Maxamet Is The Best

YardbirdUSA

YardbirdUSA

Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
143
I got my Spyderco PM 3 with Maxamet steel on November 4 2020. Since then it has been my Every Day carry , I must have cut up about 50 (no bull) carboard box's, along with cutting tape , rope etc. around the house. This knife is as sharp as the day I got it, I've not even put it on a strop . I know a month is not a long time but this is the best steel I think I have ever owned.
 
nVKJ1i4.jpg


Been carrying my Maxemet Para 3 for 98 days in a row. I have touched it up on ceramics twice in that time but it only took a couple of minutes. It also takes really well to a strop. I love this steel.
 
for me, spydy's have always been in the uncanny valley for visual appeal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
(yes, always well designed but lets just say my delica always bothered me visually, I carried it for years despite that... )

for me, the gb2 has broken that valley and come out on the top end
 
K390 is where it's at. It's like the best of maxamet and m4 combined. I have had better results with my K390 pm2 than either Maxamet or m4.
 
TRfromMT said:
K390 is where it's at. It's like the best of maxamet and m4 combined. I have had better results with my K390 pm2 than either Maxamet or m4.
Click to expand...

k390 (& maxamet) likely has a good advantage for wear resistance, but my cpm-m4 is much much tougher... I prefer minimizing chipping as much as possible

(k390 ... is just insane with 2.5% carbon, 8% vanadium, and 2% cobalt...) while the 'special sauce' in m4 is from the tungsten, which I like (and is what maxamet uses to a more extreme) I still prefer m4 ; )

http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=cpm+m4,k390,maxamet
 
Last edited:
dirc said:
k390 (& maxamet) likely has a good advantage for wear resistance, but my cpm-m4 is much much tougher... I prefer minimizing chipping as much as possible

(k390 ... is just insane with 2.5% carbon, 8% vanadium, and 2% cobalt...) while the 'special sauce' in m4 is from the tungsten, which I like (and is what maxamet uses to a more extreme) I still prefer m4 ; )

http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=cpm+m4,k390,maxamet
Click to expand...

I dig that, man. But my experience so far with K390 is I just can't dull it. I've put the K390 PM2 I have through more, and gotten away with more than I can with m4 (which prior was my favorite steel). No knock on m4, for sure.

I just wish K390 was available in more models.
 
dirc said:
happy new year ;)

notice that m4 is 3 times more tough than maxamet (yes, it's a higher hrc, but 15 vs 5 ft-lbs)
*from @Larrin (thanks again, great work on your edge retention article)
high-alloy-toughness-4-29-2020.jpg
Click to expand...
I wonder if we'll ever get a knife steel somewhere in the upper right region of this graph. Would we have to break the laws of physics?
 
dirc said:
I agree that maxamet has some nice edge retention ; )

wait till you try out spydy's cpm-m4 in a gayle bradley
Click to expand...

I tried both and IME Maxamet is better, but it is a little bit apples and oranges. I sharpened the GB2 myself and it lasted three weeks (no longer slicing paper). I used the factory edge on the PM2 and it was past three weeks when it was still scraping off hair on my forearm (barely) and was slicing paper (easily). Or maybe I am just not great at sharpening.

But what surprised me was that when I, using wrist action, slammed the blade into the edge of a steel barrel (not deliberately) that was cut in half with an angle grinder, the damage was minimal:

pm2-maxamet.jpg


I didn't even bother to fix it, I just kept using the knife and it reduced in size and finally disappeared after the first sharpening, a month later. I think this edge stability is the result of the 67-ish steel hardness and the edge profile.
 
I haven't used Maxamet or Rex 121 yet (not sure I want to), but I can hardly believe how amazing the K390 on my Delica is. I'm so accustomed to touching up my edges at the end of the day after using them at work (cardboard mostly), but the K390 just keeps cutting and cutting. When I get home I pull it out (the knife), check the edge, and I have to challenge my memory of actually using it because it doesn't seem like I cut up a few boxes earlier.
 
My "3V for EDC" hypothesis and experiment is confirming my biases. I'm someone who couldn't care less about how long a steel can hold a "working edge" because I never let a knife get that dull. I care about "how" an edge dulls. Tiny chips in the edge is a pet peeve of mine and hope the toughness of 3V (and other 'tough' steels) would produce an edge that chips less. So far so good. My SNG is in need of sharpening, but still cuts receipt paper without a snag (just a little slower now). Hopefully these results continue and I can migrate more of my EDC collection into high toughness steels. Nothing worse than getting a mystery chip in the edge and having to sharpen off a millimeter of good material just to get it out. I don't mind hitting the strops more often to achieve this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top