Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

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Evil D
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#21

Post by Evil D »

troutinCO wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 7:07 am
Evil D that seems to mirror my edge performance and sharpening of my Magnacut mule. I had a few chips just like that and sharpening this stuff is really easy.


Yeah and I should note those pics being at such a high magnification, you couldn't even see them just by looking at the edge but you could see that the edge had dulled just by how it was reflecting light.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#22

Post by FullScaler »

My wife asked me this morning if I would take some time to clean out the garage and do a dump run today. I think I surprised her with my enthusiasm and the quick "sure babe" as I grabbed my Magnacut mule and skipped off to the garage.

I didn't do anything too serious but I broke down quite a few boxes, cut a bunch of tape. Sliced some 16ga braided copper wires into shorter pieces. And, did battle with the packaging for one of my daughters new Christmas dolls (toughest job of the day) .

The factory edge came sharp enough to decently shave arm hair and after a day of casual duty it still does that task well. The edge grind came a little off center and I was looking forward to my first sharpen and to balance out the edge a bit, but, it held up so well to its first real day of work that I will hold off and work it a bit more before I take it to the stones.

I was impressed at how well the edge held up to the copper wire and I am looking forward to testing this steel out on a wider range of materials. I think it may need to ride on my hip for the next few weeks of work to see what kind of tasks I can find for it.

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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#23

Post by JRinFL »

undajonc wrote:
Thu Dec 16, 2021 8:20 pm
<snip>
It is the beyond extreme torture testing coupled with outrageous expectations of a knife and negative reviews that leave me dumbfounded regarding how knife enthusiasts lack realistic thought process. Yes we are in a time where we have access to the most advanced steels ever offered, but for me it doesn't take away from the idea of caring for the tool your life may depend on.
<snip>
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This bears repeating. Not much an issue here, but across the wider spectrum of enthusiasts it is an issue.

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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#24

Post by dlum1 »

After a few weeks of use in the kitchen, I can say it sharpens like cruwear/z-wear/pd1 and hold's an edge similar to s45vn (at least where chopping vegetables against a cutting board is concerned). However, it did better than s45vn at processing 2 chickens where cutting through joints made accidental contact with bones with less rolling. The rolls were so fine that the knife is still sharp -- just not hair shaving sharp at those rolled points. The s45vn becomes noticeably dull from rolling after making too much contact with bones.

Magnacut's factory edge was not shaving sharp, so before I began to process the chickens I made a few freehand passes against a medium Spyderco rod using the factory-established angles followed by a 0.5 micron diamond on leather strop to remove the bur. The resulting edge was screaming sharp with very little effort -- sharper than s45vn for the same effort. I haven't noticed any corrosion on either the s45vn mule or the magnacut mule and both were left in the sink covered with acidic juices. Additionally, I swapped out the s45v for magnacut in the kitchen without telling my wife and she never noticed the difference over two weeks.

I've used lc200n for the same tasks and was disappointed at the level of rolling in plain edge. I find magnacut has better edge stability and is just as easy to sharpen as lc200n. Honestly, I wish I could swap out my lc200n waterway and spydiechef for magnacut versions (at least where plain edge is concerned). My serrated lc200n caribbean appears to work better than my waterway at keeping a sharp edge. Serrated H1 also works well, except for the PE tip of my pacific salt... It seems it's perpetually dull and requires constant upkeep compared to the serrations. I should probably try a coarser edge finish. So in the realm of stainless knives, I've been quite happy with s45vn, s110v, magnacut, and 20cv for plain edges with a preference towards lc200n for serrated edges. Although, I suspect a serrated magnacut might do better than lc200n...

I'm looking forward to hearing about everyone's experiences with magnacut. Additionally, I'd be interested in hearing other people's opinions regarding cruwear's place in the world. I find magnacut is basically a stainless cruwear -- but without any compromises (at least in the production world). Thoughts?
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#25

Post by twyych »

No pictures, but I cut down a banana tree with it and chopped up the trunk and leaves to feed back to the rest. It performed beautifully and is still plenty sharp. I cut up some citrus and left it unrinsed for the rest of the day with no staining. I still need to get it in the ocean here in Hawaii, but have been too lazy to want to remove the scales and clean off the hardware afterward.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#26

Post by Netherend »

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I have used my Maggie Mule in the kitchen for a few weeks. I have still not had a need to sharpen it from the factory edge. I recently just put scales on it . I am impressed by the performance so far. I have used it on lemons, peppers and other acidic food without washing it overnight and have not noticed any sign of corrosion. I like this steel.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#27

Post by Evil D »

