Magnacut

[Senate]

Let’s address the elephant in the room.
We’re noticing that a large number of brand on the market are releasing Magnacut blades, it’s become a selling point.
Only a mule release for now,
Why is Spyderco late to the game?

I wanna buy some Spyderco magnacut!

[Harkwit]

Because a large number of those other brands do not have the extensive production schedule, products, and sale numbers Spyderco pushes out and commands. I imagine changes at Spyderco take time, and introducing a new steel into the circulation takes even longer. We can kinda see that with how slow S45VN is to roll out on the vanilla lineup.

I'm personally not really in the Magnacut hype camp, edge retention numbers seem lower than even S30V. It seems like a good steel, but not exactly revolutionary and god's gift to cutting. I'll take S90V or K390 over it anyday.

[phaust]

It's a page or two back now so probably easy to overlook, but this thread just happened

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92715

[ykspydiefan]

If it was a restaurant I would say, "There is too many items on the menu. And, dang that line is long."

I have had a little Magna-snack and for me it has been worth the wait.

For anyone else....

[fixall]

I'm personally not really in the Magnacut hype camp, edge retention numbers seem lower than even S30V.

Correct. S30V has better edge retention than MagnaCut. However, Magnacut is ~3x tougher than S30V with a much more stable edge... Which means you can take MagnaCut much thinner than S30V while keeping a fairly durable edge. Blade geometry wins over a steel's edge retention 100% of the time.

[sal]

Hi Senate,

I believe we released a production Native 5 with a MagnaCut blade, and we introduced it as a "Salt", which blew a lot of minds. Our R&D lab, after much salt water testing (We have our own salt tanks, carefully maintained), we determined that the corrosion resistance was it's very marketable attribute.

We have other models in-the-works, but keep in mind that many of the knife companies that are offering MagnaCut, do not have a stable of 30+ blade steels. To us, it's really not a race to fill the market. We ran to be able to get a significant number of pieces early to the market for a number of reasons; 1) Larrin is highly respected and he has created a new steel. . Maybe that's not on a par with God creating humans, but in our industry, that's a big deal, especially for Spyderco. 2) Larrin and the steel Junky's wanted to get piece of the stuff to chew on. 3) We wanted Real world Testing on the new material. and 4) We're Steel Junky's and we also wanted to taste the new flavor.

sal

[Josh Crutchley]

I'm personally not really in the Magnacut hype camp, edge retention numbers seem lower than even S30V.

I feel the same way.

Correct. S30V has better edge retention than MagnaCut. However, Magnacut is ~3x tougher than S30V with a much more stable edge... Which means you can take MagnaCut much thinner than S30V while keeping a fairly durable edge. Blade geometry wins over a steel's edge retention 100% of the time.

If where talking about Spyderco's with Magnacut then geometry doesn't matter much. A PM2 with S30V will have the same geometry as a one in Magnacut. The apex bevel can be changed by reprofiling but not everyone is willing to do that.

[araneae]

I've got a Deka in Magnacut, so far so good. I'd say whatever Spyderco puts out in it, people will buy. You can pre-order a native, but that's it right now. Spyderco might have been first, but lots of others have made Magnacut somewhat easily available.

[araneae]

I'm personally not really in the Magnacut hype camp, edge retention numbers seem lower than even S30V.

I feel the same way.

Correct. S30V has better edge retention than MagnaCut. However, Magnacut is ~3x tougher than S30V with a much more stable edge... Which means you can take MagnaCut much thinner than S30V while keeping a fairly durable edge. Blade geometry wins over a steel's edge retention 100% of the time.

If where talking about Spyderco's with Magnacut then geometry doesn't matter much. A PM2 with S30V will have the same geometry as a one in Magnacut. The apex bevel can be changed by reprofiling but not everyone is willing to do that.

Geometry always matters if you're looking for performance and I don't think he meant stock geometry. Magnacut should remain more stable under better performing geometry than s30v. If you're an enthusiast, changing geometry is pretty standard.

