Native 5 Maxamet

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gull wing
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Native 5 Maxamet

#1

Post by gull wing »

I like the lightweight aspect of this knife. I have a old Native and would like a little less weight to carry.

Then the Maxamet steel sounds good but how difficult is it to keep sharp. I don't enjoy sharpening s110v at all, how does it compare?
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Evil D
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#2

Post by Evil D »

They seem similar to me, Maxamet even being a little easier to sharpen or "taking a better edge". I'm working on dulling it down now.
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Marulaghost
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#3

Post by Marulaghost »

I've heard these two things about it:

1) the edge lasts for like, ever. So you would almost never need to sharpen it provided you're not doing anything that could chip the edge(?)

2) it is also probably the most painful to deal with in terms of sharpening. I've heard the horror stories of it winning fights against sharpening stones.

I believe the trick with maxamet and s110v is to regularly strop the blade to maintain the edge so that you can get away with avoiding the sharpening.

But then again i have no experience with either steel so keep that in mind
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#4

Post by Marulaghost »

The only other thing i can say that may or may not help is that spyderco does indeed have a sharpening service
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#5

Post by Sharp Guy »

Evil D wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:24 am
They seem similar to me, Maxamet even being a little easier to sharpen or "taking a better edge". I'm working on dulling it down now.
This has been my experience. Maxamet seems easier for me to reprofile and touch up.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#6

Post by The Meat man »

Marulaghost wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:26 am
I've heard these two things about it:

1) the edge lasts for like, ever. So you would almost never need to sharpen it provided you're not doing anything that could chip the edge(?)

2) it is also probably the most painful to deal with in terms of sharpening. I've heard the horror stories of it winning fights against sharpening stones.

I believe the trick with maxamet and s110v is to regularly strop the blade to maintain the edge so that you can get away with avoiding the sharpening.

But then again i have no experience with either steel so keep that in mind


I've heard the same stories, and I almost have to wonder if the issue there was less-than-optimal HT. Because I've used and sharpened my Native Maxamet quite a bit, on everything from the Sharpmaker, to freehand on SiC waterstones, to Venev bonded diamonds on my Hapstone V7. Not just touching up either, but some pretty substantial edge repair too.

I'm certainly not a professional sharpener by any stretch of the imagination but I never ever experienced the kind of chipping others have, nor has it ever taken hours of tedious labor to achieve serviceable edge. Even with my lackluster freehand skills, on SiC, I was able to bring Maxamet up to shaving sharp within 15 to 20 minutes. With my Hapstone V7 and diamonds, it's even faster and I can get hair whittling sharpness with 400 grit stones.

I've had the same experience with CPM S110V.

Not saying these steels are no more difficult than 8Cr13MoV or 440A, just that I think the public perception of how difficult they are sometimes gets distorted a bit. All I know is, they're not out of reach even for a novice like me. :)
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Sharp Guy
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#7

Post by Sharp Guy »

Marulaghost wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:26 am
I've heard these two things about it:

1) the edge lasts for like, ever. So you would almost never need to sharpen it provided you're not doing anything that could chip the edge(?)
Don't believe everything you hear/read. I managed to dull the factory edge on mine but I will say it did cut a lot of cardboard before it felt like it was giving up. I reprofiled it and then went at it again a couple weeks ago. Again, the edge lasted quite a long time before it needed a touch up. A little work on the Sharpmaker and it's good to go again.
Marulaghost wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:26 am
2) it is also probably the most painful to deal with in terms of sharpening. I've heard the horror stories of it winning fights against sharpening stones.
Not sure what kind of stones were being used but Moldmaster (SiC) stones seemed to work pretty well for me when I reprofiled mine. I don't think I even tried the bonded diamonds. Touch up on the Sharpmaker brown stones seemed to work fine too.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#8

Post by Evil D »

Sharp Guy wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 12:58 pm
Evil D wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:24 am
They seem similar to me, Maxamet even being a little easier to sharpen or "taking a better edge". I'm working on dulling it down now.
This has been my experience. Maxamet seems easier for me to reprofile and touch up.

I managed to reprofile it on the Sharpmaker with sandpaper. It honestly wasn't that bad. I even blunted the edge twice on the brown rods to get old steel removed. I would imagine it would be easier than S110V on an Edge Pro with good stones.
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gull wing
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#9

Post by gull wing »

:) Oh Boy!
Good enough for me. I'm not hard on a blade, just want to be able to touch it up with a strop(I strop often) and/or Sharpmaker.
Music to my ears, thanks guys.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#10

Post by Evil D »

gull wing wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 4:53 pm
:) Oh Boy!
Good enough for me. I'm not hard on a blade, just want to be able to touch it up with a strop(I strop often) and/or Sharpmaker.
Music to my ears, thanks guys.
If you have diamond or CBN rods you'll be fine.
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Danvp
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#11

Post by Danvp »