I noticed the other day that my edge was slightly off center so tonight I decided to try to center it up a bit and I have to say the more I grind on this steel (with stones I mean) the more impressed I am with it. I have my bevel at just under 15 degrees per side...I actually set it to 15 with an angle cube but since the flat grind of the blade lays at an angle (on my Edge Pro), it throws the center line of the edge off center from 90 degrees and lowers the actual angle a few degrees. I can't say exactly how much but probably no more than 2-3 degrees, it's just enough that I can micro bevel it on the 15 degree slots on my Sharpmaker and I like that. I just deburred and set the edge with just the brown rods and a few passes on a piece of leather loaded with red polishing compound and the edge is pretty ridiculous. This steel is easily one of my favorite sharpening steels I've used.
Last edited by Evil D on Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#28

Post by Wandering_About »

I have to agree that MagnaCut sharpens well. It is my favorite steel to sharpen. It just behaves in such an amazing way on the stones and just comes up SHARP.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#29

Post by FullScaler »

I finally had a chance to get out and give my Magnacut Mule a decent bushcraft test. Overall it performed ok but I was a little disappointed with the factory edge.

I used it for my usual wood slicing, some slicing on dried fatwood and striking my ferro rod to get my fire going. And of course, slicing up my peppered sausage for lunch. The wood was a bit wet and frozen but it was cedar which is a pretty soft wood. The fatwood was old pine knot which is pretty hard bit it doesn't usually deform the edge as bad as this one did.

The interesting part is that the spine shows very little sign from the ferro rod and zero discernable spine damage from repeated striking. Like I said, the wood was a bit wet and I had to strike about 20 times before I was able to get a spark to catch.

Also interesting is that it seemed much harder to get a good spark with this steel. I have used tons of different blade steels to strike a spark and this one was by far the most difficult to get a good a good strike. Not sure what causes this but it is an interesting trait. Maybe the spine edge is rounded slightly by tumbling or other post processing but it seems pretty crisp.

Either way, the close up pics show heavy edge rolling which almost looks and feels like a really heavy burr. I will take it to the stones tonight and get her shaving sharp again and hopefully the edge stiffens up with a few sharpenings.

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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#30

Post by Evil D »

FullScaler wrote:
Tue Jan 04, 2022 6:58 pm

Also interesting is that it seemed much harder to get a good spark with this steel. I have used tons of different blade steels to strike a spark and this one was by far the most difficult to get a good a good strike. Not sure what causes this but it is an interesting trait. Maybe the spine edge is rounded slightly by tumbling or other post processing but it seems pretty crisp.




Funny, I was just watching some old Survivorman episodes and he mentioned using his knife edge on the rod, and how it's taboo to most people but he said he keeps it towards the heel of the edge and prefers using the edge because it throws sparks so much better.


On the edge damage, I didn't really use mine with the factory bevel but I'll go out back and see if I can find anything comparable.


I did some food prep last night, not the hardest use but I wanted to see how it held up against a bamboo cutting board which have been known to kill an edge due to the silica in bamboo. After slicing up two bell peppers, an onion and about 20 mushrooms I couldn't tell a difference in sharpness.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#31

Post by resonanzmacher »

So my testing has been low key and entirely based on realistic use and all I can say is I've seen no surprises so far. Not enough use to stress an 'average' super steel of course, and indeed I see no changes to the edge here, but that's how 'realistic use' goes, right? This is why people gotta cut up rope if they want differentiated data. And reading through what's been posted, indeed many of you have already reported on much more vigorous use and done a fine job of it.

As far as corrosion resistance, which is probably the most extreme aspect of Magnacut, I've stressed it considerably more, but still haven't seen any discoloration to the steel. It's been my prep knife for the finger food I eat while I'm working on a project. I've got mustard and vinegar and hot sauce all over it, cut up fermented pickles and cured meats and acidic fruit and vegetables, and deliberately done nothing more than give it the occasional wipe with a cloth. I find that this sort of activity over time is definitely enough to start to discolor a lot of bona fide stainless steel, but the Magnacut is still pristine. It is at least on a par with LC200N in that regard.

So while I haven't exactly been performing the labors of Hercules over here, the steel definitely is living up to how Larrin billed it so far.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#32

Post by FullScaler »

Got my MagnaCut out for some more testing today. Will post details later

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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#33

Post by Fireman »

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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#34

Post by Kevinim82 »

Used the factory edge for the last month for home use, and now used the sharpmaker and diamond rods @ 15 degrees per side, 80 passes on each side and… very very sharp. I am tapping Apple skin and the knife bites right in, the seeds have no chance with light push cuts. (I think this says more of the geometry of the mule.)

With the last months work on double walled cardboard, shaving sharp went away after about 50-100ft of cutting for me. No edge rolling, no chips for me.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#35

Post by attila »

I lightly micro-beveled the factory-edged Magnacut Mule and prepped 10 bone-in chicken thighs for some of this week’s dinners, using this mule for the whole job. I made no effort to avoid contact with bone when removing the meat and even cut the ends of the bones off in preparation for making stock.
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I used from the tip to about 2/3 back, and the edge is still razor sharp. The bone had no ill effect on the edge, even when I had to strike the spine to get the edge through the bone.

