Current Best Steel?

S

SkyStream

Joined
Aug 19, 2020
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111
Is Magnacut living up to the hype or is M390 or other types of steel still preferred? I can't help but to wonder if one of these super steels is going to come along and make many other steels obsolete or greatly reduce the value of current and past high end knives. It wasn't that long ago when some high end knives used D2 steel and now many people don't even want it on budget knives anymore.
 
What makes MagnaCut special is its balance of high toughness, high corrosion resistance, and good edge holding.

Like a stainless version of CPM Cru-Wear or M4 by way of example.

Depends on what characteristics you seek in a blade. For me, it's a great choice. For others, there may be better solutions.
 
#7 in the photo below has lasted a really, really long time. I bet when new it was the greatest steel ever...and then someone invented HS-02 and it never ended.

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Blues said:
What makes MagnaCut special is its balance of high toughness, high corrosion resistance, and good edge holding.

Like a stainless version of CPM Cru-Wear or M4 by way of example.

Depends on what characteristics you seek in a blade. For me, it's a great choice. For others, there may be better solutions.
Click to expand...
I've made lots of knives from 3V at 60 HRC and like it a lot, sort of my default. I recently tried Magnacut out of curiosity, despite putting little priority on corrosion resistance. My favorite aspect of it is not something that jumps out of the specs, but rather how well it takes a screaming sharp edge. For my equipment and technique, it takes an amazing edge with little effort. I've been using it at 63 HRC. I recently sharpened half a dozen knives, about half were 3V and the other half Magnacut. The difference in ease of sharpening is remarkable.
 
I don't think anything is going to be made obsolete. I think we just have more options.

There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a knife steel such as abrasion resistance for edge retention, toughness for stability, corrosion resistance, how often the knife will be used, ease of sharpening, and let's not forget price.

Buck knives didn't become obsolete overnight. Their 420hc blades are still selling well. There's a lot of different needs in this market. There's room for all kinds of knives and steels.

Having said that, I'm not a huge fan of m390.

I love cpm cruwear, M4, and magnacut. They're my favorite steels.

The biggest thing I've noticed is magnacut has such a good balance of properties. I love the edge stability and toughness. What I think really pushes it over the top for me is how it sharpens. I can get a screaming sharp edge easily and it doesn't chip like some other steels.

The biggest downside that I see is that a lot of makers run it too soft. Really, they're just not getting the best performance out of that steel.
 
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