Spyderco Paramilitary 52100 Carbon Fiber

[Evil D]

Not at all interested in a Para 2 but really interested in serrated 52100 and jealous that it wasn't offered in the Military.

I echo your sentiments. Maybe 52100 would be a good steel for your serrated forward design. Any guesses about the performance of serrated 52100.

I think that it will make a great SE blade but you will have to be able to sharpen serrated edges. The PE Military easily gets ridiculously sharp but doesn't seem to hold an edge as long as a lot of other steels. I hope that JDSpydo chimes in though.

What I know is 52100 is very easy to get very sharp, so in SE form that means less worry about any difficulty in sharpening the serrations. Personally I don't worry about edge retention as much with serrations because I keep them at peak sharpness as often as I can tell avoid snagging. I think aside from rust it would be a great steel for SE.

[animportant]

52100 is a simple carbon steel. Get some sharpeners and be good to go if that's what you want. On a positive note it's tough so won't chip aka won't need to reform the edge or take much steal away.

[JenWrath]

Two questions,
- I don't have any CF :spyder: . Is this full CF or a G10/CF laminate?
- I am only getting one. 52100 or Maxamet?

My only experience with these types of steels is K390, and so far I love it.

I'd go with the 52100 because you love K390. Maxamet is so awesome at everything that it's sort of boring, to be honest. It makes sense that it's going to be a common option for their main lines.

52100 will start to patina and even form rust spots just from chilling in a pocket for a few hours. The tradeoff to this is excellent wear resistance and sharpenability. I swear you could probably pick up a rock and get it hair whittling sharp with little effort. Then you can beat it on it like you would M4 and it won't care. It doesn't hold a freakishly sharp edge as long as M4 will, but again it's so easy to sharpen up that I feel encouraged to use it more than my M4 knives.

52100 is just a fun steel. It invites you to use it and it pays dividends when you take care of it properly. A lot of popular steels nowadays you can just abuse and throw in a corner. There's obviously a huge market there and I feel Maxamet is going to take a top spot in it, but a knife guy is missing out if he doesn't give 52100 a go.

Have a Manix2 LW in Maxamet and the 52100 millie. Bought a Maxamet PM2 for my friend in construction and one for my collection, along with a 52100 PM2.

[Slumblor]

I'm torn on this one now, it had been on my to buy list earlier in the year, but so many others have come out that I wasn't expecting. I wish the price was a little lower, I wonder what it would have been if it was just G10? I really want to try this steel, so we'll see how I hold it once they start dropping

[bearfacedkiller]

Two questions,
- I don't have any CF :spyder: . Is this full CF or a G10/CF laminate?
- I am only getting one. 52100 or Maxamet?

My only experience with these types of steels is K390, and so far I love it.

Maxamet and 52100 are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum and a lack of corrosion resistance is about the only thing they have in common. 52100 is a basic carbon steel not much different than 1095 and 01, especially when comparing it to Maxamet.

52100 has one of the lowest alloy contents of any steel Spyderco has offered. It offers extremely low wear resistance. It can be very very tough depending on heat treatment but if run hard up into the 60s it can give some of that up. It offers almost no corrosion resistance.

Maxamet has one of the highest alloy contents of any steel Spyderco has offered. I offers extreme wear resistance and comes at a very high hardness. I have two knives in Maxamet and while neither of them have shown any issues with chipping it is safe to say that on paper Maxamet should not be described as a tough steel. It has tons of carbides and is very hard. It also falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum as far as corrosion resistance goes.

Anycal, if you like K390 then you may like Maxamet. They are both very high alloy steels with tons of carbides. 52100 offers high edge stability and easy sharpenability. In some ways it will behave like Super Blue. It will be able to support very low edge angles (probably great for the serrations) and it will be very easy to attain a very high level of sharpness(again probably great for serrations).

I personally love basic carbon steels like 52100 and have many knives in 80crv2, 1095, O1 and 52100 as well as some Super Blue which has a little more alloy content but is still fairly basic. They are great steels for knives but they are what they are. I have the 52100 Mule and use it often. Mostly for wood carving and food prep. I would be all over this knife but I do not like peel ply carbon fiber (or its added cost) and I already have a combo edge Para2 in S30V that I had made for me by adding the serrations. This should be a great knife.

[anycal]

Thanks for the clarification, Darby.

I am new to this steel variety thing that Spyderco offers. I have 11 folders (about to have 12 with the S90V Native), all with different steel. Needless to say, it is difficult to spend much time with any one of them, and determine which I like best. With time...

