Magna Cut Above

[Larrin]

Dr. Larrin
Is there going to be any changes from the initial melt to the production melt? Did you make any alterations to the steel or are they doing anything different to the process?

It's the same.

[The Meat man]

I love Cedric and Ada, but the guy admits that his tests are far from scientific. One of the things he doesn't control for is the fact that he has improved his sharpening ability over time. I also think that CATRA and cutting rope against a board are pretty significantly different tests.

If you watch enough of his videos you'll notice that knives don't all fail the test the same way. Some of them just have their apex worn down. Some of them get spots that don't slice clean because of micro-chipping. Because of this I suspect that his test is more of a holistic edge retention test where both wear resistance and toughness play a role in how long the blade continues to slice paper after cutting rope against the board. I would be very interested to see a plot of C&A's results against Larrin's CATRA and toughness results multiplied to see if there is a correlation.

Larrin has written an article about the comparisons between Pete's (and others) rope cutting tests and the CATRA tests:

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/02/11/ ... rformance/

[sal]

I think the Mule Team will be the only limited run. We have quite a bit of steel coming in and plan to exploit Larrin's creation to the best of our ability.

sal

[Evil D]

It would be super cool if this steel went straight into a regular production model and wasn't rationed out in limited sprints and exclusives. It would be a shame to see the steel trickle out into flipper hands for 2 years before it was readily available to the masses.

[James Y]

Oh, there are a few models I would like to try in this steel. Such as the Chief. And hopefully, using Magnacut wouldn't cause a big price jump over the current standard steels.

Jim

[aicolainen]

This is good news.
I got in on the CS chief to check out the design thinking that it would make a great platform for magnacut, of course hoping that would become a reality sometime in a not too distant future.
Looks like that future might be a lot closer than I anticipated.

[Abyss_Fish]

I think the Mule Team will be the only limited run. We have quite a bit of steel coming in and plan to exploit Larrin's creation to the best of our ability.

sal

THAT’S what I like to hear. More standardized specialty steels! Now we just need a fixed blade in rex45 :D

[samdasnake]

I think the Mule Team will be the only limited run. We have quite a bit of steel coming in and plan to exploit Larrin's creation to the best of our ability.

sal

Excellent to hear! Thank you, Sal!!

[Fireman]

This steel is screaming for a big fixed camp knife.

[nerdlock]

I think the Mule Team will be the only limited run. We have quite a bit of steel coming in and plan to exploit Larrin's creation to the best of our ability.

sal

If there's any one company that I surely believe could, and would, maximize a steel to its very limit, it's Spyderco. Eagerly anticipating how the next 2-5 years would bring out new innovations from Golden...hoping that the new expansion will greatly help in fast-tracking from prototyping to actual production!

[derangedhermit]

Does MagnaCut have a combination of properties that might allow or encourage Spyderco to make thinner blades more common in the product portfolio? A few folding knives with edge length > 3" and blade thickness < 3mm would be great!

The Spyderco culinary lines of knives are all, I think, under 2mm, including much longer blades than any Spyderco folder.

I've wondered how much the Spydiehole weakens the blade under bending and twisting forces, and if that is a reason for what could appear to be somewhat thicker blades (vs other brands) in the folding knife lines.

[chronovore]

Does MagnaCut have a combination of properties that might allow or encourage Spyderco to make thinner blades more common in the product portfolio? A few folding knives with edge length > 3" and blade thickness < 3mm would be great!

The Spyderco culinary lines of knives are all, I think, under 2mm, including much longer blades than any Spyderco folder.

I've wondered how much the Spydiehole weakens the blade under bending and twisting forces, and if that is a reason for what could appear to be somewhat thicker blades (vs other brands) in the folding knife lines.

The thickness of blades on most folding knives is less a function of steel toughness and more a function of design choice.

For instance, imagine a situation in which the difference between 0.12" and 0.15" makes or breaks a blade. I don't mean that a person wants a wider wedge for feather-sticking or whatever. I mean a situation where the extra 0.03" is the difference between breaking/failing or not. Chances are, those are going to be situations where you shouldn't be using folding knives in the first place; or a situation in which outcomes like edge damage, lock failure, handle breakage, or local breakage in places further out along the taper anyway become much bigger risks.

[Naperville]

This steel is screaming for a big fixed camp knife.

I wonder how the Spyderco Respect would fare in this steel?

[Fireman]

This steel is screaming for a big fixed camp knife.

I wonder how the Spyderco Respect would fare in this steel?

More stainless
The rest, comparable

[JRinFL]

I think the Mule Team will be the only limited run. We have quite a bit of steel coming in and plan to exploit Larrin's creation to the best of our ability.

sal

Thank you, good news indeed.

I wonder what all new model you have up your sleeve for this new steel?

[Naperville]

This steel is screaming for a big fixed camp knife.

I wonder how the Spyderco Respect would fare in this steel?

More stainless
The rest, comparable

+ 100 TCC!

TCC, total cards cut!

[Bolster]

One of my favorite things happening with this steel is how people seem to finally be focusing on how well rounded a steel can be and not just on edge retention alone. It feels like the community has been focused solely on edge retention for a very long time now, it's refreshing to see maybe a shift in priorities, and having a brand new steel along with it is just amazing.

Yes! I for one was focused on edge retention until I read Larrin's book and "discovered" the importance of toughness to edge integrity. Now I'm much more interested in balanced steels. Thank you Dr. Thomas!

[nerdlock]

I saw in a Facebook group some folks wondering why Spyderco switched from S30v to 45vn. Probably because of the lesser wear resistance compared to S30vn. If it wasn't for the good folks in this forum and Larrin, I probably would have thought along the same lines too. Nowadays my mindset in this hobby is more about toughness and sharpenability relative to edge retention. What use is a longer cutting edge if you can't put a good edge on it after it wears out? So thank you to all the edge specialists here.

[sethwm]

I think the Mule Team will be the only limited run. We have quite a bit of steel coming in and plan to exploit Larrin's creation to the best of our ability.

sal

Awesome to hear. Any idea of general timeframe for the first production model?

[kobold]

Larrin has written an article about the comparisons between Pete's (and others) rope cutting tests and the CATRA tests:

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/02/11/ ... rformance/

Awesome, it's good to know watching rope cutting tests is not a waste of time.