SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

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Evil D
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#61

Post by Evil D »

Sharpening it back up, I love that I was able to repair the damage on the 30 degree slots. I started out with diamond rods and started working out the damage.

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Something interesting here is that sharpening this knife even on diamond rods didn't round off the teeth at all. There's so much going on with the geometry of serrations, apparently the starting angle of the serrations plays a big part on how the rounding effect happens.

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It really didn't take much effort to fix the damage with the diamond rods, and then I followed it up with probably 30 or so passes on the brown rods and it's back in fighting shape.

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That kink in the one serration from the CAT5 cable is probably going to be there forever but it did sharpen back up. All together with the way this steel sharpens and dulls, it's safe to say I'm fairly smitten with it.

It's hard to compare this to other knives because of the difference between the serration shape and angle. For example compared to my Caribbean, that knife came from the factory with a higher degree bevel (between 15 and 20 degrees), the teeth were far less pointed and by the time I had started that torture test I had already sharpened and rounded the teeth quite a bit. In this test I think it's worth noting that none of the teeth chipped off and the most significant damage happened in an area that I think the edge was already weak. When I cut the CAT5 cable with H1/Autonomy, it chipped off several teeth at the points, and that knife had also been sharpened on the 40 degree slots, so it had an even wider edge apex. The fact that this knife was sharpened on the 30 slots and started out with a much thinner edge is a big deal.

I still have a few other materials I can cut that I did with the Caribbean, I can do a Coke can, a car tire, some drywall and I can go cut some branches in my back yard but it's 26 degrees today so that may have to wait lol.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#62

Post by ekastanis »

Very interesting cut testing and sharpening, thank you for your efforts. Just FYI, Cat 5 is the yellow cable you cut first. The black stuff that mangled the serration is coaxial cable, probably RG-6.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#63

Post by Evil D »

ekastanis wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:28 pm
Very interesting cut testing and sharpening, thank you for your efforts. Just FYI, Cat 5 is the yellow cable you cut first. The black stuff that mangled the serration is coaxial cable, probably RG-6.


🤦‍♂️

Yeah I knew that, I made the same mix up the first time I cut it in my other thread lol.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#64

Post by JSumm »

Awesome test and pictues David! Thank you!

Out of curiosity, have you done the same test with other steels? Curious how it stacks up with your example.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#65

Post by skeeg11 »

Thank you David!
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#66

Post by cabfrank »

Thanks for the test and all the info, D. We always appreciate your stuff.
Last edited by cabfrank on Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Evil D
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#67

Post by Evil D »

JSumm wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:34 pm
Awesome test and pictues David! Thank you!

Out of curiosity, have you done the same test with other steels? Curious how it stacks up with your example.

The most I've done on this level was with LC200N in this thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=85045&sid=969f986df ... c1d5018cef


I did cut some COAX cables with my H1 Autonomy and those results are here viewtopic.php?t=81297#p1267838

Both of those knives have been through all sorts of use though, maybe just not all in one session like this. I think any of these steels are great for serrations but I am really leaning towards MagnaCut at this point. It seems to have the most stable edge and best edge retention of the three, but I'll keep using it and see how that opinion changes.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#68

Post by tonijedi »

Ouch 🤕 that maimed scallop does hurt just to look at it.
Thanks for doing this kind of test.
Really want to try Magnacut.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#69

Post by Evil D »

tonijedi wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:04 pm
Ouch 🤕 that maimed scallop does hurt just to look at it.
Thanks for doing this kind of test.
Really want to try Magnacut.