If I had to pick two I currently like best, two I used most and sharpened the most, it would be M390 and K390.

Anyway, looking forward to 52100 and even Maxamet at some point.

[bearfacedkiller]

Right on! I think a lot of us collect a variety of steels so we can try them all out. 12 different steels is a nice spread and I am pretty sure that classifies you as a steel junky. :)

There are no right and wrong answers really. Just different preferences and different applications. I like knives so I like pretty much all blade steels. As long as the heat treat is good and the steel matches the application then it should perform well. I wasn't trying to give any bias in that description. I grew up using carbon steels and will always have a soft spot for the way they perform but I am also smitten with Maxamet. I want lots of both of them. :)

[Tucson Tom]

Well, this is interesting. I have already put in a pre-order. I love the PM2, and I guess there is no question about the diagnosis, I am or am becoming a steel junky. I am especially interested in these non-stainless steels that can be sharpened to an amazing edge. Things are pretty dry here in southern Arizona and I don't seem to sweat as much as a lot of people do, so this may work out just fine. What I am reading about 52100 is that it is a steel that was developed for ball bearings and a lot more care goes into its production than other simple carbon steels like 1095 and 01. That all sounds good to me.

[bearfacedkiller]

You should like it then Tom. It is like a slightly improved 1095. It has just enough extra carbon to turn the roughly 1.5% Chromium into chromium carbides giving it a bump in wear resistance. I have also read that the addition of that little bit of chromium improves the heat treat response. If I remember correctly it makes the heat treat more consistent? I lumped them together in the context of comparing them to Maxamet and K390 but when comparing 1095 to 52100 there is a difference. :)

Spyderco has a way of either attracting steel junkies or converting folks into them. Sal is a steel junkie so it all trickles down from the top.

[Tucson Tom]

Someone along the way here said that Maxamet is too good, almost boring. Well I am the kind of guy who drives a manual transmission car and thinks that driving an automatic is boring (and they say that a manual can serve as excellent anti-theft protection in this day and age, but I am wandering off topic). Anyhow I am quite sure I will like 52100 and will actually enjoy the extra fuss required. There are certainly people who adore it.

Yes, Sal does seem to be a steel junky. I get the feeling he enjoys all this every bit as much as or more than the rest of us. It is great that knives and steels are his passion and the business is more than just turning a buck. Makes it fun to be on board and enjoying the ride.

[Orangeneck]

Pre-orders are also live at Blade-HQ for ~$178. There were no limits and the note said they are available in early November. I just placed my usual order for 2.

[elena86]

You should like it then Tom. It is like a slightly improved 1095. It has just enough extra carbon to turn the roughly 1.5% Chromium into chromium carbides giving it a bump in wear resistance. I have also read that the addition of that little bit of chromium improves the heat treat response. If I remember correctly it makes the heat treat more consistent? I lumped them together in the context of comparing them to Maxamet and K390 but when comparing 1095 to 52100 there is a difference. :)

Spyderco has a way of either attracting steel junkies or converting folks into them. Sal is a steel junkie so it all trickles down from the top.

Hey Darby since you have a lot of experience with 52100 what would you recommend to keep it from staining.I like my blades nice and shiny plus I intend to get the serrated version.I usually use Tuff Glide but I wonder if it's enough...

Marius

[Ncmiked]

Pre-orders are also live at Blade-HQ for ~$178. There were no limits and the note said they are available in early November. I just placed my usual order for 2.

Ordered, thanks for the heads up.

[Flipping Addict]

In stock at https://www.mdggifts.com/new-products

$189


Not as good a price as some but at least they have landed.

[bearfacedkiller]

Hey Darby since you have a lot of experience with 52100 what would you recommend to keep it from staining.I like my blades nice and shiny plus I intend to get the serrated version.I usually use Tuff Glide but I wonder if it's enough...

Marius

Sorry Marius for the delayed response, I was enjoying some much needed time in the woods this weekend.

I cannot give any great advice on keeping 52100 shiny. I just let the patina happen myself. I have no experience with tuff glide on knives. If you keep it coated with tuff glide and stay away from food you may have good luck. My knives all eventually see contact with food, blood, green wood and other plant matter so they all develop quite a bit of staining.

[Slumblor]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Spyderco-C81CF52 ... SwozRZ2-SF

Seems to be available for 190 from White Mountain Knives on ebay, I have no experience with them.

[farnorthdan]

Just got a shipping notice from KC

[Slumblor]

in stock at KC

[murphjd25]

Dirty enablers..must resist..

[farnorthdan]

:D