The 1/3 of the edge nearest the ricasso had more use on it from earlier in the day, and it only has a few reflective spots after whittling and torquing it out of some seasoned oak a bunch of times.

Most of the edge still scrape-shaved at least.

I think I might also chop the bones through their middles to further expose the marrow before making the stock in the future to see how Magnacut fares.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#36

Post by Ramonade »

Didn't think about pictures at the moment, sorry.
I did some wood working with the MT35P during the last week. It went through soft wood like nobody's business. Then it was time to carve some purpleheart (Amarante in french, I think I found the right english name !).
I'm still on a touched up factory edge and I have to say that the steel seems strong. I did put a lot of vertical force, lateral force and sometimes wiggled the edge in the wood just to see if it'd chip or roll.
It did nothing of the above.

The angles are way different on each side, something like 17 and 22. I'll soon be giving it an edge with DMT and venev stones.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#37

Post by bleasure »

Been about a month of handle-less kitchen duty as my exclusive kitchen knife. I've been cutting basically the entire gamut of breads and vegetables with it for the most part using the factory edge; it has served me well, but hasn't blown me away. That's by no fault of the steel or the knife and I doubt most of my others would do better; it's not designed/ground/sharpened as a kitchen knife per se and shouldn't be expected to perform like one.

The edge has not held up in any remarkable way in that time. It started out shaving sharp but now has trouble cutting paper, has several nicks and chips after encounters with ceramic plates and being clattered around in the sink dozens of times. After giving it a strop on 6 micron diamond compound on very dense cardboard - which, for comparison, recently got a (less) dull s30v knife hair whittling sharp pretty quickly - it's clear it'll need dedicated sharpening to get the edge restored correctly. No real dings against it here, again the only reason most decent kitchen knives keep slicing better longer without sharpening is ofc edge angle and stock thickness.

On the other hand, this knife has basically been in nonstop contact with salt, vinegar, fat, hot sauces, and water for a month, including sitting wet in the sink for day(s), and has yet to show any blemish or permanent discoloration of any kind. I'm now convinced this steel is much less a cru-wear or sXXv killer than a direct threat to LC200N's and Vanax's already small market shares. It apparently has dishwasher safe, silverware-level stainlessness. Well, I havent tested that yet. But maybe I should....
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#38

Post by Xayaza »

bleasure wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 9:52 pm
...It apparently has dishwasher safe, silverware-level stainlessness. Well, I havent tested that yet. But maybe I should....
That's actually a good idea, maybe i'll put mine in the dishwasher tomorrow. I'll do it with the g10 scales installed because I can't be bothered to remove them just to wash it lol. I've actually not removed the scales since I installed them.
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#39

Post by Ramonade »

bleasure wrote:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 9:52 pm
Been about a month of handle-less kitchen duty as my exclusive kitchen knife. I've been cutting basically the entire gamut of breads and vegetables with it for the most part using the factory edge; it has served me well, but hasn't blown me away. That's by no fault of the steel or the knife and I doubt most of my others would do better; it's not designed/ground/sharpened as a kitchen knife per se and shouldn't be expected to perform like one.

The edge has not held up in any remarkable way in that time. It started out shaving sharp but now has trouble cutting paper, has several nicks and chips after encounters with ceramic plates and being clattered around in the sink dozens of times. After giving it a strop on 6 micron diamond compound on very dense cardboard - which, for comparison, recently got a (less) dull s30v knife hair whittling sharp pretty quickly - it's clear it'll need dedicated sharpening to get the edge restored correctly. No real dings against it here, again the only reason most decent kitchen knives keep slicing better longer without sharpening is ofc edge angle and stock thickness.

On the other hand, this knife has basically been in nonstop contact with salt, vinegar, fat, hot sauces, and water for a month, including sitting wet in the sink for day(s), and has yet to show any blemish or permanent discoloration of any kind. I'm now convinced this steel is much less a cru-wear or sXXv killer than a direct threat to LC200N's and Vanax's already small market shares. It apparently has dishwasher safe, silverware-level stainlessness. Well, I havent tested that yet. But maybe I should....
Little question : was this month of kitchen duty on the factory edge or a first/second/third edge ?
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bleasure
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Re: Your Magna Cut Mule performance.

#40

Post by bleasure »

Ramonade wrote:
Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:08 am
Little question : was this month of kitchen duty on the factory edge or a first/second/third edge ?
It's a little buried, but I mentioned it's been with the factory edge. Was good and sharp out of the box, but I've been hard on it. Or, I should say I've treated it like I do any of my kitchen knives. I want to put a handle on it, so may wait to sharpen it, but I'll be curious to see any difference once I do.
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