Para 2 Maxamet?

91bravo said:
My wife bought me a Manix 2 in Maxamet for Christmas of 2016 and I've had it ever since. I too, ended up breaking the blade cutting through some conveyor belt at work. There I was holding the handle in my hand, with the blade still stuck between in the conveyor belt. Sent it back to Spyderco and they told me the same thing as Cursum, that there was some side load applied to the knife. They sent me a new one and I just keep it in my drawer now. I found it no more difficult to sharpen than any other hard steel out there, but that break has me grabbing other knives from my collection now. I treated that knife no different than my other Spydercos with other steels.
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Wow! I wonder if there has been variation between knives for some reason, like maybe Spyderco changed up the heat treat to "dial in the steel" so to speak or maybe something else. Of course, I'm just grasping at straws here and we can theorize all day. I know you know how to use a knife, so I am a bit concerned that mine is a break waiting to happen. That would not be cool. But then @jpm2 uses his hard with no issues. I guess time will tell.

I wonder how many others have firsthand knowledge of a Maxamet steel break? @DeadboxHero, have you seen/heard about a lot of Maxamet blades breaking?
 
on_the_edge said:
Wow! I wonder if there has been variation between knives for some reason, like maybe Spyderco changed up the heat treat to "dial in the steel" so to speak or maybe something else. Of course, I'm just grasping at straws here and we can theorize all day. I know you know how to use a knife, so I am a bit concerned that mine is a break waiting to happen. That would not be cool. But then @jpm2 uses his hard with no issues. I guess time will tell.

I wonder how many others have firsthand knowledge of a Maxamet steel break? @DeadboxHero, have you seen/heard about a lot of Maxamet blades breaking?
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It's definitely hard and don't use any twisting motion when you are cutting with it. I don't worry about my others steels and I've cut the same conveyor belt material for years now with different blades. Maxamet does hold its edge for a VERY long time, but I don't have any confidence in it as a work knife anymore. It's mainly my cardboard cutting knife now.
 
Fmont said:
After that pic and Spyderco saying no fault found in the blade steel I honestly have no desire for one. Unless Cursum was carving his garden stakes out of ebony or lingnum vitae or whatnot.

Might as well be a ceramic blade. PM2 is my favorite folder ever. But I don't care if Maxamet never needs sharpening ever if it's that fragile. Might as well use brine quenched, untempered O1 if it's going to break like that. It's not a knife if that's normal, it's a glorified box cutter.

Impressed with Spyderco's response, though.
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91bravo said:
My wife bought me a Manix 2 in Maxamet for Christmas of 2016 and I've had it ever since. I too, ended up breaking the blade cutting through some conveyor belt at work. There I was holding the handle in my hand, with the blade still stuck between in the conveyor belt. Sent it back to Spyderco and they told me the same thing as Cursum, that there was some side load applied to the knife. They sent me a new one and I just keep it in my drawer now. I found it no more difficult to sharpen than any other hard steel out there, but that break has me grabbing other knives from my collection now. I treated that knife no different than my other Spydercos with other steels.
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jpm2 said:
Don't let one picture make you miss out on a knife steel in a class of its own, which may disappear and its kind never be seen again, due to influence of opinions like yours.

I use mine moderately all the time. Most here call it abusive. The blade is extremely hard and will chip with enough force, but less so than a couple of more popular steels on this forum, one closely related to one you mentioned... my 1st hand experience.

Here's another picture. It proves nothing other than dirty and intact, you'll just have to take my word for the way it's used.

IMG_5359en.jpg
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I thought about it a bit before posting the broken blade pic.

I applaud Spyderco going out on a limb by using something like Maxamet in their folders, and don't want to give a wrong impression or put people off.
OTOH, I would like people to know what they are getting into with this stuff - learn from my mistake kinda thing.

Personally, I will gladly buy another Maxamet Para2 when it becomes available. And be a bit more careful with it :oops:
 
My Maxamet PM2 is probably the sharpest blade I ever bought from Spyderco right out of the box.

That said my EDC, a Gayle Bradley #1, with it's M4 blade steel is probably the best combination of sharpness and toughest I have ever used in a folder. To date I have never experienced any problems with the GB and it only requires an occasional sharpening. It holds an edge.


 
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Maxamet is a very highly-alloyed steel that borders on being a ceramic, and Spyderco runs it very hard. It's brittle for a steel, as to be expected. If you just think of it as ceramic, and use it as such, it will work great. Just don't pry with it! My dad chipped the very tip and a little spot in the edge near the tip scraping something with the PM2 I gave him Christmas 2017. I'll have to fix it (not a big deal for me), and told him not to do that with this knife. This one is for cutting only!!!
 