I am a novice sharpener. Learning and liking it. Started on a Wicked Edge, nowadays i mostly use the sharpmaker (with diamond rods). No steel i own is a problem for me until i tried to sharpen maxamet. It got sharp eventually. Had to put in a lot of time. My experience is that maxamet is difficult to sharpen. For example s110v, rex45 and zdp189 i find quite easy to sharpen, also reprofiling it.
Just my experience with my native maxamet. I also own the para 3 maxamet. Did not try to sharpen it. It is collecting dust at the moment. My pm2 rex45 is the one i reach for the most at the moment.
If you don’t like to sharpen s110v than s30v maybe is a better choice for you. Or the native s35vn. Dont know if they are still in stock somewhere.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#12

Post by gull wing »

I have the diamond stones.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#13

Post by tjsblade »

I've sharpened my Manix lw in Maxamet once. I haven't done my Para3 in Maxamet yet. For me it was a lot of work setting my bevel to 15 dps. It was more like 16 or 17 from the factory but I didn't actually measure it. I use a Wicked Edge system. My knives range currently from S30v, VG10, Superblue, R2, M4, Cruwear, S110v, and Maxamet. Without a doubt Maxamet took the most time and effort. The majority of this was setting the new bevel where I was removing the most material. It will polish right up with stropping if you like the mirror finish look but I took it back down to a bit of a toothier edge that I find cuts a lot better in real usage. It can really take a fine edge and seems to stay sharp for a very long time comparatively speaking based on my experience with it.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#14

Post by TomAiello »

Marulaghost wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:26 am
I've heard these two things about it:

1) the edge lasts for like, ever. So you would almost never need to sharpen it provided you're not doing anything that could chip the edge(?)
True. Edge holding borders on absurd. Honestly, if you don't sharpen things yourself, you could probably get away with sending it back to Spyderco to sharpen every few months--it's unlikely to need sharpening more often in a normal person's use.
2) it is also probably the most painful to deal with in terms of sharpening. I've heard the horror stories of it winning fights against sharpening stones.
I rate my sharpening skills as slightly below average, and I don't have any problems sharpening my Maxamet knives. I'm honestly not sure what the fuss is about.
I believe the trick with maxamet and s110v is to regularly strop the blade to maintain the edge so that you can get away with avoiding the sharpening.
I actually find that Maxamet responds well to lower grits, and although I usually strop my knives, I have run Maxamet pretty rough and been pleased with the results. As a (big) generalization, I find that the high carbide steels do well enough with lower grit edges, and the fine grain steels really like high polish.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#15

Post by bearfacedkiller »

While it does seem to have the best edge retention that I have experienced it isn't magic and it will dull. I have sharpened mine many times.

I do not find it any harder to sharpen than K390, S90V or S110V. If anything the very high hardness makes it more pleasant to sharpen in my opinion.

I have never had any chipping and I have carved a lot of hard dry wood with mine. It probably isn't overly tough but it isn't glass either. In my uses it has proven durable enough.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#16

Post by Mattysc42 »

Maxamet is easy to sharpen when you know what you are doing and have diamonds or cbn. I ran into the issue with strips tearing out of the edge on my maxamet native last week, and after some experimentation, managed to find my problem.

While, in my experience, maxamet doesn’t form a positive burr at all, negative burrs caused by sharpening into the edge lightly with super abrasives can be a problem. I had to increase my pressure noticeably while sharpening into the edge with balsa backed diamond lapping films to prevent negative burr formation. This makes hair whittling edges difficult to achieve, but shaving sharp edges easy off 30 micron films.

Note that the 3m and wicked edge films will be cut if sharpened into, while the jende films can handle some pressure while sharpened into without a problem. At present, I haven’t encountered any lapping films more durable than the jende films

Information on burr formation: http://knifegrinders.com.au/Manuals/Kni ... g_book.pdf
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Top 5 folders I’ve owned: Serrated Caribbean Leaf, Shaman, Manix XL, ZDP-189/CF Caly 3.5, Native LW.
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#17

Post by Pelagic »

I have only sharpened a Maxamet mule once, it wasn't mine and I have never owned a Maxamet knife. But I'm extremely familiar with s110v and Maxamet seemed to take an edge easier. I am an experienced sharpener (I've always been more into sharpening than knives themselves — or maybe I just haven't found the perfect knife?), and s110v is the only steel where I sometimes feel the edge and say "darn, not yet?" as you expected it to be sharper. It is extremely unforgiving to mistakes in sharpening. I feel that if you can sharpen s110v, you're virtually good to go on anything (given this was production s110v). I disagree with stropping back the edge to postpone sharpenings. I believe these steels are made for coarse edges with some micro-serrations on the apex. When I get a high carbide steel I buy it for slicing ability, and these steels hold coarse edges (for slicing) very well. Plus, if I'm sharpening s110v on a 300-600 grit stone and feel I made a mistake, it is easily fixed. I try to keep sharpening quick and effective. I wish I had more input on Maxamet but it did seem easier than S110V (again, both production, spyderco knives - hard to say what customs would be like).
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Re: Native 5 Maxamet

#18

Post by BigKenbo »

I find the maxamet to be very similar in effort. But slightly better in result. They both require patience, but the maxamet seems to come to just a bit finer edge than the s110v for me. I prefer them both a touch "toothy" but roughly equivalent techniques produce a slightly toothier edge on the s110v for me. Love them both. Seem to carry the blurple a touch more, but i live in Oklahoma, where the humidity level is slightly higher than 100 percent, so i may be unconsciously protecting the maxamet from patina.
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