MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

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ZrowsN1s
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MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#1

Post by ZrowsN1s »

I thought I'd start a new thread for people's first impressions, performance, and testing reviews of MT33 CPM REX 76.

I just got it minutes ago, so I've only had time to get the scales on it.

I did some BESS testing on the factory edge. Very sharp, 110-118 BESS, tested 5 times with and without fulcrum. It will pass the 'Paper Towel Test', cleanly cutting a single piece of paper towel without tearing it, like you would cut a piece of notebook paper.

Measured the edge angle with the goniometer. 2 DPS blade bevel, but the edge bevel was harder to nail down. Flat edges appear as dots with the laser goniometer and convex edges make a curved refracted image that's hard to get a good read on. I would say the edge definitely has some convexity to it, in the neighborhood of 14-18 degrees per side.

I was going to reprofile it right away, but the edge is so nice and sharp, I think I'll use it for a while.

I'll take some pictures and more measurements later.
-Matt a.k.a. Lo_Que, loadedquestions135 I ❤ The P'KAL :bug-red

"The world of edges has a small doorway in, but opens into a cavern that is both wide and deep." -sal
"Ghost hunters scope the edge." -sal
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#2

Post by yablanowitz »

I seldom do much with a factory edge, but I had a whittling project right there handy when I finished the cordwrap and pulled the tape. Pretty impressive so far. Working on a piece of pecan wood grown in west Texas that is harder than most oak, it cuts very well, very aggresively. The edge is standing up well, no damage I can see and it has already lasted longer than S30V before needing a touch up.
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#3

Post by legOFwhat? »

Seemed fitting to drop these scales from a pma11 mule, until I find a more permanent handle solution.

Image

Later today, maybe, I can get some cutting and get a better feel for the knife.
-Larry
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
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SteveMidwest
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#4

Post by SteveMidwest »

legOFwhat? wrote:
Sat Sep 24, 2022 12:07 pm
Seemed fitting to drop these scales from a pma11 mule, until I find a more permanent handle solution.

Image

Later today, maybe, I can get some cutting and get a better feel for the knife.

It's good to have a chance to get a little mineral oil under those PMA 11 scales anyway! :smlling-eyes
And just by pure coincidence. I will be borrowing my PMA 11 scales too, to put on the Rex 76. Just for this week.

Who is going to be first to poke this knife, and get a HRC number? I just emailed my local (next door) machine shop, where I take my knives in to be tested. Tom likes it when I give him a heads-up. So I have not heard back yet, as to when he wants me to come in. I suspect it will probably be sometime this coming Friday afternoon (Sept 30th, 2022). If he says that, then I'll know he is expecting me to bring the beer!

I'll go on the record here ahead of time now, and guess we'll find most of them in the 67.5-68.5 range. What are you expecting?
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#5

Post by Hatuletoh »

Got mine yesterday--my first mule--and have been slicing cardboard boxes into unnecessarily small pieces ever since. Although I usually prefer to sharpen factory edges before first use, I decided to just strop this one. So far, it handles a lot like my Rex 45 Military, i.e., it's kept its edge through a couple dozen boxes, and doesn't seem like it's going to dull any time soon unless I put it to some heavier work. Which I will.
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#6

Post by legOFwhat? »

SteveMidwest wrote:
Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:42 pm
legOFwhat? wrote:
Sat Sep 24, 2022 12:07 pm
Seemed fitting to drop these scales from a pma11 mule, until I find a more permanent handle

Later today, maybe, I can get some cutting and get a better feel for the knife.
It's good to have a chance to get a little mineral oil under those PMA 11 scales anyway! :smlling-eyes
And just by pure coincidence. I will be borrowing my PMA 11 scales too, to put on the Rex 76. Just for this week.

Who is going to be first to poke this knife, and get a HRC number? I just emailed my local (next door) machine shop, where I take my knives in to be tested. Tom likes it when I give him a heads-up. So I have not heard back yet, as to when he wants me to come in. I suspect it will probably be sometime this coming Friday afternoon (Sept 30th, 2022). If he says that, then I'll know he is expecting me to bring the beer!

I'll go on the record here ahead of time now, and guess we'll find most of them in the 67.5-68.5 range. What are you expecting?
Just an anecdote but this pma11 mule was rubbed with flitz and immediately scaled up. Around 2 years with those scales and you can tell where sweat ran through from the top. Not bad imo.

Crucible® Industries’ CPM REX® 76®, a super-high-speed steel particle metallurgy steel heat treatable to HRC 68-70
Since its called out I'm hoping for 69+ :squinting-tongue
-Larry
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#7

Post by ZrowsN1s »

Image
Cut a box up into tiny pieces. Aggressive cutter. I'm curious what grit the factory edge is.

I BESS tested the spots I had been cutting with (easy for me to tell thanks to tape residue trails. After cutting one box into tiny pieces initial sharpness dropped from 110-118 to 160-180. I also tested near the tip where I hadn't been cutting and it still tests at 112 BESS.

Not sure what effect me playing around with the Boltaron sheath (taking it off and on) has had on the edge.
-Matt a.k.a. Lo_Que, loadedquestions135 I ❤ The P'KAL :bug-red

"The world of edges has a small doorway in, but opens into a cavern that is both wide and deep." -sal
"Ghost hunters scope the edge." -sal
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#8

Post by harpo1 »

ZrowsN1s wrote:
Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:16 am
I thought I'd start a new thread for people's first impressions, performance, and testing reviews of MT33 CPM REX 76.