I think it was my fault I for how I made the cut, but it's still a fair test because any of us could have done it one way or another. If I had tried to make more of a sawing and slicing motion it may have done more damage to the points of the teeth but I deliberately put the cable into that one serration, and when I started the cut I could feel the edge immediately go all the way through until it hit the core, and then I just really pushed through and it basically fractured out the edge. I really don't know if any steel would survive that, but since I've done it with other steels it feels like a cop out if I don't do it with them all just to see, and who knows maybe if MagnaCut is sharpened more to a 40 inclusive edge it may have taken less damage. The other important thing was I wanted to damage the edge just to see how easy/hard it was to repair vs other steels, so it was a necessary kind of damage.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#70

Post by JSumm »

Evil D wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 4:56 pm
Both of those knives have been through all sorts of use though, maybe just not all in one session like this. I think any of these steels are great for serrations but I am really leaning towards MagnaCut at this point. It seems to have the most stable edge and best edge retention of the three, but I'll keep using it and see how that opinion changes.
Thanks D! Maybe one day you could get some K390 Serrations in your hands. Holds up extremely well on plain edge to damage for me.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#71

Post by Evil D »

JSumm wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:16 pm
Evil D wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 4:56 pm
Both of those knives have been through all sorts of use though, maybe just not all in one session like this. I think any of these steels are great for serrations but I am really leaning towards MagnaCut at this point. It seems to have the most stable edge and best edge retention of the three, but I'll keep using it and see how that opinion changes.
Thanks D! Maybe one day you could get some K390 Serrations in your hands. Holds up extremely well on plain edge to damage for me.

Yeah I actually started a thread for that but kinda ruined the knife. I've been trying to hold out to see what other models they do in SE/K390, I'd rather not buy the same knife twice if I can avoid it. I've been really hoping for a Rock Jumper or Leaf Jumper.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#72

Post by Cl1ff »

Well I started to type out a bit about my experiences with various serrated Spydercos in different steels (8cr13MoV, VG10, LC200N), but I stepped away for a moment and accidentally lost my progress, so I’ll get to that next time.

At least, serrated MagnaCut seems really promising for my uses of thinner Salt knives. I’m just waiting for the right model.

I intend to grab plain and serrated Spy27 Mules to test, as well. Currently using a a Spy27 Native, but that’s only plain edge and I’m not testing that knife in the same way.

Serrated K390 is really interesting to me, but I’m not sure how I want to try that yet. There are some good options already, but also some interesting upcoming possibilities.

I will say that a serrated K390 RockJumper/LeafJumper is a certain purchase for me, regardless. I love my RockJumper.
So, I think we’re on the same page there.

Edit:
I meant to mention that I always enjoy when you share your tests and how you share them.
I forgot to to re-type that after I lost progress on my initial reply.
Last edited by Cl1ff on Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#73

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Evil D wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:23 pm
Yeah I actually started a thread for that but kinda ruined the knife. I've been trying to hold out to see what other models they do in SE/K390, I'd rather not buy the same knife twice if I can avoid it. I've been really hoping for a Rock Jumper or Leaf Jumper.
i was looking for this thread to see what happened, because i've seen you say this a few times now, but i couldn't find it for some reason. i'm curious to see what the experience was exactly.

i may have missed it, but have you compared the serrations in magnacut to lc200n yet? i might have to go back and read through this thread again.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#74

Post by Evil D »

ladybug93 wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 7:13 pm
Evil D wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:23 pm
Yeah I actually started a thread for that but kinda ruined the knife. I've been trying to hold out to see what other models they do in SE/K390, I'd rather not buy the same knife twice if I can avoid it. I've been really hoping for a Rock Jumper or Leaf Jumper.
i was looking for this thread to see what happened, because i've seen you say this a few times now, but i couldn't find it for some reason. i'm curious to see what the experience was exactly.

i may have missed it, but have you compared the serrations in magnacut to lc200n yet? i might have to go back and read through this thread again.


