Carter Muteki

I haven't seen any of these on the "show us your new knife buy" thread and was curious if anyone has experience with them? From what I've read, Murray used to make this knife line but stopped. I've been wanting to pick up one of his high grades for a while and noticed he started making this Muteki line but they sold very quickly.

I woke up at 4:00 this AM and couldn't get back to bed so I browsed over to Carter Cutlery and boom he had seven Muteki knives listed. I'm pretty pumped as I grabbed a 5.68 Sun. All knives seven knives sold by 8:00AM.

Did anybody else buy one, or has one? I'm expecting it to be a little rough around the edges but a very good cutter. Curious if anyone else has an feedback?



Here is what Murray's says:

What are the differences between “Muteki” and “Carter” knives?

Carter Knives are precision forged to within 95% of their final shape, heat treated in pine charcoal fire, and have all the metallurgical work done personally by Murray. Murray also does the bulk of the remaining work to finish the knife. Carter knives include premium handles with contrasting liners, mosaic center pins, and the famous scary-sharp "Carter" edge that Murray does by hand. Carter knives include composite handles made out of premium synthetics and exotic woods ranging from G10, Carbon fiber, Micarta and natural stabilized woods.

Muteki knives are forged to within 80% of their final shape. They are heat treated in a coke fire. The work is done by Murray's apprentices under his close supervision (including the sharpening). They include functional Ironwood handles with no liners and functional riveted pins. In simpler terms the Muteki series offers the incredible cutting performance Carter Cutlery is known for at a lower price point.


http://www.cartercutlery.com/muteki-kitchen/

I've never used one but it seems like a heck of a deal. Half the price of the other knives he has listed, and you know he wouldn't let a knife out the door if it wasn't up to his standards

Looks like a decent deal if one wants in on the brand or the size/shape.

I was thinking of picking one up the other day but the one I was really interested in got sold before i could decide. I will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this line

They certainly are great values. I have a small honesuki from the muteki line and love it. Works well as a muteki but doubles as a petty on hard cheeses etc., whish I had more of them. I did not realize he was making them again, definitley something to keep an eye on.

Stefan

Stefan, I saw that old thread from back in 2010. Is yours white #2 with SUS 440 clad? Looks like so far he's only producing them in gyutos, I wonder if he'll expand the line. Either way, I've been looking for a fun easy 180 gyuto for a while and this seemed to fit the bill.

I just ordered one of his new ones and should have it in about a week. It is stainless clad white#1 with ironwood handle with blade length of 172mm and blade width of 41mm. I plan to use it as a cooking knife when traveling. Since I also have one of his kurouchi funayuki knives I will be doing a comparison review in ... soon

I also ordered one recently, almost a copy of that of Matus...only its 2 mm narrower...I am really happy that I was sitting at the computer at 3 a.m. (here in Europe) when Carter put them on the website...at 10 a.m. when I usually come to the computer almost all of them were already sold..I also aim to share my opinion, although I don't have any other Carter for comparison..

Three of them are still available here: http://knivesshipfree.com/carter-cutlery/?sort=alphaasc
And particularly the last one is nice!

nice site never knew of that one before

Yeah they look alright. I would consider snagging it but I already have two Carters and am waiting on a bunch of other knives, so hopefully more worthy customers can snag them.

CoqaVin said:

nice site never knew of that one before

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That's a discovery of Matus...few months ago, I also didn't know it yet...

Krakorak said:

That's a discovery of Matus...few months ago, I also didn't know it yet...

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I feel so proud of myself ... I have discovered an online shop :laugh:

Matus said:

I feel so proud of myself ... I have discovered an online shop :laugh:

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Well... It can be pretty hard. I recently discovered a webshop that's located less then 10 km from my house. It already exists for a couple of years, and could be the biggest in Europe, but I never found them before. If a shop hasn't got at least their basic online marketing right these day (SEO), you need some pretty ingenious Google queries to find them.

mark76 said:

Well... It can be pretty hard. I recently discovered a webshop that's located less then 10 km from my house. It already exists for a couple of years, and could be the biggest in Europe, but I never found them before. If a shop hasn't got at least their basic online marketing right these day (SEO), you need some pretty ingenious Google queries to find them.

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I believe I know which one do you mean when I see you are from Holland..Its maybe not the biggest in Europe, but probably one of the three biggest...And, most "suprisingly", I know that reference from Matus as well:-D...he is really good in the discipline you described;-)..

Krakorak said:

I believe I know which one do you mean when I see you are from Holland..Its maybe not the biggest in Europe, but probably one of the three biggest...And, most "suprisingly", I know that reference from Matus as well:-D...he is really good in the discipline you described;-)..

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What are other big J-knife stores in Europe? I know JNS, of course. Top quality, but I wouldn't call them big. http://www.japan-messer-shop.de/ is a relatively big German site I know, though I never bought from them. And I know a Swiss site (which is not really interesting to me at least, because of the exchange rate of the Swiss Franc).

mark76 said:

What are other big J-knife stores in Europe? I know JNS, of course. Top quality, but I wouldn't call them big. http://www.japan-messer-shop.de/ is a relatively big German site I know, though I never bought from them. And I know a Swiss site (which is not really interesting to me at least, because of the exchange rate of the Swiss Franc).

