Thank-you, Murray Carter!

KarlMaldensNose

KarlMaldensNose

Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
1,342
...for showing me what a knife is really capable of. I've never held a knife so comfortable or cut with one that even comes close to what this thing can do. Hitachi Blue Super steel, desert ironwood handle, perfect choil, and an edge that redefines "sharp" in my books. And I love that this thing is hand forged. I know it's corny, but I feel that makers who create this way infuse or hammer part of their souls into their work. I feel a real connection to Murray and his ideas and beliefs about knifemaking when I use this exquisite tool. I'm after one of his Wharncliffe Brutes in Hitachi White steel next. Good god, that man is talented!

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Very nice score. :) Murray seems to be spread so thin between knifemaking and teaching at a school that I read about, where he teaches knife making - you're lucky to get that beauty! :thumbup:
 
I must admit, it's my favorite as well.

You're gonna want to make sure that tip is inside the sheath when poking it in there one handed, and I'll always aim directly for my sternum from now on. I promise.

Sheesh. What I won't do to teach others the proper way of doing things.
 
Very nice :thumbup:

Let us know how you like that Blue Super Steel, I'v heard a lot of great things about it! :thumbup:
 
murray carter is really a prodigy. his kitchen knives are thin as a piece of shoebox. only by studying the blade back on a new knife can you see it's 3 layers.i've never seen another knifemaker that could forge 3 pieces of steel together that thin. by turning the blade at an angle to light you can see the light hammer marks.
dennis
 
I've already been "tipped" by it -- second day in my pocket. Yes, that's right, my pocket, not my around my neck. I know it's marketed and thought of as a neck knife, but I really don't like anything hanging from my neck. And it's easily small enough to let the sheath ride loose in my pocket. I'm not of that segment of knife users who absolutely must have their knives ready to use in under a half-second. You know, those crazies:foot: who'll pass up a dream folder for the sole reason of it being tip-down, or walk away from an otherwise perfect fixed blade because its sheath adds 0.78 seconds to their quick draw times.

The Blue Super is one of the reasons I got it; all the talk pushed me over the edge. Only having had it for a couple weeks I cannot offer much in the way of a thorough evaluation of it. What I can share is that I haven't had to sharpen it yet, as it really does hold an edge for a good while, just like the reports say. To keep up its razor edge, I've been stropping it regularly on 1 micron diamond spray or chromium oxide powder, both on leather or balsa. Can't say I notice any difference between these two compounds with regards to edge quality. One more thing I can offer is that this steel certainly does oxidize easily. But it also buffs out easily, if you care about that sort of thing. I find that a minute or two on a hard felt pad loaded with 1 mic diamond spray is all it takes to get it back to gleaming clear. This process also does a decent job at buffing out light scratches from the soft outer clading steel... and when I say soft, I do mean soft... I've never seen steel scratch so easily... but this property is necessary for off-setting the Blue Super's high rc hardness, giving the blade some flex and give... also makes sharpening, stropping, etc. a breeze.

With regards to how sharp it is, out of every knife I've ever owned or tried, I'd honestly have to place it in a tie for first with a ZDP-189 Caly 3 I was loaned by fellow BF'er Sodak (review pending;)), which I was told still had the factory edge, untouched. The primary bevel on my Carter is shockingly thin (in a good way), which helps it maintain a great working edge long after the razor secondary edge has lost its air-bleeding keenness. This secondary bevel is actually a lot less acute than the Caly's, which is what makes it so impressive. It is just as sharp, but since it's more obtuse it will maintain that sharpness a good while longer. I will probably bring this angle down a few degrees when I get comfortable enough with my DMT Magna-Guide or Norton India benchstone. The Blue Super has a very high rockwell hardness and should be able to support an acute secondary bevel, allowing it to show off what it is really capable of.

Here's a few more pics, knife in hand to give some perspective on its size and some grips it supports very well, also next to my other custom neckers (both CKE Knives).

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Isn't super blue a fairly low alloy? I guess I assumed stropping was sharpening since I can keep a knife razor Sharp for months if I keep on top of stropping. Also, what do you mean by a secondary edge? It sounds like you are saying there are 2 edges that each hold a type of edge or sharpness .

Cool looking knife and I have wanted to check one out for awhile.
 
I'm glad you finally got one, I know you've been on the fence for some time now, glad you pulled the trigger! That's a great looking knife!
 
I'm still on the fence, but I'll tip one of these days. Great score!
 
Agreed, fantastic knife. :thumbup: Ive admired his work for some time. One of his blades is on my short list.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Isn't super blue a fairly low alloy? I guess I assumed stropping was sharpening since I can keep a knife razor Sharp for months if I keep on top of stropping. Also, what do you mean by a secondary edge? It sounds like you are saying there are 2 edges that each hold a type of edge or sharpness .

