Magnacut in Seki Salts

[fixall]

I’m really finding 63 - 64 to be MagnaCuts sweet spot. I’ve had it heat treated as high as 66hrc and as low as ~61hrc, following protocols laid out by Devin and Larrin. The ease of sharpening at all hardness levels was a really nice surprise. :)

Well you can reach 63-64 with different protocols, so the hardness is not the only factor. Since the protocol has a good impact on the balance of properties, testing different protocols changes everything, including the aimed hardness.
It gets very complicated very fast !

True. That's why I specified the protocols that have been laid out/posted by Devin and Larrin. That at least narrows it down a bit, lol.

My favorite so far has been the heat treat protocols posted by Devin.

2050f for 20 minutes
plate quench (I had issues with warping when oil quenching)
Cryo (or freezer) if you want an extra point of hardness
double temper at 350

It's yielded a nice, consistent 63 - 64rc (depending on if cryo is used or not).

[SchoonerBum]

We're still refining the heat treat on MagnaCut. It's sensitive to different heat treatment. We'd like to get it down before exporting the steel. Eventually, assuming the market likes it, we'll move the steel all over.

sal

This is exciting news! I'm stoked for it to happen and happy to wait as long as needed for it to be as good as it can be. Spyderco's dedication to making knives for those of us who work and play in salt water is just so awesome!

[skeeg11]

The diversity of steels offered by Spyderco and the fact that they're not going to offer it until they are certain that they've gotten the most out of a commercial heat treat they can possibly do is just one of the many reasons I have confidence in Spyderco products. The fact that Sal, Larrin, and Devin are all working on this is inspiring.

Still in the process of wrapping my head around discovering that Larrin's Dad is Devin.

[fixall]

The diversity of steels offered by Spyderco and the fact that they're not going to offer it until they are certain that they've gotten the most out of a commercial heat treat they can possibly do is just one of the many reasons I have confidence in Spyderco products. The fact that Sal, Larrin, and Devin are all working on this is inspiring.

Still in the process of wrapping my head around discovering that Larrin's Dad is Devin.

Right? That apple didn't fall all that far from the tree, lol.

Between Sal and Eric, Larrin and Devin, Tony and Reese Bose, Grant and Gavin Hawk, Gil and Wesley Hibben, Baltazar and martinez, etc... I'm starting to think that knife ingenuity runs in families, lol.

[warriorsociologist]

SS Stretch 2 in MagnaCut is my hope.... a "Salt-Stretch"

[ladybug93]

SS Stretch 2 in MagnaCut is my hope.... a "Salt-Stretch"

instant buy. i don't have any form of stretch in my collection, but i've always liked them. a salt would seal the deal for me.

[capt.carl]

I'm hoping for a stretch xl in magnacut. seems like it's made to happen with the linerless lightweight construction.

[bobnikon]

SS Stretch 2 in MagnaCut is my hope.... a "Salt-Stretch"

I would really like to see it in a linered model, with either coated or lc200n liners.

I like the heft of the SS Stretch 2.

Cheers

[RamZar]

We're still refining the heat treat on MagnaCut. It's sensitive to different heat treatment. We'd like to get it down before exporting the steel. Eventually, assuming the market likes it, we'll move the steel all over.

sal

It's not a matter of warping. And it's not sensitive as to problems. It's a matter of finding the best balance for corrosion resistance, edge holding and toughness.

sal

Hi Sal,

It sounds like you're trying for higher hardness on MagnaCut for the upcoming Native5 Salt than the Mule Team MT35 from December 2021?

What feature (Corrosion Resistance, Edge Holding, Toughness) of the MagnaCut steel are you trying to optimize most?

I know on the Sebenza 31, Chris Reeve Knives is going from an initial batch of HRC 62 to HRC 63-64.

Thank you.

[araneae]

It will be interesting to see what "standard" HT ends up as for Magnacut. Most early production seems 61-62. Will that end up being seen as a couple points too low? I know Larrin has worked with Protech to dial things in, but not sure where they ended up. Hogue told me 61-62 is where they are aiming as of Blade Show. Not much is happening fast with Spyderco right now, but at least we know they are putting in the work to do this right.

[RamZar]

I’ve been looking at some folders with MagnaCut and some like Hogue and Chris Reeves seem to be moving to higher hardness:

• Tactile Rockwall [HRC 60-61]
• Tactile Bexar [HRC 60-61]
• LionSteel Emerson L.E.One [HRC 61-62]
• Hogue Deka [HRC 61-63]
• Hogue Doug Ritter RSK MK1-G2 Knifeworks Exclusive [HRC 63-64]
• Chris Reeve Sebenza 31 [HRC 62] Next: [HRC 63-64]
• Pro-Tech Terzuola Tuxedo [HRC 60-61]
• Pro-Tech Terzuola ATCF [HRC 60-61]
• Pro-Tech TR-3 [HRC 60-61]
• Acta Non Verba A100 [HRC 64]
• McNees PM MAC2-3.5 [HRC 63-64]
• McNees PM MAC2 Auto [HRC 63-64]

[Farmer]

This was informative. It's worth waiting for Spyderco to get something just right. Farmer, enjoy your salt 2. I am carrying mine today- great knife.

Thanks Spydergoat. Unfortunately I ended up returning the knife as the fit and finish weren't as good as either of my H1 Salts. I now wish I'd taken some pics but in case anyone's interested it had a few issues:

• The edge bevel stopped a couple of mm short of the unsharpened kick/heel of the blade and so would have needed sharpening out

• The slot in the handle had a few small extraneous 'tags' of material where I guess the FRN on either side of the blade slot hadn't left the mould crisply. I'm sure they could have been cut off with a sharp knife

• Most problematically the two sides of the handle splayed out either side of the pivot (towards the blade end), almost as if there was too much material packed into the slot. Of course that might explain why the pivot screw had been tightened to the point where the blade was stiff to deploy... Normally I'd have broken out a Torx driver and tried to fix the issue. However any scratching to the black hardware would have meant being unable to return the knife if the fix was unsuccessful

• This didn't influence my decision but from a purely cosmetic perspective I definitely prefer non-coated hardware and I thought the FRN would be a brighter shade of green. Which may be good or bad depending on taste but worth knowing

Anyway, singly none of the issues would have been a deal-breaker. But collectively they didn't leave a good impression, especially not at the £130 / $150 we Brits have to pay.

[salimoneus]

We're still refining the heat treat on MagnaCut. It's sensitive to different heat treatment. We'd like to get it down before exporting the steel. Eventually, assuming the market likes it, we'll move the steel all over.

sal

Thanks for the update Sal, appreciate the transparency.