Frequently Asked Questions:

All of our knives are forged, annealed, heat-treated, ground, polished and hand-sharpened by me personally. I sometimes have hired help to help me with basic tasks such as sand-blasting and basic handle preparation.  My lovely wife makes our leather sheaths.

As a beginning bladesmith, I endeavored to create beautiful, big Damascus Bowie knives, etc., such as were featured in many of the knife publications at that time.  However, as I continued my pursuit of cutlery, I found a passion for making kitchen cutlery and other knives for use,  (neck knives, etc.),  rather than knives just just for display.

My goal is that my customers can enjoy "using cutlery" daily, as a tool, and that it will contribute to their standard of living well beyond the first day of purchase.

I recommend the use of Japanese water stones to sharpen my cutlery.

In theory, sharpening is quite simple. However, in practice, it requires patience and experience to become proficient. 

I recommend my sharpening video for those serious about sharpening. You can sign up for my seven FREE knife maintenance tips in which I cover the 6-step knife sharpening procedure.

First, check out our "Available Products" link on our homepage. We might have just the right knife in stock for you.

A customer can place a custom order by email, fax, phone or letter.

Explanation

A Japanese measurement of length. 1 sum = 1.19375 inch or 3.037cm

An extremely pure (less than 0.03P and less than 0.003S) non alloy mild steel that is used for laminating with high carbon steel for japanese blades. It enables Japanese blades to be sharpened easily. used in my Kuro Uchi series, Japanese Pro Series and my Damascus steel.

A brass Alloy with color close to gold.

Equivalent to AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute) 1025. when used as an outer laminate for "San-Mai" blades, it adds toughness and springiness to the blade.

Equivalent to the AISI 1035. when used as an outer laminate for "San-mai" blades, it adds even more toughness and springiness to the blade.

Carter Cutlery Blade Markings

(Mu Teki) "without Rival"

(Mitsuboshi) Trademark symbol for "three stars", registered in the 3rd year of the Keicho era (1598).

(Hon Ke) "Original location" or legal owner of a business.

Indicates a White steel #1 core.

Indicates a blue Super steel core.

Indicates a forge welded blade in my own shop "Hon Warikomi" or "Hon Kasumi".

Approximate delivery time is as follows:

• Hand-forged blade in stock, about 10 days
• Hand-forged blade on order, about 4 to 6 months
• Custom knife or Damascus knife on order, about 1 to 2 years

We accept checks (drawn on an American bank), cashiers checks, money orders, credit card payments, and PayPal

One of my favorite topics. Let me answer that with several points.

• Using a Mammoth handle on my hand forged neck knives takes second place to none. No one regrets such a decision if they can afford the Mammoth.
• Ironwood always looks great as well. Natural, beautiful and table. The false edge, while not sharpened because the index finger is often placed on the back of the blade for fine control, penetrates with little resistance the way that I grind them.
• I use mosaic pins in the middle of the handle and peen regular pins at both ends to permanently secure the handle. The best of both Worlds!

• A very interesting topic, when related to neck knives, is concealed cary. I personally think that my neck knives are the way to go. they are lighter, carried more often, more ergonomic, easier to carry and classy to boot, so you are never embarrassed to take it out and use it. therefore, one uses it more often, thus deploying it becomes second nature. You don't have to spend any extra time training with it.

• Damascus neck knives are the "Rolexes" of the cutlery world; affordable, portable and useful. Add mammoth ivory and you have a knife that the grand kids will be bugging you for.
• I do occasionally wear my neck knife under a shirt and tie, but more often than not I just put it in my right side outer pocket of my suit coat. It is instantly accessible even when sitting down (as compared to a folder knife in the pant pocket) and no one thinks twice if you casually put your hand in your suit pocket to retrieve it.

I have just spent the past few hours treating blades in a Pine Charcoal forge. This is work that can only be done in the evening when there is no daylight to confuse the colors.

I often forge similar knives in batches of 50 or 100. This gives me economy of motion and allows for the very best quality control. I'm able to really 'get into the groove' during each repititive motion.

Keeping a wide blade flat, straight, and untwisted after quenching in water takes considerable more time and skill than a narrow blade. I had to change the price at some point and decided on 6.5 sun because orders over that size are rare; therefore they become "one off" custom orders which require special attention compared to blades in the normal line-up.

The knives should come in around HRC 63-64 after I heat them in a pine charcoal fire, quench them in water then temper them  over the open flames of the forge. I use no modern measuring device for temp, etc. It is all done by eye and experience (and a silent prayer never hurts either).

I can only guess as to the HRC of each blade as they are all heat treated one at a time, by hand, without the aid of any modern devices.

The knives should come in around HRC 63-64 after I heat them in a pine charcoal fire, quench them in water then temper them over the open flames of the forge. I use no modern measuring device for temp, etc. It is all done by eye and experience (and a silent prayer never hurts either).

I can only guess as to the HRC of each blade as they are all heat treated one at a time, by hand, without the aid of any modern devices.

When asked about my laminated blades, I answered the following: My san mai is a 30% / 40% / 30% combination. The 40% is my core. You need to experiment to find out what combination and forging techniques work best for you. It took me approximately 10,000 blades to figure it all out. what works for one, will not necessarily work for another. As with most things, experimenting and gaining experience is the best route to success. If the steel is in the center of your laminate, it will always be in the middle, regardless of hammering or rolling. the only problem that can happen is that you grind metal away from one side or the other. I never grind the flats of my blades and therefore the steel always remains in the middle.

After I forge my blades I sand blast them and then cold forge them which makes the surface smooth, flat and shiny. If I do it right, little sanding is necessary.

I recommend that customers keep my kitchen knives in their original box, open but in a drawer. That way the are out of harms way, stay sharp and are instantly accessible.

1. The blade has a coarse grain structure, a result of overheating during the construction of the blade. Blades with fine grain structure typically will be stronger, tougher and offer better edge retention.
2. The blade has fine grain structure, but has been insufficiently tempered, a process that compromises hardness for toughness.
3. The blade has fine grain structure, and sufficient temper, but was pushed past its performance limits in respect to its edge geometry. This can be remedied by removing some thin metal from the blades edge by sharpening.
   

(Practical answer)
While there is a scientific explanation as to the difference between the two steels, after I extensively forge them, anneal them and heat treat them by hand, the differences become less apparent. Ultimately, it is up to the customer to judge. They both produce a supreior blade if I do my part.

Introducing the White Crane Utility/Fighter Knife!
 

This is the most innovative design at Carter Cutlery since Murray started making neck knives

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