Murray Carter at Phoenix Knife House

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Murray's the man. I'm jealous.
 
Super jealous! Thanks for offering to give a summary!

(and you said pictures, too, right? :) )
 
I bet the place is going to be a mad house. I can just see Murray now, in all his gloat and glory, talking about his passion. I suspect there will a fairly deep level of discussion, given it at a knife shop. Hope someone on the forum goes and reports back.
 
The thing with Murray is, while some see him as arrogant, I see him as realistic and confident. He's short and to the point, and very "military" in how he converses with others. He will tell you everything you need to know about a product, or a technique, ask questions that have answers that lead back to his topic, and continue talking directly about that specific thing. He's a teacher, of sorts, a businessman, and most importantly to him on a professional level - a knifemaker. While he might remind you of how difficult or exact something he does really is, he does so partly to make you appreciate his craft and product. I'm cool with it.

While I'm slightly biased, perhaps, I will say this: he sent me a nice email last month congratulating me on getting through a year in this "business", and for starting up my saya (and other stuff) "brand". We've discussed Devin Thomas' knives, among other things, and he basically had to say that Devin is a class-act with beautiful skills. Not that I was fishing, but I honestly don't think a negative thought crossed his mind when it came to DT's work. He notices what others are doing and uses it as even more reason to keep making knives that flat out perform. In Murray's mind, as long as he makes a great product, people will keep buying them. If you ask me, he's right on the money with that one.

Unlike with Pierre, I've never sworn or talked about how the Leafs are going to kick the Habs' asses this year (sorry, Pierre). He's not a friend (though it wouldn't be a bad thing to call him one), like Pierre is, but I still respect the crap out of him.
 
The thing with Murray is, while some see him as arrogant, I see him as realistic and confident. He's short and to the point, and very "military" in how he converses with others. He will tell you everything you need to know about a product, or a technique, ask questions that have answers that lead back to his topic, and continue talking directly about that specific thing. He's a teacher, of sorts, a businessman, and most importantly to him on a professional level - a knifemaker. While he might remind you of how difficult or exact something he does really is, he does so partly to make you appreciate his craft and product. I'm cool with it.

That's exactly what I was thinking. He might even be arrogant, but if so, I'd say it's a good trait. The world needs people who can shake up the box.

He told me to bring some of my work if I can make it, but as it stands now I'm not sure that I can go. It's only a 90 minute event that would take a 4 hour drive at least, while not showing to the longest school day of the week. I don't even have any finished pieces on me =/

But.... but.... hard to decide...
 
I drove to the States to get Cookie Crisp one time. I thought I knew you... :D
 
I drove to the States to get Cookie Crisp one time. I thought I knew you... :D

I drove to Disneyland to get a newspaper once. Well, and to be able to brag to all the girls in my HS that I did it, of course :).
 
I drove 400 miles to work once, got shot in head, spent 9 hours in the er, received 16 staples to the scalp and then went straight to work to do compaction testing on 20 homes and drove 400 miles back.
 
oh, yea and there was this one time I had a stroke and fell onto the train platform after which four NYPD officers kicked me out of the way and refused to help me. I finally made it to the hospital were the doctor informed me that I was having a severe case of vertigo and that there was nothing wrong with me. After, I yelled at him and told him he was an idiot I collapsed on the table and died for 4 minutes. When I woke up , I went home to find that my house had been robbed and all my knives were stolen and my computer and I still went to work the same morning because, somebody had to work brunch. I'm disappointed in you Don.
 
I drove 400 miles to work once, got shot in head, spent 9 hours in the er, received 16 staples to the scalp and then went straight to work to do compaction testing on 20 homes and drove 400 miles back.

:Ooooh:
 
Bah, you guys! I knew you all would push me :p

Son, those are crazy stories!
 
If I might hop in, Murray strikes me as, basically, just an honest guy. He knows what he knows and will impart his knowledge, which must be extensive considering how focused he's been in his life. He doesn't always have the right polish about how he presents himself, granted, and can come off as a bit of a square but who cares.

...He's short and to the point, and very "military" in how he converses with others...

I think that about hits it, partly just because of the way he speaks. Plus, I've seen the odd photo where he's hammering a blade with a sidearm on his belt. Not sure if that's what his mentor over in Kyushu envisioned when naming him a '16th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith' but so be it!
 
I saw him open-carrying at the Western Blacksmithing Conference, Murray was hand forging a knife with Bill Burke. I don't see why it's a bad representation of his legacy. I remember reading that Murray was one of the few Caucasians to have a gun license in Japan, too. How about this one:

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:lol2:
 
I don't find the open carry thing that odd at all. But then again, it's pretty common in Arizona. We don't even need a concealed carry license anymore.
 
I think Murray is a great guy, he was the first custom maker I looked into. As a Canadian east coaster myself, there wasn't exactly somebody like him making knives, now is slightly different, with another Canadian east coaster on this forum cranking out sexy customs. I must say my Rodrigue's and Carter's are a great source of pride in my kit, nothing against any of the American or Japanese customs in my kit, it's just we Canadians stick together.

At the same time, I have seen Murray catch a certain amount of flack for his drive to learn to fly and race motorcycles, but he clearly is an adrenaline junky and very interested in all things military. I personally wish I had both, the free time and the money to do some of the things I have seen him starting to do, and for people to laugh and or take personal shots at what somebody wants to do with their money or free time is beyond me. Some people have alot stranger hobbies than racing motorcycles and flying helicopters. He makes great knives, buy one!
 
What a unique and enjoyable experience!! We just left dinner with Murray...I'll post up pictures etc later.
 
We met Murray before the seminar...went over our knives, and overall had a really great discussion. After the seminar Don, Murray, myself, and Eytan (the owner of Phoenix Knife House) walked across the street to a restuarant for dinner. All in all it was an incredibly enjoyable evening :).
 
I got a number of pictures...but in the end they're all pretty much the same. The seminar covered his history growing up...why and when he went to Japan, and how his apprenticeship was conducted...a bit on his business theory, and then his steps for sharpening (the same as on his YouTube videos). He passed around the knife through various stages, and the differences were readily apparent. Oddly enough, before he started the knife easily cut paper...but he didn't feel it was sharp enough.

Anyhow, here's a few pictures:

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That's Don's prototype gyuto on the counter behind him in the saya :).

20130916_135821.jpg

I thought this one was great. It's semi blurry...but he's using the three finger sharpness test with his eyes closed lol.

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After the sharpening demo. The little Hispanic gentleman was fascinated lol.

Overall, I didn't come away with much in regards to sharpening methods (though Murray did give me the stones he used lol). As I said...what he demonstrated is clearly shown his YouTube videos. I did come away with a much better comprehension of 'sharpness' in terms of utility, and I'm inordinately proud to say my edges hold up to the measure of the edge he created (at least the one he passed around lol). I learned that 'sticky' sharp...which is what I was making, is what I should be making lol.

I do want to say, that the other thing I came away with was a new respect for the man (personally) that wasn't really there prior to meeting him. I respected his work, and his business sense....but as a person he left me sort of, eh...whatever. In person however he's completely different. We discussed my knives, and whether I intended to make a business of them. We also talked about my kids, my relationship with their mother, whether we were getting back together, and how he'd love to have us up to Oregon to spend some time flying, shooting, and driving fast cars lol.

Oh, and making knives :).

All in all a very enjoyable way to spend a Monday afternoon/evening!
 
Sounds pretty awesome!

One question. You do or do not respect him more as a person now? Sounds like he was pretty damn cool, in my books.
 

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