First Carters!

After 4 weeks and a Christmas bonus to customs, my first ever Carters have finally arrived. A 3.7 sun SFGZ paring and 5.7 sun SFGZ funayuki. I love the simplicity of the design on these. They are designed to be one thing and one thing only: cutting demons!

The paring feels slightly larger in the hand than i would have preferred but i will adapt no problem. Very aggresive edges OOTB feels like 1k max. Nice and toothy but i have since gave them a quick 5k and strop finish. Overall very happy and can't wait to give them a real try out. To add: custom Rodrigue (on waiting list), Devin Thomas?!

Anyway some pics:




I have already had a little mess around with refining the finish, which has gone from this:



To This:



The cladding, as expected, is not too much work but that blue core is gonna bed a pain in the behind! I will keep going at it when i am very very bored some day. Finally a family photo:

Good stuff! Could you detail refinish steps please?

Great knives, description and family photo. Love the Funayuki profile. Similar taste. I am currently waiting on a Rodrigue gyuto, then probably a Rodrigue sujihiki. Then, probably Devin Thomas feather Damascus.

:thumbsup:

Who made that lovely scimitar? Also, congrats on the new knives, I had always heard of Carter's questionable finish but good lord that bevel is rough. I must say the work you put in really turned out nice!

Thanks guys. I just gave the paring a quick go with various grits of wet and dry sandpaper, something like 120, 400, 800, 1200. I'm happy with the 10 minute results but at the same time slightly scared of how unaffected the core is!

The scimitar is a custom Stephan Fowler in W2. It has a lovely profile more or less half way between a suji and a traditional scimitar. I have been having slight problems getting it as sharp as say the Tanaka but im sure il find a nice stone combo that works a treat.

Nice, I really like my Carters. I refinished the bevel on my SFGZ suji too, I quite like that he keeps the cost down by leaving some of the finishing steps out, means you can get 2 knives instead of one

@WSFARRELL I photos refinishing mine if it helps
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/4440-Carter-refinishing?highlight=

scott6452 said:

Thanks guys. I just gave the paring a quick go with various grits of wet and dry sandpaper, something like 120, 400, 800, 1200. I'm happy with the 10 minute results but at the same time slightly scared of how unaffected the core is!

The scimitar is a custom Stephan Fowler in W2. It has a lovely profile more or less half way between a suji and a traditional scimitar. I have been having slight problems getting it as sharp as say the Tanaka but im sure il find a nice stone combo that works a treat.

Click to expand...

I thought the same thing on the scimitar wondering who made it. Great looking Scimitar. Stephan Fowler can be proud of that one. Really looks good.

I love my Carters though I've never tried to clean up the bevel.

Was it pretty easy polishing the bevel?

Jay

Yeh really easy. That came from literally 10 minutes. Although i have left out the really annoying bits until i have more time/less to do. I agree Tom, i'd much prefer the cost to be kept to a minimum. Infact, i even kinda liked the rough grind finish. Makes them real "man tools

Heres another of the Fowler in action, and also of a fine selection of Scotch beef cuts!

Great knives...all of them!
Getting a Carter puts you into dangerous territory. You'll seek performance just like it and not stop until you manage to find it, your wallet be damned!
Pierre can and will do it, and the DT I am playing around with is nice...not the same, but nice.
Anywho, enjoy your knives

Nice! Thanks for the Fowler/beef pic.

I have owned 3 carters. The first one was a 6 sun wa-bocho with wa handle. I liked it okay but sold it to buy a longer HG funayuki. I liked that okay too but never quite bonded. Was hard to put my finger on it exactly why and after a while I sold it too.

Recently I got a riveted handle 5.5 sun wa-bocho. Initially my reaction was sort of "meh" and I was kicking myself for getting "suckered" yet again. However, every time I used it it grew on me. The handle for me is fantastic (I like narrow handles) and the knife does what I want. It is very fast and cuts like demon, without feeling fragile. I truly love it at this point and it looks like it is here to stay.

In summery I guess not every Carter is for every one, but when you find "the one" or "the ones" they are truly amazing.

That beef looks awesome

When Im drunk I always fool around with my carter.
Making that greasy fat food I normally can't eat, giving it task that I don't want to give to another, its a pro, its dirty and I can always show my badass sides to her Gotta love Carter

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._mug_shot.jpg/220px-Divine_Brown_mug_shot.jpg

oivind_dahle said:

When Im drunk I always fool around with my carter.
Making that greasy fat food I normally can't eat, giving it task that I don't want to give to another, its a pro, its dirty and I can always show my badass sides to her Gotta love Carter

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._mug_shot.jpg/220px-Divine_Brown_mug_shot.jpg

Click to expand...

She's a dirty girl!

Yeah, I really love my SFGZ funayuki. I hooked my neighbor up with one first and decided they were so cool, I had to have one for myself.

oivind_dahle said:

When Im drunk I always fool around with my carter.

Click to expand...

Here, in the states,... we often refer to it is as our... Johnson.

"I'm off to polish my Carter."

"I spend more time looking at my Carter than I do using it!"

"I let my girlfriend use my Carter and she scratched it!"

I think we're on to something here.

Vertigo said:

"I'm off to polish my Carter."

"I spend more time looking at my Carter than I do using it!"

"I let my girlfriend use my Carter and she scratched it!"

I think we're on to something here.

Click to expand...

Lol,

"Everone wants a big Carter but most have to settle for a shorter one"

"when I hold my Carter it feels like it wants to be used"

"You can say what you like about how my Carter looks, but when you try it you will be satisfied""

"Wow!. I can't remember seeing a Carter that big here for ages"

"Why is it that people are satisfied with a small Carter, when usually they want something bigger?"

"I've tried a lot of different ones, but when I bring out my Carter I really get excited"

"My Carter at first was a little rough, but after a bit of polishing it performs much better"

Aw crap, now I will never look at my Carter the same ever again.

"My Carter is small, nimble, and fairly stiff"

It's not the size of your knife, it's the ability to hold an edge until everyone's food is chopped.

Hahaha, why am I not surprised that Vertigo started this list of "fun Carter facts"?

"Even though it's outer layer is stain resistant, I never put my Carter away dirty: I carefully clean, dry, and wipe it with camellia oil"

"I consider my Carter's tip geometry to be close to perfect."

"I have a "Funy" Carter"

The best thing about my Carter is how easily it releases product.

Well my Carter went a funny colour at the end today!

Inital impressions: love the funayuki! Obviously food release is great and the edge has lasted very well considering it had all kinds or acids to deal with. Its kinda made me question why i use a 240 as my main knife, this thing can handle it all! As i suspected the parer is slightly too long for coring tomatoes or similar in hand tasks but serves as a great general purpose knife. Next week il give my current favourite stone combo on them (400, 5000, strop) and see how they handle.

What surprised me is how dark a patina that has formed after a days use. Here is a quick pic, hence the funny colour statement ^



Gotta love the core patina/laminate contrast!

"Don't dip your Carter in acid, or it will turn funny colors"

"My Carter is too long for 'in hand tasks'"

"Every time I use my Carter it puts a big grin on my face"