Thank-you, Murray Carter!

[JGON]

Murray Carter is a 17th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith. He traveled to Japan when he was very young, stumbled into a Japanese sword store, and was completely dumbfounded by the sharpness and beauty of the blades around him. He did not know much Japanese at this point, but ended up having a dialogue with the owner and bladesmith about cutlery. After some discussion, Murray accepted a job working in the shop, learning the ways of knife making.

He spent over 18 years there working as a bladesmith in a rural village, and eventually was made the 17th Generation Yoshimoto bladesmith, a distinction never before offered to a westerner.

He has made over 12,000 knives himself, and personally sharpened over 40,000 blades.

His tools are not flashy, and to a person who has not handled or used one of his knives, they will appear to be "nothing special", as someone else stated. But these knives are examples of craftsmanship that I have not see duplicated yet in my experiences in the knife world. Hold one, use one, cut with one, and you will know the difference between a production knife and a well made custom.

His knives have the highest rockwell hardness of any I own, can get insanely, scary sharp, and are more comfortable in hand than I thought a knife could be. When it comes to "cutting", nothing does it better than my Murray Carter

I've been using this one for the last 3 years...

And here are many of the styles that he creates...

All in all, a top notch knife maker, and since I bought my Murray Carter, I've ceased buying any more knives to fill the niche that my Murray carter has filled.

 

[So-Lo]

From his website

Welcome to Carter Cutlery, your source of high performance hand-forged cutlery and world renowned sharpening instruction! I am Murray Carter, 17th Generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith and Certified Master Bladesmith. You will benefit from my 20 years of unique knife making experience. I lived and worked in Japan for over 18 years as a rural village bladesmith and have the unique distinction of becoming the 17th Generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith. I have personally made over 12,000 knives and hand sharpened more than 40,000 blades of all shapes and sizes. I am confident that you will experience the meaning of sharp like never before!

The stuff I highlighted in red is be something "special."

 

[So-Lo]

jgon,

I was putting my post together as you was posting, great minds think alike

 

[JGON]

jgon,

I was putting my post together as you was posting, great minds think alike

They certainly do! Love my Murray Carter... I will get another necker someday, as well as a chef's knife. For now though, my Murray Carter has saved me hundreds of dollars on useless knife collecting. After buying it, the "itch" to buy knew knives, at least to fill the same EDC fixed blade role, has completely gone away.

 

[singularity35]

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...

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.

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.

Thanks yeah, that does help. I just wanted to know what makes it different from production knives because I'm ignorant about these things.

 

[sodak]

That's a spectacular knife, congratulations!!! I'm going to have to check out his web site, I have his DVD, they are fun to watch!

Don't worry, there are a couple in line ahead of you that need to post a review!

 

[hardheart]

High carbon and high alloy steels are not stamped out or molded to shape (outside of rare examples like the MIM Offset)

Forged blades do not exhibit significant differences from stock removal blades. Any amount of thermal cycling a forged blade can go through can be repeated with a stock removal.

Most modern tool steel is also relatively pure, any melt having the composition known and included with the material. The carbon content of the aogami super and shirogami 1 is right in line with M2, M4, D2, S30V, and many others.

I wouldn't mind having a Murray Carter, they are pretty nice looking neckers.

 

[Blades]

If you get the chance, it is worth meeting Murray Carter and watch him sharpen a knife. I meet him awhile back at a Blade Show. I think I spent 30 minutes watching him. The knife I bought I ended up selling.

 

[jnich67]

I'm really wanting one of MC's knives. I'm beginning to appreciate a thinner, refined knife for my everyday nees. They look so sweet.

Jordan:thumbup:

 

[Sep]

To answer a little bit about the difference between Carter knives and BRKT ones, you can see this video:
[youtube]pB8_KzHBqSk[/youtube]
Murray represents a philosophy that says a knife first and foremost must provide a very keen cutting edge. He is fully willing to accept that his blades will chip when over taxed, that is an acceptable cost for having them so sharp you can literally shave your face with any one of them without too much effort in sharpening. This philosophy is different from BRKT which uses metals and grind (convex) that emphasize chopping ability, edge strength, and resistance to chipping.

 

[somber]

High carbon and high alloy steels are not stamped out or molded to shape (outside of rare examples like the MIM Offset)

Forged blades do not exhibit significant differences from stock removal blades. Any amount of thermal cycling a forged blade can go through can be repeated with a stock removal.

Most modern tool steel is also relatively pure, any melt having the composition known and included with the material. The carbon content of the aogami super and shirogami 1 is right in line with M2, M4, D2, S30V, and many others.

I wouldn't mind having a Murray Carter, they are pretty nice looking neckers.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding as well, but I was under the impression that, for example, the BM940 in S30V are cut out into shape, therefore the grain does not follow the shape of the blade itself as if it were forged into that shape?

I think one of the main differences between super blue/white steel and other High Speed tools steels isn't necessarily the carbon content, but also the low amount of impurities. Especially when the sulfur content alone is around .004 in Super Blue, as opposed to .1 in M2.