Cool looking knife and I have wanted to check one out for awhile.
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Yeah, it is fairly low, containing carbon, chromium, manganese and molybdenum. I guess stropping technically is sharpening... but I distinguish between sharpening and polishing depending on the grit level I'm working with and scratch pattern I'm trying to refine. At 1 micron I consider it more polishing. If I'm using 6 micron Diapaste, I suppose I'd say I'm sharpening. It is what it is, though, regardless of what I call it:). And I, too, generally can keep my blades away from "sharpening" for weeks, even months, if I maintain regular stropping using good form.

Regarding primary and secondary edge/bevel terminology, well, that also is another contentious subject. Depending on what and where you read it, or who you talk to, they mean different things. I use primary bevel to mean the blade's main grind that determines its overall shape or type--hollow, high flat, scandi, etc. Secondary bevel, to me, means the terminating edge that makes direct contact with whatever it's cutting. How the secondary bevel/edge performs is largely related to what kind of primary bevel is behind it and how thin (or not thin) it is. What I meant was that because the Carter has a very thin primary bevel, the blade will continue to cut fairly well even after the secondary edge is dulled. I suppose that it wouldn't technically be "cutting" at that point, more like bulldozing through material (another debate for another thread;)), but it will do it more efficiently than a knife with a thicker primary bevel. Hope that helped.
 
I love my Carter cooking knives.
They are so incredibly sharp!

I only have one of his neck knives tho.
If you buy one of his knives at a show he'll stand right there and put the final edge on it for you. Free hand on a waterstone...while talking to you.
Amazing.

At last count I had 14. Yep, I like his work.:D

Check out youtube for vids of him shaving a guys head with a machete.:eek:
 
I know this has to be a special blade, but can someone tell me what is so special about it? It looks like a regular old knife to me, and a little like something I'd see in the kitchen.


Before anyone lays in to me - I'm aware that this is an awesome blade, I'm not seeing it's specialness I think because I'm not that cultured in the knife world. Someone please educate me.
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
I know this has to be a special blade, but can someone tell me what is so special about it? It looks like a regular old knife to me, and a little like something I'd see in the kitchen.


Before anyone lays in to me - I'm aware that this is an awesome blade, I'm not seeing it's specialness I think because I'm not that cultured in the knife world. Someone please educate me.
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Yeh, me too. What differentiates it from say, a production bark river?
 
KarlMaldensNose said:
Yeah, it is fairly low, containing carbon, chromium, manganese and molybdenum. I guess stropping technically is sharpening... but I distinguish between sharpening and polishing depending on the grit level I'm working with and scratch pattern I'm trying to refine. At 1 micron I consider it more polishing. If I'm using 6 micron Diapaste, I suppose I'd say I'm sharpening. It is what it is, though, regardless of what I call it:). And I, too, generally can keep my blades away from "sharpening" for weeks, even months, if I maintain regular stropping using good form.

Regarding primary and secondary edge/bevel terminology, well, that also is another contentious subject. Depending on what and where you read it, or who you talk to, they mean different things. I use primary bevel to mean the blade's main grind that determines its overall shape or type--hollow, high flat, scandi, etc. Secondary bevel, to me, means the terminating edge that makes direct contact with whatever it's cutting. How the secondary bevel/edge performs is largely related to what kind of primary bevel is behind it and how thin (or not thin) it is. What I meant was that because the Carter has a very thin primary bevel, the blade will continue to cut fairly well even after the secondary edge is dulled. I suppose that it wouldn't technically be "cutting" at that point, more like bulldozing through material (another debate for another thread;)), but it will do it more efficiently than a knife with a thicker primary bevel. Hope that helped.
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I guess it is mostly semantics. I consider stropping sharpening because I can make a knife noticeably sharper by just stropping the blade some with diamond compounds. And I think what threw me was that you used the term 'secondary edge' when I'm used to hearing it called a secondary bevel. It made me think there were two edges or types of edge and I didn't see that.

I need to look up a steel to know what it contains and how it compares to other steels. I knew that super blue had some alloys making it more alloyed than a simple carbon steel like 1084, but not something like M4. I wasn't implying it was bad, just not a high carbide content steel, or so I thought. Thanks for clearing up every thing as I just saw your reply.
 
singularity35 said:
Yeh, me too. What differentiates it from say, a production bark river?
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I'll bite.

None of these are production.

The diference between this blade and a bark river is the carbides alone:

This knife is hand forged and made into this shape by Murray Carter, it's not stamped out and pressed into a die mold to give it the profile, so the grains of the metal follow this specific shape, yielding a stronger blade. It's full tapered tang, the handles are ergonomic, they fit your hand like a glove...

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The steel alone:

The steel that is used is either Super Blue or White steel, they're both extremely low in impurities, and they have an incredibly high carbon content (1.6 IIRC), so the carbon steel is incredibly hard. Since it's a san mai construction with the carbon steel in the center and a softer stainless steel on the outer layers - it has a high amount of malleability while being extremely hard. Hard steel (edge retention) + soft steel (strength) = :thumbup:

The grind:

Uhhh... just look at it.

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I won't try and 'justify' spending money on these knives, I don't think you're looking for that. If you think that a Bark River suits you, I'd say go for it. But there isn't a day that I don't use my Carter with a stupid grin on my face.

Hope that helps.
 
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