Spyderco Forums

sovereign wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:44 am

Stainless K390?

This would be pretty incredible, but I think that's a bit too optimistic...

I'll be happy to take some in a Police 4.

Synov wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:01 am

Wow! Larrin has said that the next theoretical step would be to add more vanadium to Magnacut for higher edge retention. If this is real, I can't wait to see the toughness and corrosion resistance.

I was hoping he drop some Tungsten into the mix!

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:21 am

Higher edge retention...now I'm interested. I've been pretty unimpressed with Magnacut on my CRK. I've given it two different finishing grits (220 and 800) and haven't found it to be that great with either. Honestly I don't understand everyone clamoring for Magnacut...unless it's one of those things were 6 people here say it's great so everyone reads it and suddenly 29348723947 people think it's the best and want every knife in it...even though they've never tried it, or have it and have never done anything with it besides a little touch up here or there.

It is all relative and very much depends on your expectations and experience. MagnaCut delivers what it promises, but is that what you expect or need? If you are used to s90v or k390 levels of wear resistance and toughness of these steels is enough for your use and excellent corrosion resistance is not needed then there is nothing impressive about MagnaCut. On the other hand if you want a very stainless, tough steel with good wear resistance then there isn’t anything else as good as MagnaCut. Cruwear is not as stainless neither is 4v, s35vn is not as tough, etc. Really depends on what other steels are lacking in your use to determine if you will be impressed with MagnaCut or not. For example in kitchen knives it is very impressive as it is in wet and especially salty environments.

I’ve not hear of ‘Apex Ultra’ before either (further down the chart). Is this another new one or am I just not up to date enough on my steels?

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:21 am

Higher edge retention...now I'm interested. I've been pretty unimpressed with Magnacut on my CRK. I've given it two different finishing grits (220 and 800) and haven't found it to be that great with either. Honestly I don't understand everyone clamoring for Magnacut...unless it's one of those things were 6 people here say it's great so everyone reads it and suddenly 29348723947 people think it's the best and want every knife in it...even though they've never tried it, or have it and have never done anything with it besides a little touch up here or there.

I can’t speak for CRK’s Magnacut but I’ve had excellent experiences with my Magnacut Mule so far with a dual grit edge for working outdoors in tropical forested environments. I’ve had similar performance to K390 when I dual grit it, but only about half that with a traditional polished edge. The main advantage of it for me (and why I rate it so highly personally) is it is very rust resistant, it is tough enough to hack through wood without chipping and it is quick to resharpen. I have loads of other steels and they pretty much all have their place, but for that holy trinity of characteristics Magnacut is hard to beat.

If I want an EDC I don’t look for Magnacut (I personally prefer K390 or CruWear), but it is one heck of a steel for wet, sweaty outdoor work. I usually carry Magnacut PE and a second SE knife in either H1/H2 or LC200N while working. They cover most bases for what I get up to, but for sure there are other steels which are equally great.

JoviAl wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:49 pm

I’ve not hear of ‘Apex Ultra’ before either (further down the chart). Is this another new one or am I just not up to date enough on my steels?

It’s a high edge retention steel for forging that larrin designed

electro-static wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:49 pm

JoviAl wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:49 pm

I’ve not hear of ‘Apex Ultra’ before either (further down the chart). Is this another new one or am I just not up to date enough on my steels?

It’s a high edge retention steel for forging that larrin designed

Every day’s a school day Thanks!

Brant wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:07 pm

Synov wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:01 am

Wow! Larrin has said that the next theoretical step would be to add more vanadium to Magnacut for higher edge retention. If this is real, I can't wait to see the toughness and corrosion resistance.

I was hoping he drop some Tungsten into the mix!

We don't know what's in the mix yet, but for what purpose do you want tungsten in the mix? Tungsten in high alloy steels is usually there for high speed steels for them to not loose hardness at high temperature. When a lot of chromium is present tungsten doesn't produce harder tungsten carbides, so vanadium or nobium are more effective in creating harder carbides. For knives operated by hand using these is more effective to increase wear resistance than using tungsten.

Let's see what happens at SHOT show.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:21 am

Higher edge retention...now I'm interested. I've been pretty unimpressed with Magnacut on my CRK. I've given it two different finishing grits (220 and 800) and haven't found it to be that great with either. Honestly I don't understand everyone clamoring for Magnacut...

That is interesting, I am really enjoying mine, and liking it more than CRK’s S45VN.

What did you find lacking?

MagnaWear sounds intriguing…

Barmoley wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 9:45 pm

Brant wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:07 pm

Synov wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:01 am

Wow! Larrin has said that the next theoretical step would be to add more vanadium to Magnacut for higher edge retention. If this is real, I can't wait to see the toughness and corrosion resistance.

I was hoping he drop some Tungsten into the mix!

