Sage 1 Maxamet: This goes to 11

[Soanso McMasters]

I just received my Sage 1 in Maxamet. Love the feel of this knife and would love to see a return of a Sage 1 with Carbon Fiber and S30V or some other stainless steel. Can the kind folks at Spyderco please do so?

And the perennial question: Force a patina or let it happen naturally?

[adv23]

Just let it happen.

Make the Sage Max a compression lock and take my money!

[ThomC]

I just received my Sage 1 in Maxamet. Love the feel of this knife and would love to see a return of a Sage 1 with Carbon Fiber and S30V or some other stainless steel. Can the kind folks at Spyderco please do so?

And the perennial question: Force a patina or let it happen naturally?

I did both, but for different steels.
I let Rex 45 form a patina naturally, took about 2-3 weeks of cooking board use. Went through a nice spectrum of colors, never even a sign of rust.


I forced it on M4 with white and cider vinegar, after rubbing the blade with a slice lemon. Mostly to protect the pivot area. Took a nice cloudy gray tint. It feels immune to most things now, but I'll probably redo it when I clean the knife in the spring.

[Albertaboyscott]

Congrats on the sage. On my list too. I go natural when it comes to patina. In my experience, maxamet will patina fairly quickly w reg use. Cheers

[Wandering_About]

Not sure I've posted much about it, but I've got a Maxamet Sage 1 and really like it. It has the typical excellent Taichung fit and finish. The Sage is a great knife design. And the blade showcases Maxamet quite well. The blade stock is thin and mine is about .020" behind the edge. That's quite excellent straight from the manufacturer. The gray G10 is fine with me, but the Sage does beg for something a little more upscale.

[jdw]

Mine quickly became one of my most carried knives. It is a beast of a slicer and I love the ergos. I have let a natural patina develop on mine but with regular maintenance I haven’t found it to be particularly prone to corrosion.

[Soanso McMasters]

I just received my Sage 1 in Maxamet. Love the feel of this knife and would love to see a return of a Sage 1 with Carbon Fiber and S30V or some other stainless steel. Can the kind folks at Spyderco please do so?

And the perennial question: Force a patina or let it happen naturally?

I did both, but for different steels.
I let Rex 45 form a patina naturally, took about 2-3 weeks of cooking board use. Went through a nice spectrum of colors, never even a sign of rust.


I forced it on M4 with white and cider vinegar, after rubbing the blade with a slice lemon. Mostly to protect the pivot area. Took a nice cloudy gray tint. It feels immune to most things now, but I'll probably redo it when I clean the knife in the spring.

Those look great. Love the gray on the Para. So did you disassemble for the vinegar?

[Soanso McMasters]

Not sure I've posted much about it, but I've got a Maxamet Sage 1 and really like it. It has the typical excellent Taichung fit and finish. The Sage is a great knife design. And the blade showcases Maxamet quite well. The blade stock is thin and mine is about .020" behind the edge. That's quite excellent straight from the manufacturer. The gray G10 is fine with me, but the Sage does beg for something a little more upscale.

The high polish on the liners really pop. It’s a looker.

[Soanso McMasters]

Mine quickly became one of my most carried knives. It is a beast of a slicer and I love the ergos. I have let a natural patina develop on mine but with regular maintenance I haven’t found it to be particularly prone to corrosion.

Larin has it rated with D2 in corrosion, and the handful of blades I have in D2 don’t seem to require babying either.

[amateur blacksmith]

Another vote for the return of the Sage 1 in S30V. Not interested in Maxamet.

[Team Sick]

I love this knife! It's action and ergos are unparalleled! Congrats to Spyderco and the Taichung factory. It would've been cool with a tumbled blade finish, but the satin is nicely done. The liners are an unexpected positive addition, as well as the wire pocket clip. Don't be afraid of sharpening Maxamet. It's not unlike other steels, in that it responds if you take your time and go through the progressions. But, it's a monster in edge retention and sharpness when you put in the time!

[Sharp Guy]

I just took my Sage 1 Maxamet out to bring with me to work tomorrow. It's definitely a good one!

[Wartstein]

As one who really appreciates a good linerlock as well as the overall Sage look and style and I am sure ergos... but does not need Maxamet or CF or G10: I'd really wish for a more affordable version of this knife.
S30V and FRN like the Sage 5 LW would be perfect, but G10 - if not a lot more expensive - just fine as well.

[elena86]

I love my Sage1 in Maxamet but I love my CF Sage1 in S30V even more. I wish they bring back the Sage1 in full peel ply CF and S90V or 20CV... maybe in a sprint run. I am tired of being concerned about rust in the pivot area.

P.S The ''lightweight'' Sage is not my cup of tea. It's not quite lightweight and that FRN pattern could be nicer.

[ThomC]

I just received my Sage 1 in Maxamet. Love the feel of this knife and would love to see a return of a Sage 1 with Carbon Fiber and S30V or some other stainless steel. Can the kind folks at Spyderco please do so?

And the perennial question: Force a patina or let it happen naturally?

I did both, but for different steels.
I let Rex 45 form a patina naturally, took about 2-3 weeks of cooking board use. Went through a nice spectrum of colors, never even a sign of rust.


I forced it on M4 with white and cider vinegar, after rubbing the blade with a slice lemon. Mostly to protect the pivot area. Took a nice cloudy gray tint. It feels immune to most things now, but I'll probably redo it when I clean the knife in the spring.

Those look great. Love the gray on the Para. So did you disassemble for the vinegar?

That's the Millie ! And yeah, I took it apart first. I got it secondhand and it had never been used or opened, but I always clean the knives I get that aren't new.

[Soanso McMasters]

As one who really appreciates a good linerlock as well as the overall Sage look and style and I am sure ergos... but does not need Maxamet or CF or G10: I'd really wish for a more affordable version of this knife.
S30V and FRN like the Sage 5 LW would be perfect, but G10 - if not a lot more expensive - just fine as well.

I bought it for the liner lock. I’d have gladly purchased in a different blade steel if they had other options. S30V, S35VN, S45VN, XHP, SPY27 (with cobalt blue G10!) all would have suited me fine.

[Soanso McMasters]

You know a joke didn’t land when you have to ask but did anyone get the Spinal Tap reference? My son and I have been joking about it since it arrived!

[BearShark44]

Mine quickly became one of my most carried knives. It is a beast of a slicer and I love the ergos. I have let a natural patina develop on mine but with regular maintenance I haven’t found it to be particularly prone to corrosion.

Photo of the patina? I wish the Sage max came in stonewash blade to patina easier. Curious how the satin finish ages / patinas? Looking like a tool steel worker?

[gooeytek]

My frankenSage hasn't patina'd yet, but I've only used it to cut packaging, rope/twine, and dowels.

[HolySteel]

My frankenSage hasn't patina'd yet, but I've only used it to cut packaging, rope/twine, and dowels.

That's beautiful. I bought a 2nd-hand PM2 Maxamet that already had great aging on it,including micro-pitting. It didn't show in the seller's pics, but the edge was dull. Initially the aging also bugged me, so I was bugged all the way around, but after I polished it with Puma Paste and then sharpened it, it is now possibly my favorite - not sure how to describe it, but I thoroughly enjoyed the sharpening process and it is now at least as sharp as any other knife I own.

As a result I had been looking for another Maxamet, and today ordered a Sage 1. I want to see how it ages out of the box. For now this is my favorite steel, but I haven't tested it enough yet.