- Joined
- Apr 27, 1999
- Messages
- 6,117
I've been stocking up on professional quality knives for the gang at my church that volunteer at the local soup kitchen. There is no budget for this so I have been carefully selecting and refurbishing knives from Goodwill. Among the real high performance gems I have found are MAC knives from Japan. I haven't found these over the counter lately and thought they were out of production. I recently located their website (www.macknife.com) and exchanged emails with their president. Below I copy an extract from an email he sent me. I record it here for your edification and for posterity.
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From: Harold Arimoto [harold@macknife.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 2:32 AM
To: Clark, Jeff
Subject: Re: MAC Product info
Thanks for your E-mail.
COMPANY/PRODUCT HISTORY. The MAC knife was first manufactured about 40 years ago
in Japan. They wanted to create a "new & improved" knife which was better than
anything available. The original design included a rounded tip for safety,
convenient hole for hanging, and upswept handle angle for comfort and knuckle
clearance. They also created a thin blade for effortless slicing, a Molybdenum
alloy for strength, a true razor edge, and a hard Rockwell C edge for edge-holding.
Over the years, there have been several importers into the United States. During
the early and mid-seventies, thousands of sets were sold through mail orders
(pre-Ginsu).
My company, MAC Knife, Inc., was formed in 1983 with the intent of creating a more
organized and efficient distribution system here in the United States. Although we
have made occasional attempts to increase our market share, we have primarily
serviced those accounts who have a loyal following of our product.
For the past several years, I have been gearing up to increase our exposure.
We have enlisted the endorsements of 5 of the top Chefs in the country (see our
Website) and have been mentioned in several publications (Food & Wine, Good
Housekeeping, Art Culinaire). I am working on other projects which will give
us plenty of positive publicity.
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY. We have a complete inventory here in Sacramento and usually
ship the same day.
RETAIL OUTLETS. There is a list of retail outlets on our Website under "Retailers."
JB Prince (mail order & Web) has just started carrying some of our knives catered to
the professional Chef. Professional Cutlery Direct (mail order & Web) has a serious
interest in our knives and will begin carrying them later this year.
My primary focus is to sell directly to the Chef and consumer through mail order and
our Website. MAC knife owners truly "love" their knives and will take the effort to
search us out.
In the past, I placed our MAC knives into Department Stores, Gourmet Shops, and Cutlery
Shops, but their customers are more familiar with the major brands such as Wusthof,
Henckel, Sabatier, Chicago Cutlery, etc and walk right past our knives.
ALLOYS. The primary alloy that we use is made specially for us by Hitachi Steel. It
is similar in composition to AUS-8. You are correct, we use this alloy for our
Original Series and also many of our other knives. Our Superior Series and Ultimate
Series (item numbers starting with "S") use an updated version of our AUS-8 alloy.
The main difference is the addition of Tunsten which allows us to produce a harder edge.
This alloy and tempering gives us a edge which stays sharp for a long time, resharpens
easier, and takes a great edge.
I have been selling and demonstrating the MAC knife for 17 years. I am a "student" as
well as a "educator" on kitchen knives. My experience and knowledge are the result of
talking with tens of thousands of people, testing out every knife I can get my hands on,
working with the factory, and reading many books on knives.
Sincerely,
Harold Arimoto
President
MAC Knife, Inc.
=============
From: Harold Arimoto [harold@macknife.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 2:32 AM
To: Clark, Jeff
Subject: Re: MAC Product info
Thanks for your E-mail.
COMPANY/PRODUCT HISTORY. The MAC knife was first manufactured about 40 years ago
in Japan. They wanted to create a "new & improved" knife which was better than
anything available. The original design included a rounded tip for safety,
convenient hole for hanging, and upswept handle angle for comfort and knuckle
clearance. They also created a thin blade for effortless slicing, a Molybdenum
alloy for strength, a true razor edge, and a hard Rockwell C edge for edge-holding.
Over the years, there have been several importers into the United States. During
the early and mid-seventies, thousands of sets were sold through mail orders
(pre-Ginsu).
My company, MAC Knife, Inc., was formed in 1983 with the intent of creating a more
organized and efficient distribution system here in the United States. Although we
have made occasional attempts to increase our market share, we have primarily
serviced those accounts who have a loyal following of our product.
For the past several years, I have been gearing up to increase our exposure.
We have enlisted the endorsements of 5 of the top Chefs in the country (see our
Website) and have been mentioned in several publications (Food & Wine, Good
Housekeeping, Art Culinaire). I am working on other projects which will give
us plenty of positive publicity.
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY. We have a complete inventory here in Sacramento and usually
ship the same day.
RETAIL OUTLETS. There is a list of retail outlets on our Website under "Retailers."
JB Prince (mail order & Web) has just started carrying some of our knives catered to
the professional Chef. Professional Cutlery Direct (mail order & Web) has a serious
interest in our knives and will begin carrying them later this year.
My primary focus is to sell directly to the Chef and consumer through mail order and
our Website. MAC knife owners truly "love" their knives and will take the effort to
search us out.
In the past, I placed our MAC knives into Department Stores, Gourmet Shops, and Cutlery
Shops, but their customers are more familiar with the major brands such as Wusthof,
Henckel, Sabatier, Chicago Cutlery, etc and walk right past our knives.
ALLOYS. The primary alloy that we use is made specially for us by Hitachi Steel. It
is similar in composition to AUS-8. You are correct, we use this alloy for our
Original Series and also many of our other knives. Our Superior Series and Ultimate
Series (item numbers starting with "S") use an updated version of our AUS-8 alloy.
The main difference is the addition of Tunsten which allows us to produce a harder edge.
This alloy and tempering gives us a edge which stays sharp for a long time, resharpens
easier, and takes a great edge.
I have been selling and demonstrating the MAC knife for 17 years. I am a "student" as
well as a "educator" on kitchen knives. My experience and knowledge are the result of
talking with tens of thousands of people, testing out every knife I can get my hands on,
working with the factory, and reading many books on knives.
Sincerely,
Harold Arimoto
President
MAC Knife, Inc.