We don't know what's in the mix yet, but for what purpose do you want tungsten in the mix? Tungsten in high alloy steels is usually there for high speed steels for them to not loose hardness at high temperature. When a lot of chromium is present tungsten doesn't produce harder tungsten carbides, so vanadium or nobium are more effective in creating harder carbides. For knives operated by hand using these is more effective to increase wear resistance than using tungsten.

The first thing is that every steel that I’ve found that has “wear” in its name has a bit of tungsten in it. Second, I just like steels that have it in their chemical make up. Let’s all hope however it turns out, it’s really affordable to make and sell.

Brock O Lee wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2024 3:14 pm

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:21 am

Higher edge retention...now I'm interested. I've been pretty unimpressed with Magnacut on my CRK. I've given it two different finishing grits (220 and 800) and haven't found it to be that great with either. Honestly I don't understand everyone clamoring for Magnacut...

That is interesting, I am really enjoying mine, and liking it more than CRK’s S45VN.

What did you find lacking?

MagnaWear sounds intriguing…

I've had some microchipping issues on both grit finishes. I brought it down to 17dps and then 15dps after the first time. More of the same, and being a wear resistance junkie that doesn't care about corrosion resistance, I had a feeling it would likely disappoint...and it does. I won't be buying anymore Magnacut.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:30 pm

I've had some microchipping issues on both grit finishes. I brought it down to 17dps and then 15dps after the first time. More of the same, and being a wear resistance junkie that doesn't care about corrosion resistance, I had a feeling it would likely disappoint...and it does. I won't be buying anymore Magnacut.

Fair enough...

Might be worthwhile trying 20dps to find the sweet-spot? After the factory edges, I experimented with 17 dps bevels with 20 dps micro bevels (DMT Fine/ 600 grit micros plus a light 1um diamond strop cleanup), and so far that is working well. Might still drop a few degrees over time because 20 dps is high.

MagnaCut is a tougher steel so I am surprised it was chipping at 17dps. But if it does just go to 20dps and it will greatly increase its resistance to chipping.

"Chipping" might also be a burr breaking off.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:30 pm

Brock O Lee wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2024 3:14 pm

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:21 am

Higher edge retention...now I'm interested. I've been pretty unimpressed with Magnacut on my CRK. I've given it two different finishing grits (220 and 800) and haven't found it to be that great with either. Honestly I don't understand everyone clamoring for Magnacut...

That is interesting, I am really enjoying mine, and liking it more than CRK’s S45VN.

What did you find lacking?

MagnaWear sounds intriguing…

I've had some microchipping issues on both grit finishes. I brought it down to 17dps and then 15dps after the first time. More of the same, and being a wear resistance junkie that doesn't care about corrosion resistance, I had a feeling it would likely disappoint...and it does. I won't be buying anymore Magnacut.

Microchipping is very odd since the steel has very fine microstructure and small carbides making it pretty tough with high edge stability. I haven’t experienced the same from multiple knives in MagnaCut, but I also don’t have a CRK in it.

It also sounds like not a steel for you since its qualities and what it is good at is not what interests you. Given your preferences it couldn’t possibly impress you, so not surprising you are not impressed. Fortunately, there are plenty of other steels that will work for your preferences.

ladybug93 wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:51 am

i remember seeing magnawear and magnatuff brought up in the past. i thought i saw in an article that he was going to continue development, so it shouldn't be surprising really.

i haven't been able to use my one magnacut blade (mule) as much as i'd like, but i've liked it so far and i'm hoping to get some more in a folder soon so i have more opportunities to use it.

Yeah, I’d heard both these steels are in development. Then I heard that they aren’t. Not sure what to think, haha.

I want to get my hands on Niomax. I know that it exists, but I’m not sure if it will ever be produced in a large “melt”.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2024 4:30 pm

Brock O Lee wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2024 3:14 pm

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:21 am

Higher edge retention...now I'm interested. I've been pretty unimpressed with Magnacut on my CRK. I've given it two different finishing grits (220 and 800) and haven't found it to be that great with either. Honestly I don't understand everyone clamoring for Magnacut...

That is interesting, I am really enjoying mine, and liking it more than CRK’s S45VN.

What did you find lacking?

MagnaWear sounds intriguing…

I've had some microchipping issues on both grit finishes. I brought it down to 17dps and then 15dps after the first time. More of the same, and being a wear resistance junkie that doesn't care about corrosion resistance, I had a feeling it would likely disappoint...and it does. I won't be buying anymore Magnacut.

Hey, Rick, is it safe to conclude you’ve not been plagued with a persistent burr, what with all your angling and finishing? Chips on a wire are the most micro, and the worst.

Hey Marc, I was considering that myself. But, I checked the edge out under my 10x loupe and everything seemed to be good. No glistening areas along the edge, besides those few spots. I was surprised myself after everything I've read about Magnacut. That's why I gave it another try at a lower angle and took it to a higher grit finish. I'm stumped! I may try as suggested above and raise the angle a bit or try a microbevel. It's still quite sharp, just a bit frustrating!