ArtisanCutlery Centauri（ATZ-1839G） Blade titanium Handle folding knife Designed by Ray Laconico

I have been researching this knife for a while, when reviews are available. There are some on YouTube, and they all seemed to be favorable reviews. Do check them out, as some of the videos out there are done by people that are knife guru's and have knowledge on construction, usability and carry-ability.The fit and finish is fantastic. I inspected this production knife very carefully, and did not find any blems or un finished edges/contact places, etc.. There is one review on YT stating the edges of the spine of the blade are sharp - but I didn't find this on mine. Blade centering is perfect, the lock up is solid (I did a few spine whacks to check the lock, and it was solid). The blade opens very smoothly, and while it is not guillotine drop shut, it does drop nicely, so be careful. It is , I suppose , a big knife, but is thin across the back, and carries nicely. I have L going on XL hands, and it fits my hand great. The knife seems light weight for the amount of knife you get. That carbon fiber side is light, so I am sure if it was titanium on both sides, it would be a little heavier. I think the weight is perfect. The carbon fiber is nice - its not like the Spyderco variety, but it has some tackiness to it, and catches the light and throws it nicely. The screwless clip is a nice touch. There is micro milling on the lock side, which adds a stylistic element to it. The clip has no milling on it at all. There is no lock stick. The Damascus is nice - raindrop design, pretty dang sharp, and supposedly has a VG10 core (VG10 is easy, for me to sharpen and I touched this up with a fine ceramic stone and some light stropping, and the edge is suicidal sharp now.). The micro bevels are even on both sides - something you don't always see on knives that are north of $150. As a front flipper, it opens very easily. The only drawback, and it doesn't bother me, is that there is no cut out on the presentation side, by the lock. So, you have to get your thumb in there good. The lock bar, on the inside, has a little cut out. Some folks might not like this. If you have ever handled a Spyderco Gayle Bradley 1, you will know what I am talking about, but it doesn't seem as difficult on this Centauri than the Bradley. The Bradley had some sharp edges around that area, so it wasn't always pleasant. Your thumb will toughen up. This might be on of the designers' first front flipper knifes,....if so, Ray did a great job. I hope this review helped.

I got hooked to front flippers a few years ago after getting one made by Mike Zieba from Brooklyn, NY. Since then I was looking for an ultimate full size EDC front flipper. ArtisanCutlery Centauri exceeded my expectation. Quality on par with US-made custom or high end production knives. And don't listen for people who blame this knife for front flipping feature - it flips smooth and effortless. IMHO, a huge advantage of this front flipper is that you can open it quietly and as slow as you want. Kudos to Ray Laconico to amazing design and Artisan Cutlery for superb execution.

This knife came packaged well and looked alright for the $200 price point, considering it's Chinese-made with high-class materials, but you will NOT be able to flip it open with one hand.Pretty poor design. If anybody can pull it off, by all means send me a video of flipping it open one-handed... Then I will change my review...

Another great Idea that I just could get over a couple things and sent knife back.I loved the shape and design of the blade and Damascus of course is beautiful but1. The carbon fiber along on one side makes the knife deal cheap2. I have front flipper that runs great and is easy to use this design makes using front flipper cumbersome, for whatever reason, maybe if they put a relief like Bestec for your finger to rest in, I don’t know just harder to use than other flippers I have and for money they askIn should be better.3. I had read they use free floating screws on each side scales which could be problem if you ever decide to take apart and clean repair yourself.Again I’d prob would have not sent back except for price point I want it to be right.

I learned about this knife from watching Nick Shabazz on Youtube, he had some good things to say about it so I decided to pick one up, and I was very happy to see that Artisan sold them directly through Amazon. I already own a few knives from Artisan but all of them are the less expensive G10 versions, this is my first time jumping up to the fancy ones with Damascus steel. I expected the fit-and-finish to be better and I'm absolutely not disappointed, this knife feels and operates amazingly. This knife has also completely changed my mind about front-flippers, I think that they're usually a little awkward and ugly but this design is easy and intuitive. The Damascus blade looks great, it's a nice clean looking raindrop pattern that photographs surprisingly well, i think that it looks pretty slick with the Ti and carbon fiber too! Overall, good job Artisan! Keep up the good work, and naturally, good job Mr. Laconico, this is another winning design!