Stang Bladeworks said:
I have heard a few people had issues sharpening it. I would love to hear some feedback from people who have sharpened it. To be honest it has prevented me from picking one up so far.
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I've read about the sharpening issues as well. I tried with Shapton glass stones - they didn't do much. I tried a Vanev bonded stone and it cut pretty well. Got a set of the EdgePro matrix diamond stones and they work very well. Mirror polish at 17 degrees with no issues.

FcqSQ2ah.jpg
 
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Based on the stories by two reputable posters in this thread, I'd be very hesitant to buy knives of Maxamet. The edge holding ability just does not outweigh the concern of being so brittle that the blade could break easily, for me.
 
Fair point. I expect it to be quite brittle and treat it that way. For utility vs. steel admiration it may not be the best choice.
 





https://youtu.be/PEL70quVOMk

https://youtu.be/KZPKIC8oCbE

Bunch of maxamet vids with the native 5

Even some guys on Instagram did some maxamet hard use testing like Franky blades.

Its not that problematic as some are making it seem. Plus ive seen other PM2's crack in the same exact place in other steels. Yes it's not a hard use steel but I think things are being a bit blown out of proportion possibly. That or the native 5 is a bit thicker blade stock to support the use it's was put through..
 
Mo2 said:
Edited out for brevity...

Its not that problematic as some are making it seem. Plus ive seen other PM2's crack in the same exact place in other steels. Yes it's not a hard use steel but I think things are being a bit blown out of proportion possibly. That or the native 5 is a bit thicker blade stock to support the use it's was put through..
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Thank you for posting those videos. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Due to your last statement, I looked to see what the relative thicknesses were. The Native 5 Maxamet is .125" thick and the PM2 Maxamet is...


.145" thick!!! That's right, if looking at thickness alone, the Native 5 should break faster than a PM2.

Not to discount anyone's story about a broken blade, but it really seems like some Maxamet blades are fairly brittle (unexpectedly???) while others are more robust (what Spyderco was maybe expecting???). It's just a theory with no evidence one way or the other, but with Maxamet being as difficult as it is to make blades out of, it's not that big of a stretch to see that some un-noticed variation somewhere along the production line could be the difference. Heck, why were some PM2s curved towards the tip while others appeared not to be??? Clearly something is (was) off in the manufacturing process.

Out of curiosity, has anyone seen a broken Maxamet Mule or Native 5?
 
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Mo2 said:





https://youtu.be/PEL70quVOMk

https://youtu.be/KZPKIC8oCbE

Bunch of maxamet vids with the native 5

Even some guys on Instagram did some maxamet hard use testing like Franky blades.

Its not that problematic as some are making it seem. Plus ive seen other PM2's crack in the same exact place in other steels. Yes it's not a hard use steel but I think things are being a bit blown out of proportion possibly. That or the native 5 is a bit thicker blade stock to support the use it's was put through..
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Big Brown!!
 
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on_the_edge said:
Due to your last statement, I looked to see what the relative thicknesses were. The Native 5 Maxamet is .125" thick and the PM2 Maxamet is...


.145" thick!!! That's right, if looking at thickness alone, the Native 5 should break faster than a PM2.
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Ment blade geometry not necessarily blade stock.
 
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Why would anybody be hesitant to buy a Maxamet PM2? According to this thread, Spyderco will buy it back from you for full MSRP if it breaks under any circumstance.
 
I had issues with my new Maxamet PM2. I kept the scales and gave the knife away.

When I got it, it was the dullest Spyderco I ever received. The blade was curved slightly, but I didn't even notice it until others made that observation. Neither a big deal. What really bothered me was that the blade was about 3/16" shorter than any other PM2. Over-sharpening at the factory? Not sure, but all blades are lazer cut, so they should all be the same length.

Then there was the sharpening. It wasn't too difficult to work with, but I could not keep it sharp. It would get dull pretty quick. I think I eventually got the edge stabilized, but all things considered, I had bad feelings toward this one. I gave it away.

Would I try another one? I don't know.
 
anycal said:
I had issues with my new Maxamet PM2. I kept the scales and gave the knife away.

When I got it, it was the dullest Spyderco I ever received. The blade was curved slightly, but I didn't even notice it until others made that observation. Neither a big deal. What really bothered me was that the blade was about 3/16" shorter than any other PM2. Over-sharpening at the factory? Not sure, but all blades are lazer cut, so they should all be the same length.

Then there was the sharpening. It wasn't too difficult to work with, but I could not keep it sharp. It would get dull pretty quick. I think I eventually got the edge stabilized, but all things considered, I had bad feelings toward this one. I gave it away.

Would I try another one? I don't know.
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Interesting. Maybe would have been worth having Spyderco check it out? Sucks that it had issues. Seems like all the Maxamet issues have been with PM2s.

My Native in Maxamet is great. Seriously considering getting a Manix in Maxamet. (I've just recently come to appreciate how good the Manix is.)
 
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