- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,837
I didn’t buy any new knives last year. OK, one. But only to fill in while I looked for something in Magnacut, the latest evolution in powder steels, recently created by KnifeSteelNerd Larrin.
I wanted a compact FB that could slip into a jacket or jeans pocket inconspicuously, that would cut like a screaming witch. I have several FBs that come close but they are a tad bulky in the sheath.
I was reading a post on Magnacut on BladeForums a couple of weeks ago, and lamented that I had been unable to find a smallish FB in that steel. Fellow knife nerd Quiet suggested I try the Bradford Guardian 3. Hmmmm. Sounded interesting. Read a few reviews, all of which gave Bradford Knives and the Guardian 3 high marks, checked various knife websites but none had the Magnacut version in stock. So I ordered one directly from Bradford Knives, then sat back, feeling like a kid who had sent a year’s worth of Cheerios box tops to get a secret agent decoder ring, which usually took about six months. Or forever.
Miracle on miracles! It arrived just six days later!
First impression out of the box: Solid and compact. This is a limited run model with 3.25” textured grip and stonewash 3.5” Magnacut blade, full tang, 61-62 RHC, drop point, full height flat grind, false edge. Hair-popping sharp out of the box, not even a whisker of a burr. Grind is 18-20 degrees. Jimping on the spine offers traction for your thumb. The stonewash blade already looks worn, which doesn’t bother me because it’s going to get a lot of use.
The textured grip, which feels like Kraton, offers great traction. A generous choil gives the grip an extra margin, similar to Bark River’s Professional Series Woodland. (You can specify micarta if you like.) There’s a cutaway at the butt that exposes a lanyard hole. Nice touch.
It comes with a unique leather horizontal belt sheath with a substantial welt and a plastic liner, which is an excellent idea when you’re packing what amounts to a scary sharp scalpel. The sheath could be adapted to neck carry, and I’ll think about making a standard vertical belt sheath. But it’s flat and easily slips into a pocket. I took it apart, worked in a few coats of SnowSeal and re-stitched it with waxed nylon thread using a cobbler’s stitch. Kydex sheaths are also available from Bradford.
The big question is whether Magnacut lives up to its hype. I’m far from being a metallurgist, but my first impression is Heck, Yes! In my highly scientific test I whittled a 2” thick piece of jackpine down to shavings (10 minutes); it just glided through the wood and a few small knots almost effortlessly. Afterwards I could detect hardly any loss in sharpness. I touched it up with a few light strokes on the DMT ultra fine (1200 grit) anyway and brought it back to screaming sharp. Magnacut seems very fine-grained and similar in edge retention to M4 and S110V, but significantly easier to sharpen. All in all, this combo of knife and Magnacut is a winner.
I wanted a compact FB that could slip into a jacket or jeans pocket inconspicuously, that would cut like a screaming witch. I have several FBs that come close but they are a tad bulky in the sheath.
I was reading a post on Magnacut on BladeForums a couple of weeks ago, and lamented that I had been unable to find a smallish FB in that steel. Fellow knife nerd Quiet suggested I try the Bradford Guardian 3. Hmmmm. Sounded interesting. Read a few reviews, all of which gave Bradford Knives and the Guardian 3 high marks, checked various knife websites but none had the Magnacut version in stock. So I ordered one directly from Bradford Knives, then sat back, feeling like a kid who had sent a year’s worth of Cheerios box tops to get a secret agent decoder ring, which usually took about six months. Or forever.
Miracle on miracles! It arrived just six days later!
First impression out of the box: Solid and compact. This is a limited run model with 3.25” textured grip and stonewash 3.5” Magnacut blade, full tang, 61-62 RHC, drop point, full height flat grind, false edge. Hair-popping sharp out of the box, not even a whisker of a burr. Grind is 18-20 degrees. Jimping on the spine offers traction for your thumb. The stonewash blade already looks worn, which doesn’t bother me because it’s going to get a lot of use.
The textured grip, which feels like Kraton, offers great traction. A generous choil gives the grip an extra margin, similar to Bark River’s Professional Series Woodland. (You can specify micarta if you like.) There’s a cutaway at the butt that exposes a lanyard hole. Nice touch.
It comes with a unique leather horizontal belt sheath with a substantial welt and a plastic liner, which is an excellent idea when you’re packing what amounts to a scary sharp scalpel. The sheath could be adapted to neck carry, and I’ll think about making a standard vertical belt sheath. But it’s flat and easily slips into a pocket. I took it apart, worked in a few coats of SnowSeal and re-stitched it with waxed nylon thread using a cobbler’s stitch. Kydex sheaths are also available from Bradford.
The big question is whether Magnacut lives up to its hype. I’m far from being a metallurgist, but my first impression is Heck, Yes! In my highly scientific test I whittled a 2” thick piece of jackpine down to shavings (10 minutes); it just glided through the wood and a few small knots almost effortlessly. Afterwards I could detect hardly any loss in sharpness. I touched it up with a few light strokes on the DMT ultra fine (1200 grit) anyway and brought it back to screaming sharp. Magnacut seems very fine-grained and similar in edge retention to M4 and S110V, but significantly easier to sharpen. All in all, this combo of knife and Magnacut is a winner.
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