistance; at roughly 13%+ free chromium the steel qualifies as stainless. Also improves hardenability and wear.
MnManganese	0.5%	Aids hardenability and strength and acts as a deoxidiser in smelting. Too much can reduce toughness.
SiSilicon	0.0–0.35%	Strengthens the steel matrix and acts as a deoxidiser, improving hardness and resistance to oxidation.
NiNickel	0.0–0.25%	Improves toughness and ductility without sacrificing hardness, and adds a small boost to corrosion resistance.
VVanadium	0.0–0.2%	Forms extremely hard vanadium carbides for superior edge retention, and refines the grain for a finer, tougher edge.
PPhosphorus	0.0–0.03%	An impurity from smelting. Even small amounts promote brittleness, so steelmakers keep it as low as possible.
SSulfur	0.0–0.03%	An impurity that reduces toughness and promotes brittleness; only ever added deliberately in free-machining steels.

Composition from zknives (K&S steel dataset) reference material. These ranges come from the K&S steel composition dataset, which is derived from zknives; maker figures are cited separately only when they are used on the page.