I did actually make it through quite a bit of testing, but then botched up the reprofile job and basically sharpened away the serrations. I think I was too aggressive trying to reprofile them straight to 30 inclusive. The edge did see some damage though.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=90767&start=40&sid= ... 1cdd0b8fb6
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#75

Post by elena86 »

Great work ! I would say(from your pics) that it holds very well when it comes to scratches… not like LC200N. Could you confirm ?
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#76

Post by metaphoricalsimile »

@EvilD I love these threads, but what would make them more useful is if you would do the testing side-by-side with the same knife (or a similar one when that isn't possible) with more common steels that people have been using for a long time. For this test probably the best control would be the serrated S30V Native 5.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#77

Post by Evil D »

metaphoricalsimile wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:11 pm
@EvilD I love these threads, but what would make them more useful is if you would do the testing side-by-side with the same knife (or a similar one when that isn't possible) with more common steels that people have been using for a long time. For this test probably the best control would be the serrated S30V Native 5.

Yeah that would be great especially with this model since it does come in a couple different steels. A lot is already well known about S30V and VG10 though. I think on a lot of these tests the edge damage is inevitable, especially with how thin a serrated edge is. My son and best friend both carry combo edge Native 5s in S35VN and I can tell you the serrations on those don't seem to hold up as well as this knife did, but then those two are probably abusing those knives even harder than these tests do.

Eventually I'd like to come up with a more traditional cutting method like guys do with plain edge and manila rope, but the way serrations scratch on a cutting board is a bit of a roadblock. I have an idea to get around it, just always looking for the time to work it out.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#78

Post by Evil D »

elena86 wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 6:58 pm
Great work ! I would say(from your pics) that it holds very well when it comes to scratches… not like LC200N. Could you confirm ?

None of these materials were very hard on the sides of the blade but I haven't seen any significant scratches yet. I'm sure it's definitely less prone to scratches than H1 at least.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#79

Post by metaphoricalsimile »

Evil D wrote:
Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:06 am

Yeah that would be great especially with this model since it does come in a couple different steels. A lot is already well known about S30V and VG10 though. I think on a lot of these tests the edge damage is inevitable, especially with how thin a serrated edge is. My son and best friend both carry combo edge Native 5s in S35VN and I can tell you the serrations on those don't seem to hold up as well as this knife did, but then those two are probably abusing those knives even harder than these tests do.

Eventually I'd like to come up with a more traditional cutting method like guys do with plain edge and manila rope, but the way serrations scratch on a cutting board is a bit of a roadblock. I have an idea to get around it, just always looking for the time to work it out.
I think that's the benefit of having an S30V spyderedge available in the exact same model (from looking at pictures it even appears to be the same grind, including the steep non-serrated front portion of the blade) is that because S30V is a known quantity, it might show us if there are actually significant end-user benefits for having a ridiculously tough steel. This is maybe an aside, but I don't think there's really much use chasing after a perfect "scientific" test as we don't have access to expensive laboratory equipment to actually measure results, but I'd love to see if where magnacut gets a tiny chipped scallop or rolled tooth, S30V might see more extreme damage, or maybe S30V wouldn't show much more damage at all or maybe somewhere in between where it's hard to actually tell.
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Re: SE MagnaCut Testing Thread

#80

Post by Bill1170 »

Evil D wrote:
Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:06 am
metaphoricalsimile wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:11 pm
@EvilD I love these threads, but what would make them more useful is if you would do the testing side-by-side with the same knife (or a similar one when that isn't possible) with more common steels that people have been using for a long time. For this test probably the best control would be the serrated S30V Native 5.

Yeah that would be great especially with this model since it does come in a couple different steels. A lot is already well known about S30V and VG10 though. I think on a lot of these tests the edge damage is inevitable, especially with how thin a serrated edge is. My son and best friend both carry combo edge Native 5s in S35VN and I can tell you the serrations on those don't seem to hold up as well as this knife did, but then those two are probably abusing those knives even harder than these tests do.

Eventually I'd like to come up with a more traditional cutting method like guys do with plain edge and manila rope, but the way serrations scratch on a cutting board is a bit of a roadblock. I have an idea to get around it, just always looking for the time to work it out.
About the cutting board, have you considered an end-grain cutting board? The damage is far less severe because the knife edge merely separates the fibers without severing them.
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