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Yeah, these two you mentioned (except JNS) are exactly those which I had in mind...Both have a quite extensive selection of J-knives, about comparable to that offered by the shop in Holland...But particularly in the Swiss one, the prices seem to me to be quite high...of course, partly also due to the not very favourable exchange rate of the SF..

If anyone cares I picked up a 7" muteki from knives ship free. They have like 3 or 4 more if your looking for one

Guys, let's get back on topic and talk about how these knives are performing :hungry: . I'm very eager to find out!

OK, mine just arrived. Since I only picked it up this morning and still have a working day to get through, I can give only very basic description:

The blade looks nice finish on bevels is similar to 'normal' carter. The knife arrived shaving sharp. The finish on the ironwood handle is lovely - the tang tappers towards the end of the handle - that is a nice touch and IMO something that every full tang western handle kitchen knife should have to shave off some of the weight. The handle sits well in hand. The wood was probably treat with some oil - feels lovely to touch. The balance point on my knife is at the very beginning of the handle. The choil edges were eased, but the spine will need a little work as it is not rounded. The blade on mine is 41mm tall at the heel. I have yet to test whether that will allow for knuckles to clear cutting board comfortably. There is rather little kurouchi left on it - I may consider removing it all together. The lamination line looks very nice and is more prominent than on carbon clad Carter knives.

This knife is primarily meant as cooking knife on the go, but should my wife like it, than it will see more use.

Give me a few weeks and I will make a more detailed test of the knife. First impressions are positive.

EDIT: if that 7" Muteki on KSF were not sold already, I would have bought it too. Great shape and size.

I've had mine for about two weeks now:

172 blade length
41mm heel hight
143g weight
Balance is right in front of the handle

This is my first Carter. I was expecting a great cutter with low fit and finish and that's exactly what I got.

The spine had such a sharp burr on it it almost cut my hand, certainly could have with enough pressure. The choil was also very rough. Not a big deal cause I've preformed this procedure on many other knives: Takeda, Moritaka, Tadfusa. Only took about an hours worth of hand work. with file and paper. I

'm usually a WA guy but as Matus pointed out, the handle has a nice hand feel.

The blade came good and sharp OOTB. Has a decent flat spot to the profile for small knife but rocks well too.

I would describe this knife as being scrappy. Its hard to describe but as Matus said its a "cooks knife". Its small but not tiny but is profiled like a larger sized knife. It has some weight, isn't t crazy thin behind the edge, nor is it thick. It has perfectly ground faces, no waves, just a fluid consistent reflection of light. It's a knife you just grab and get into to work.

I prefer tall, very light and thin behind the edge knives. But this Carter is more like a mini-workhorse. The White core is very hard and as one would imagine and keeps a nice edge.

I was holding out for a Gengetsu in a sub-210 length, but I'm really happy this Carter popped up. Its exactly what my kit was missing.

A sub 210 heavy gyuto, with a tall heel, in sanmai Carter White/stainless. The core is starting to get a nice contrasting patina too.

Me likey.

Mucho Bocho said:

I've had mine for about two weeks now:

172 blade length
41mm heel hight
143g weight
Balance is right in front of the handle

This is my first Carter. I was expecting a great cutter with low fit and finish and that's exactly what I got.

The spine had such a sharp burr on it it almost cut my hand, certainly could have with enough pressure. The choil was also very rough. Not a big deal cause I've preformed this procedure on many other knives: Takeda, Moritaka, Tadfusa. Only took about an hours worth of hand work. with file and paper. I

'm usually a WA guy but as Matus pointed out, the handle has a nice hand feel.

The blade came good and sharp OOTB. Has a decent flat spot to the profile for small knife but rocks well too.

I would describe this knife as being scrappy. Its hard to describe but as Matus said its a "cooks knife". Its small but not tiny but is profiled like a larger sized knife. It has some weight, isn't t crazy thin behind the edge, nor is it thick. It has perfectly ground faces, no waves, just a fluid consistent reflection of light. It's a knife you just grab and get into to work.

I prefer tall, very light and thin behind the edge knives. But this Carter is more like a mini-workhorse. The White core is very hard and as one would imagine and keeps a nice edge.

I was holding out for a Gengetsu in a sub-210 length, but I'm really happy this Carter popped up. Its exactly what my kit was missing.

A sub 210 heavy gyuto, with a tall heel, in sanmai Carter White/stainless. The core is starting to get a nice contrasting patina too.

Me likey.

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Nice catch!

In case someone is interested: Carter put up a new batch on his site. http://www.cartercutlery.com/muteki-kitchen/

Just a heads up - I have been using my Muteki quite a bit recently and hope to have review before Christmas. So far the knife makes very good impression.

These look tempting. I'm almost ashamed of the fact that I live ~10 minutes from both Carter's shop and Knives Ship Free storefront. Need to pay them a visit, though my wallet might take a serious hit... Thanks for sharing!

Especially for the longer lengths, those look like a deal.

A few photos of the Muteki I got:



Next to carbon clad funayuki from Carter:


BW conversion seems to show the difference in the surface finish better (and looks more artsy ). Left: carbon clad funayuki, Right: stainless clad Muteki:


These two knives are staying with us :happymug:

Bloody hell...I was abstaining totally fine, but then one kinda resonated with me and I foolishly ordered it.

XooMG said:

Bloody hell...I was abstaining totally fine, but then one kinda resonated with me and I foolishly ordered it.

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Oh yeah. That's resonating all the way over here, in Canada too! Beauty.