I have watched both of Murray Carter’s Instructional DVDs. In the first DVD I felt there was 30 minutes of useful information out of a 4 hour presentation. I did not like how he used junk cutlery (that if you cared about a sharp knife you would not use) to demonstrate how to sharpen. There is definitely some good information in the demonstration it is however sporadic. If you are a first time knife sharpener it would be a good place to learn (there are 2 other videos I think are better). I watched it hoping I could get some additional technique from the demo and I did. If you have a basic understanding of Japanese knife sharpening I would skip the Intro video and go straight to the advanced video. In the advanced video Murray recaps his basic technique that he explains in the first video but manages to do it in 10 minutes instead of four hours! There is some good advanced technique taught in the video and he is much more organized in delivering the information. There is a 15 minute scene of him shaving with a knife that could have been edited shorter but he was trying to make a point. I would give the first video 2 stars and the second video 4 stars so the average for the pair is 3 stars.

Murray does a great job explaining his sharpening process and the philosophy behind it.



The first dvd is long winded but contains valuable information for the beginner. Perhaps a few small hints in there for the experienced as well.



second dvd is way more advanced and gets into repair and other useful topics as well as their philosophy. Also the instruction is shorter and to the point.



I take off so many stars because,who ever Murrays production company was or is he needs to re-release these dvds as they are not cross platform compatible. If you try to use it in anything apple it rejects it. Sony and JVC dvd players struggle with the disc as well. Windows machines seem to play the dvd ok.

I dont expect Hollywood dvds but the ability to play the movie is very important.

I feel for the price i should be able to play them on the platform of my choice.

I quite enjoyed the beginner dvd. It was quite informative. I especially like how he makes it quite clear that it’s about the technique not the tools. The second was a lot of him shaving. I did enjoy the sequence he went through to sharpen the knife though.