 

[hardheart]

When the steel is heated, the elements are put into solution and new grain is formed when cooled. After forging/rolling, the steel can be normalized, stress relieved, austenized, quenched, all multiple times. Grain direction is lost, hardened steel should be pretty homogenous unless you are looking for a specific visual effect. Grain direction is something that matters to things like cold worked austenitic stainless or wrought iron.

The sulphur content is that high on purpose, that is resulphurized M2 with improved high speed cutting.

 

[singularity35]

Murray represents a philosophy that says a knife first and foremost must provide a very keen cutting edge. He is fully willing to accept that his blades will chip when over taxed, that is an acceptable cost for having them so sharp you can literally shave your face with any one of them without too much effort in sharpening. This philosophy is different from BRKT which uses metals and grind (convex) that emphasize chopping ability, edge strength, and resistance to chipping.

Thanks, this explanation regarding difference in philosophy is what gives me deeper understanding. I now understand what is needed to have a knife fulfill this purpose and this philosophy. i now understand that Mr. Carter's knives are designed and achieve extremely keen edges that last for a long time. The geometry and metallurgy that make these great knives are made even greater by the ergos that only a master bladesmith can imbue.

I'm sorry to all the gentlemen who posted Mr. Carter's credentials but that did not tell me what kind of a knife this was.

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Wow thanks for writing that up for me. No doubt he is making some pretty special cutlery. I just didn't fully understand what made it so special.

Murray Carter is a 17th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith. He traveled to Japan when he was very young, stumbled into a Japanese sword store, and was completely dumbfounded by the sharpness and beauty of the blades around him. He did not know much Japanese at this point, but ended up having a dialogue with the owner and bladesmith about cutlery. After some discussion, Murray accepted a job working in the shop, learning the ways of knife making.

He spent over 18 years there working as a bladesmith in a rural village, and eventually was made the 17th Generation Yoshimoto bladesmith, a distinction never before offered to a westerner.

He has made over 12,000 knives himself, and personally sharpened over 40,000 blades.

His tools are not flashy, and to a person who has not handled or used one of his knives, they will appear to be "nothing special", as someone else stated. But these knives are examples of craftsmanship that I have not see duplicated yet in my experiences in the knife world. Hold one, use one, cut with one, and you will know the difference between a production knife and a well made custom.

His knives have the highest rockwell hardness of any I own, can get insanely, scary sharp, and are more comfortable in hand than I thought a knife could be. When it comes to "cutting", nothing does it better than my Murray Carter

I've been using this one for the last 3 years...

And here are many of the styles that he creates...

All in all, a top notch knife maker, and since I bought my Murray Carter, I've ceased buying any more knives to fill the niche that my Murray carter has filled.

 

[somber]

Thanks, this explanation regarding difference in philosophy is what gives me deeper understanding. I now understand what is needed to have a knife fulfill this purpose and this philosophy. i now understand that Mr. Carter's knives are designed and achieve extremely keen edges that last for a long time. The geometry and metallurgy that make these great knives are made even greater by the ergos that only a master bladesmith can imbue.

I'm sorry to all the gentlemen who posted Mr. Carter's credentials but that did not tell me what kind of a knife this was.

So what makes Bob Loveless knives so special? Or CRK so special? Or...?
You looking for company under your bridge, or what?

There awesome knives, they're made with great steel, and they're made by a bladesmith that believes in the knives he's making.

Quit trolling, you only sound pompous talking about something you've never even held.

 

[singularity35]

So what makes Bob Loveless knives so special? Or CRK so special? Or...?
You looking for company under your bridge, or what?

There awesome knives, they're made with great steel, and they're made by a bladesmith that believes in the knives he's making.

Quit trolling, you only sound pompous talking about something you've never even held.

That does sound pompous but I'm not trolling, I'm asking for information. Yes, I haven't held the knife and that's why I wanted to know what it was. The philosophy I think I understand, if you don't.

I see a good looking knife made of great steel. So if I want to know about it, is that trolling? Did I bash? Did I talk trash about the knife?

Your post?:thumbdn:

You really are somber.

som·ber adj \ˈsäm-bər\: b : of a dismal or depressing character : melancholy

 

[somber]

That does sound pompous but I'm not trolling, I'm asking for information. Yes, I haven't held the knife and that's why I wanted to know what it was. The philosophy I think I understand, if you don't.

I see a good looking knife made of great steel. So if I want to know about it, is that trolling? Did I bash? Did I talk trash about the knife?

Your post?:thumbdn:

You really are somber.

som·ber adj \ˈsäm-bər\: b : of a dismal or depressing character : melancholy

What you're saying here is not reflected by what you have said previously, to me your posts are seething with arrogance (like you're under the impression that you're one of a kind, distinguished from all of us lowly folk:jerkit. Whatever, get one and you'll understand what the knife is about.

If I pegged you wrong, I'm truly sorry.

 

[dhaines]

Shosui Takeda's knives are actually a little thinner and quite amazing....This is the hunter I own. http://www.knifeart.com/bigonematash.html AMAZING!!!!
I also have a Murry Carter neck knife with buffalo horn handles that is also AMAZING I however use it more for cooking than EDC. My EDC is a Small Sebenza.

 

[sodak]

Where is a good place to buy one of Murray's knives?

 

[SusAntigoon]

Where is a good place to buy one of Murray's knives?

www.lmgtfy.com/?q=murraycarter