david weaver
I think hitachi does powder metals, but unlike the blade steel issue (where hitachi actually makes plain steels designed for use in blades, vs. american mills that make die and punch steels that we substitute for blades), there seems to be more commonality in powder metal so far.

Of course, that doesn't mean we won't abandon something good here down the road, the same way we abandoned good file and blade steel in the last 100 years. Though we never made any blade steel here that was as good as hitachi white #1 or blue #1, there was no demand for it.