Have you tried Carter's knives?

[ChefKnivesToGo]

Carter Hopkins sent me one of his gyutos to try. Holy moly it's a really nice knife!

The one he sent had a KS type profile and I believe it was 52100. Blade was ground thin and very nicely convexed from heel to tip. It must have taken him a couple hours to grind it down that thin using belts but the nice thing with stock removal is you can precisely control how much material you remove since it's coming off way more slowly than the guys that use the big grinding wheel. Heat treatment was excellent. Sue and I used it for about 2 weeks and all it really needed was a little stropping when I was finished and sent it along. It was so nice I kind of felt guilty using it and getting patina on the blade.

I'm sure you've seen his handles. They're impeccable. Here's a shot of the knife before I used it.

Overall it reminded me of Devin Thomas' 52100 gyutos from years ago and that's high praise.

[Kalaeb]

Yes, I abuse mine often. He does a great job and is awesome to communicate with.

[datster]

I've got two of Carter's blades and several of his handles on various other knives. He made a gyuto and a funayuki, I asked him to make the funayuki thin and he did for sure. They both cut really well and look great, both 52100.
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[salemj]

Honestly, Carter is the first forum knife-maker I thought of for Chicago. I feel like his efforts are some of the most recent and least vetted ("passed around") of some of the more active forum participants, and it would be great if you could convince him to bring some stuff to Chicago and be a part of that.

To be clear: other makers came to mind and I'd love to see their stuff, too. But for the specific reasons I state above, Carter's work seemed really appropriate for this venue.

[Kit Craft]

I've not used any of his knives but his work interests me for sure.

[Carter]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words. Mark, I appreciate you (and Sue) taking the time to use the knife and for posting your thoughts. I have been working hard on the design and grinds, and I personally like this knife. Almost every knife that I sell does see some time in my kitchen before it ships. I used this knife for a little while and asked Mark if he would give it a road test. It is on a passaround at present and is headed to Ray for a little island testing, if you are interested in testing it, just drop me a note.

I have another really nice version of this knife that will be finished on Friday, it has an ebony and nickel handle....really elegant!

To Joe's point (and I appreciate your thoughts), I am planning on attending in Sept. Will probably come in Sat around lunch time and leave on Mon....looking at a hotel near the restaurant.

Best,

CWH

[salemj]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words. Mark, I appreciate you (and Sue) taking the time to use the knife and for posting your thoughts. I have been working hard on the design and grinds, and I personally like this knife. Almost every knife that I sell does see some time in my kitchen before it ships. I used this knife for a little while and asked Mark if he would give it a road test. It is on a passaround at present and is headed to Ray for a little island testing, if you are interested in testing it, just drop me a note.

I have another really nice version of this knife that will be finished on Friday, it has an ebony and nickel handle....really elegant!

To Joe's point (and I appreciate your thoughts), I am planning on attending in Sept. Will probably come in Sat around lunch time and leave on Mon....looking at a hotel near the restaurant.

Best,

CWH

Very glad to hear it. I haven't bought my tickets yet but this adds to the interest and excitement. I feel like you and Tim (timos) have a special presence on the forum as craftsman who continuously participate and engage with people on the forum. You would bring a special world of knowledge and experience that I'm sure would really enrich discussions about "workshop craft" with the guests. Your shop in particular has always appeared really top-notch, and also perhaps the American "antithesis" to some of those cramped, dark, and dirty Japanese stations! Haha. Point being, it would be great to be a fly on the wall while hearing some of you guys talk about your shops and rate/means of production alongside the guests.

[ChefKnivesToGo]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words. Mark, I appreciate you (and Sue) taking the time to use the knife and for posting your thoughts. I have been working hard on the design and grinds, and I personally like this knife. Almost every knife that I sell does see some time in my kitchen before it ships. I used this knife for a little while and asked Mark if he would give it a road test. It is on a passaround at present and is headed to Ray for a little island testing, if you are interested in testing it, just drop me a note.

I have another really nice version of this knife that will be finished on Friday, it has an ebony and nickel handle....really elegant!

To Joe's point (and I appreciate your thoughts), I am planning on attending in Sept. Will probably come in Sat around lunch time and leave on Mon....looking at a hotel near the restaurant.

Best,

CWH

Awesome Carter! Sue and I are looking forward to meeting you! We’ll be staying at the Westin River North and it’s about 2 blocks from Roka Akor. But there are many hotels right around that area.

[Carter]

Here is the latest KS stlye 247mm gyuto.....more about it in my subforum.

[Drewski]

Wow! Beautiful work!

[Kit Craft]

Yep, I like it too. Well, based off of what I see. Never used one, might have to fix that since every time I see his knives I want one.

[Jeff B]

I will if he's at the Chicago party and bring a knife!

[pd7077]

Carter graciously included me in this pass-around, and I have been able to play around with this knife for the past few weeks. This is the third variation of Carter’s gyutos that I’ve been able to test, and this one has probably been my favorite. While it’s a bit shorter at the heel than I usually prefer (47mm), the overall profile was excellent for just about every task. The grind is super thin, and Carter was able to do this without making it feel fragile. The tip is razor thin and excelled on horizontal cuts. There’s a decent enough flat spot in the back for chopping, but I think that the profile is better suited for push cutting. Food release/separation are what you would expect from a knife this thin. The handle is the typical Carter Hopkins quality that we all love and appreciate. Here are the specs of the knife and a few photos:

Spine @ handle: 2.6mm
Spine @ heel: 2.4mm
Spine @ 5cm from tip: 1.1mm
Spine @ 1cm from tip: 0.6mm
Height @ heel: 47mm
Edge length: 247mm
Weight: 184g / 6-1/2oz

[Jeff B]

Looks like it has some very nice distal taper to it!

[Kit Craft]

Thank you for the overview, Steve! Looks and sounds good.

[old onion]

Now that's a knife .

[Jeff B]

I'm gonna have to get my hands on one of these soon.

[pd7077]

The one thing that I did not do is to take this knife to the stones. I did sharpen the two previous Carrer gyutos I tried, and I can say that Carter does a fantastic job with 52100. I’m fully confident that the HT on this knife is just as good at the others.

[Kit Craft]

The one thing that I did not do is to take this knife to the stones. I did sharpen the two previous Carrer gyutos I tried, and I can say that Carter does a fantastic job with 52100. I’m fully confident that the HT on this knife is just as good at the others.

Steve, could you describe how his 52100 sharpens up, how they feel on the stones etc? Like, do they feel hard and glassy, firm and grippy or soft and gummy (I doubt it is the later). How does the burr like to come off on the stones? Does it like to break off or slowly degrade and just fade away etc.

Really interested in these.

[mauichef]

Just arrived.
Sure is good looking!
Mahalo Carter and Steve.