[z1r]

That N5 Salt will be mine as soon as it's available. But loving the way the Mule is performing.

[Josh Crutchley]

[/quote]

Geometry always matters if you're looking for performance and I don't think he meant stock geometry. Magnacut should remain more stable under better performing geometry than s30v. If you're an enthusiast, changing geometry is pretty standard.

I was just trying to say if your comparing two of the same knife being "able" to take it thinner is irrelevant. If your comparing just steel then it's important. I don't have the ability to regrind a blade to Spyderco standards so I'm stuck with stock geometry as are many others. The apex angle is only part of the overall blade geometry.

[Gtscotty]

Hi Senate,

I believe we released a production Native 5 with a MagnaCut blade, and we introduced it as a "Salt", which blew a lot of minds......

sal

By released do you mean announced, or have the MagnaCut N5s finally started shipping? I've been on the waiting list for one since they were announced 7 months ago, and would be excited to hear they're on the way.

If they haven't started shipping yet, that plays into the OPs question, Spyderco announced first, but others are getting their offerings to market much quicker, which is a bit odd since Spyderco is usually the preferred provider for steel snobs. It's obviously not a big deal, I've got the Deka to play with for now and might get one of the Marillas, but hopefully the N5 Salt will be more than just an announcement before too much longer.

[Fireman]

Patients you must

[brancron]

Correct. S30V has better edge retention than MagnaCut. However, Magnacut is ~3x tougher than S30V with a much more stable edge... Which means you can take MagnaCut much thinner than S30V while keeping a fairly durable edge. Blade geometry wins over a steel's edge retention 100% of the time.

Exactly! I really hope we start seeing this become the norm: thin edges and steels with high edge stability. Thin, hard and tough should be the new knife motto.

[RustyIron]

I'm glad that Spyderco isn't racing to get Magnacut into more knives. My current knives are great, and I'm not in a rush to replace them. But when Magacut comes around in a model that I like, I'll succumb to the temptation and give it a try.

[Manifestgtr]

I'm personally not really in the Magnacut hype camp, edge retention numbers seem lower than even S30V. It seems like a good steel, but not exactly revolutionary and god's gift to cutting. I'll take S90V or K390 over it anyday.

Have you used it yet, personally? I have a few knives in magnacut (including Spyderco’s Mules) and they’re really, really good…highly stainless steel that behaves a lot like a tool steel. I think it’s a killer step forward for ultra-stainless steels. If edge retention is your biggest measure of a good EDC steel, it’s probably not gonna be your thing…but for those who value sharpenability, edge aggression and ease of maintenance, magnacut is a great step forward in that it’s successfully merged LC200N style corrosion resistance with a tool steel’s user experience.

[Senate]

Hi Senate,

I believe we released a production Native 5 with a MagnaCut blade, and we introduced it as a "Salt", which blew a lot of minds. Our R&D lab, after much salt water testing (We have our own salt tanks, carefully maintained), we determined that the corrosion resistance was it's very marketable attribute.

We have other models in-the-works, but keep in mind that many of the knife companies that are offering MagnaCut, do not have a stable of 30+ blade steels. To us, it's really not a race to fill the market. We ran to be able to get a significant number of pieces early to the market for a number of reasons; 1) Larrin is highly respected and he has created a new steel. . Maybe that's not on a par with God creating humans, but in our industry, that's a big deal, especially for Spyderco. 2) Larrin and the steel Junky's wanted to get piece of the stuff to chew on. 3) We wanted Real world Testing on the new material. and 4) We're Steel Junky's and we also wanted to taste the new flavor.

sal

Thanks for your input Sal.
I appreciate the in house testing before releasing into the wild.
I don’t think the Mag N5 has been released though.

[Senate]

It's a page or two back now so probably easy to overlook, but this thread just happened

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92715

I’ve searched the topic but didn’t find this one, thanks

[sal]

Hi Senate,

Yes, you are correct, it is still in-the-works. Had to sort some lock issues on material. It should be out in the next month or so.

sal

[JRinFL]

Thanks Sal. I'd rather have it right than fast.