I just got it minutes ago, so I've only had time to get the scales on it.

I did some BESS testing on the factory edge. Very sharp, 110-118 BESS, tested 5 times with and without fulcrum. It will pass the 'Paper Towel Test', cleanly cutting a single piece of paper towel without tearing it, like you would cut a piece of notebook paper.

Measured the edge angle with the goniometer. 2 DPS blade bevel, but the edge bevel was harder to nail down. Flat edges appear as dots with the laser goniometer and convex edges make a curved refracted image that's hard to get a good read on. I would say the edge definitely has some convexity to it, in the neighborhood of 14-18 degrees per side.

I was going to reprofile it right away, but the edge is so nice and sharp, I think I'll use it for a while.

I'll take some pictures and more measurements later.
My bevel measured 2 DPS blade bevel and the edge was somewhere between 12 and 15. Super sharp. Probably the best bevel of all my spydercos out of the factory.
--Pete
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#9

Post by sal »

Hi Hatuletoh,

Welcome to our forum.

sal
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#10

Post by spook2517 »

Not sure how I stumbled upon the mule project but seems awesome. Grabbed my first two last week and they arrived Friday (SF Bay Area). Both arrived very sharp and I'm excited about this one; just need to provide care since it isn't stainless. Cuts and slices great - still holding a nice sharp edge. Not the type to use a knife as a prybar, so I'm hoping this blade holds up nicely.

Even better, the two bought are my brother's 50th & my 40th birthday gifts. Happy so far!
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#11

Post by Michael Janich »

Dear Spook2517:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#12

Post by Fireman »

My two came in today. First impression, good factory edge sharpness and the laser markings have a rough feel and bronze color to them. Not sure if this is due to the kind of laser used of the metal composition. I’ll put scales on one and put it through my test of notches on a “Try stick” for bushcraft uses, then I will abuse it a bit to see how the edge holds up. Will be looking out for HRC numbers. Anyone at the factory have the HRC?
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Last edited by Fireman on Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#13

Post by legOFwhat? »

Not good luck with brass rods, probably too fine an edge for such shenanigans...

Image

Image

Image

No problems with cedar tho. Off rework the edge.
-Larry
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#14

Post by Fireman »

I need to glue an oil soaked rough sided leather piece to the sheath of this one to clean/oil the blade after each use before sheathing. Perhaps a custom leather sheath where this system is incorporated into it via a “grease loop” on the outside. I think ceracoat might get on my second one.
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#15

Post by Fireman »

legOFwhat? wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:36 pm
Not good luck with brass rods, probably too fine an edge for such shenanigans...

Image

Image

Image

No problems with cedar tho. Off rework the edge.
I wonder if the chipping issue will be the same after a few sharpenings when the “Burnt steel” is removed
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#16

Post by legOFwhat? »

Fireman wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 4:49 pm
I wonder if the chipping issue will be the same after a few sharpenings when the “Burnt steel” is removed
That's my initial thoughts as well. Once the chips are out I'll give it another try in a day or two. It was crazy sharp out of the box! Gotta love Taichung!
-Larry
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#17

Post by Fireman »

The edge feels gripier than the Z-Max did out of the factory, probably the second sharpest knife I got from Spyderco. The sharpest knife award goes to the SRS13 mule. It was hair popping and wanted to bite anything it touched. It cut quietly through copy paper and could cut circles being held with one hand. Cardboard was offering little resistance, so much, it was a joke. After that, when did a try stick on the driest and hardest piece of hardwood, it cut with a shiny smooth finish in that hard wood. It loved to cut wood like an angry beaver that would grip like a pit bull. With care, it could cut fine shavings for a feather stick. I basically put it through moderate bushcrafting tasks and it was quick and easy with this sharp a knife that did quite well at push cuts cross grain. Making fine traps would be easy with how it performed on the first day. Not too much lateral abuse, but I did do some to see it the edge would hold up and it did. Day 2, will be the real test on dirty wood I find on the ground and see how the edge holds up after a couple hours of straight whittling and more lateral abuse. Chest pull cuts were only a challenge because it if the angle was too steep, it just asked for more. On soft wood, this would not be an issue. It is just sharp and will cut as much as you have grip or strength. I won’t baton with this knife because of the relatively low toughness, but it did quite well on its first day of moderate abuse on hard tight grained wood.
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#18

Post by Fireman »

I jumped the gun a bit because I can’t wait, but I stropped the knife this morning and it shaved arm and leg hair just with the force of gravity and holding the butt of the knife. It has just 3D printed scales on it. Impressive.
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#19

Post by Steeltoez83 »

Screenshot_20220928-104655_Gallery.jpg
So far I've been impressed with my mule. I'm running the mule in my version of edge retention testing platform. I only tested the factory edge and it did very well. I'm hoping over the next 8 or 10 testing edges I see the results double. The factory edge mirrored the results I have for Magnacut so I'm optimistic right now. I used a 1k vitrified cbn stone and the edge is very grippy. Overall I'm enjoying rex76.
"Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone."
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Re: MT33 CPM REX 76 -First Impressions, Performance, and Testing Thread

#20

Post by Ramonade »

I'm happy you guys don't have to wait long to receive Mules ! Every time there's a drop I have the chance to read your early reports coming in days after days.
This makes me less impatient during the travel time of my order :open-grin
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