Bladesmithing with Murray Carter: Modern Application of Traditional Techniques

This is such a well put together book, especially for the price!!! Only $18 or so and you get tons of info about traditional Japanese bladesmithing, general bladesmithing and just knifemaking in general. Like I said it is very well put together in the way that it starts you out by covering the basics of bladesmithing, types of shop tools that are used to make knives (as well as what they are good for and some basic safety measures and what to watch out for while using them. Murray takes you through his techniques on the way he forges a knife, profiles it, provides tips for refining the grain in the steel to get maximum performance out of the blade, all the steps and tips for heat treating a knife properly, how to forge weld, how to make damascus and much more. For each step there are pictures as well, which are not only very vibrant and vivid pictures, but are very helpful by making it clear to see what he is doing. A picture is worth a thousand words, so you have that, then another thousand words to go with it! There is a lot of great info in the book and I think it will appeal to people who want to get better at their bladesmithing and forging skills, as well as knifemakers who only use the stock removal method because there is plenty of information that can be applied to that area, after all, once one forges out a blade, it still needs to be put to a grinder. It will also appeal to people that are just interested in the way bladesmithing works, and the way that traditional Japanese badesmithing is done, or people who collect Murray Carter's knives and want to learn about his process. So all in all I give this book a 10 out of 10 and would highly recommend it to anybody who falls into any one of the categories I mentioned above.

Bladesmithing with Murray Carter is a must have for anyone interested in Japanese style bladeware. Visually stunning colour photographs of Carter Cutlery's kitchen and other utility knives complement the detailed information on the creation of these works of art and function. This reader friendly volume is both instructional and informational and has enough to satisfy collectors, knifemakers and those simply fascinated by Japanese cutlery. I personally found the section on the author's perspective on the differences between the Western and Japanese knife traditions to be especially interesting. A real eye opener. The serious student of the forge ( myself included ) with some bladesmithing experience will find this volume to be a valuable resource. A comprehensive work containing detailed chapters on forging, lamination, grinding, sharpening and blade straightening using the author's own experience gained from his extensive study and training at the craft in Japan. If you are an absolute beginner at knife making I would strongly suggest that you purchase this book along with Tim Lively's CD "Knifemaking Unplugged" and the volume "Blades Guide To Making Knives" ( available at Amazon ). For more on Japanese blademaking read "The Craft of The Japanese Sword" by Leon and Hiroko Kapp with Yoshindo Yoshihara. The rest is getting your hands dirty, starting small and lots of practise at the forge. Definitely get Bladesmithing with Murray Carter. You will be glad you did.

After I looked at a UTube Video made by Murray Carter, it told of his website. So I looked at that and found that Murray Carter only lived a couple of miles from where I live. I have had a blacksmith shop since the early 1980's and made a few knives over that time and was curious what information he presented. Knife making is not my passion so I am certainly not an expert by any sense. I focus on Early American hearth cooking utensils and traditional wood working tools so I know a bit about heat treating using a forge etc. Murray Carter seems like a very talented, knowledgeable bladesmith. His book is very informative and accurate from my experience. He certainly makes beautiful knives. I highly recommend this book for people interested in bladesmithing.

Good review of Japanese laminate knife making. I trained under Murray and what is illustrated and explained is how he does it.

A great book for both a someone who wants to learn how to forge a blade and intermediate smith looking to learn some new skills when forging a blade. The book is more geared to learning the Japanese style of forging a laminated blade, However the hammering technique can easily be applied to forging western mono steel blades. This book using easy to understand language walks you through each step needed to forge a blade. It covers everything from steel selection, Damascus and lamination techniques. It even covers how to properly sharpen a blade using sharpening stones. I have about 23 years of experience sharpening blades and even I learned how to put an even better edge onto my blade. This book is now a favorite of mine that I will likely go back and read every now and then. I highly recommend picking this book up regardless of your bladesmithing experience.

This book is more about techniques than principles. He teaches the old school method of Japanese blade smithing, with a faithfulness to the tradition almost on the level of an historical re-enactment. He insists on annealing in rice straw ashes, and he imports all his pine charcoal from Japan. The book ONLY covers Japanese techniques, but if that's what you're looking for, this is basically a good book. There are lots of god quality pictures (though I think it would be better if he'd included more pictures of the involved processes and less pictures of himself).

Dieses Buch ist fachlich für alle Hobbyschmiede oder Messerbauer ideal. Es werden alle Schritt ausführlich erläutert und sehr viel Einblick in die japanische Schmiedetechnik vermittelt.

I am happy with this book. What I have learned is going to set me on my way to bigger and better things

une très bonne base , je recommandes de bon shemas et photos, de bon descriptif c'est clair et accessible juste de parler anglais

Fiquei satisfeito com o material que recebi. Pretendo, sim comprar outras revistas / livros que tratam dos temas: a cutelaria, faca, ferramentas, ect. Valeu a aquisição!!

"Bladesithing" is a wonderful book for the man in you life if he loves the making of handmade bushcraft knives, my other half could not put it down it made want to finish the knife he had made in a class earlier in the year. It is so well laid out from the start a step by step prgress in metal, smithing, handle making and finishing.