ESEE starting to use A2 and MagnaCut

[shinyedges]

Lol Mike stew....

 

[BigMoney]

I’ve never had a A2 knife but I do have several A2 plane blades. Is it chippy? What does it have going for it other than great wear resistance?

 

[Matthew Gregory]

Is it chippy?

When it’s done wrong.

 

[ShaiHulud]

Let me just say that I really hope Esee uncoats their A2, we don't need coating to protect the steel from corrosion, it's easy enough already, Flitz, Ballistol, are your friends

 

[Andy the Aussie]

I really hope Esee uncoats their A2

....

 

[HPD]

Let me just say that I really hope Esee uncoats their A2, we don't need coating to protect the steel from corrosion, it's easy enough already, Flitz, Ballistol, are your friends

Also, lanolin if you don't mind the smell of sheep. Barkeeper's Friend is also good for removing patina/discoloration if that floats your boat.

 

[HPD]

I’ve never had a A2 knife but I do have several A2 plane blades. Is it chippy? What does it have going for it other than great wear resistance?

A2 only has decent wear resistance and toughness, nothing special. It's easy to sharpen, has good edge stability, is less expensive and takes a nice polish. It's a lot like a good high carbon steel except that it has some corrosion resistance. Magnacut is the superior steel, but not necessarily the best steel for you. I love A2 as a hobby knife maker because it's easy to grind and polish, I don't need to get my oven so hot, and it's stable enough that I get little or no warping, even when grinding before heat treatment. And it's air hardening so it's less messy to heat treat.

 

[ShaiHulud]

Also, lanolin if you don't mind the smell of sheep. Barkeeper's Friend is also good for removing patina/discoloration if that floats your boat.

Nah, I love discoloration and patinas, cutting strawberries on purpose with a carbon mora just to get the grayish rainbow look thereafter

 

[ShaiHulud]

I'm looking at the Esee A2 offering on DLT, looks like an Izula essentially, nothing wrong with it, a compact fixed blade alternative to a folder. Would love If they make a bushcrafty "steak knife" shape kind of like the exodus 3, but in A2 uncoated

 

[beeinak]

My main feral hog hunting (stabbing) knife was a Chris Reeve Project One in A2. I could not have asked for more from a knife.

 

[BigMoney]

Now I want a well done A2 knife. On a side note, I’d also love a well done blued 01 knife.

 

[d762nato]

8670 or S7 or Z tuff would be nice also.

 

[Rockwelledge75]

Let me just say that I really hope Esee uncoats their A2, we don't need coating to protect the steel from corrosion, it's easy enough already, Flitz, Ballistol, are your friends

I agree, A2 has enough semi stainless qualities to it that it's not to hard to deal with, a quick spritz of WD40 is usually good enough, making it a point not to work out in the rain all the time ect, these things go a long way and small amounts of rust are easy enough to clean anyways, attended to quickly this steel will not pitt.

 

[Rockwelledge75]

8670 or S7 or Z tuff would be nice also.

Ztuff is awesome steel, gets nearly as hard as 3v and is almost twice as tough, one could theoretically make a 22inch thin machete with no ridge line on it and it'd hack through branches with no bending, denting or chipping.

 

[TC]

* nevermind

 

[ShaiHulud]

Bought Esee's Sencillo. I don't varnish antique toos

I agree, A2 has enough semi stainless qualities to it that it's not to hard to deal with, a quick spritz of WD40 is usually good enough, making it a point not to work out in the rain all the time ect, these things go a long way and small amounts of rust are easy enough to clean anyways, attended to quickly this steel will not pitt.

I took a roselli in UHC out to the ocean once and it started spot rusting before my eyes, it was crazy, flitz made it go away and it never came back, A2 is cake to take care of, actually all carbon and low chromium tool steels are, cut a bunch of strawberries and it patinas super fast.
Unfortunately too many people cry about rust so companies coat their non stainless steels, I wish they'd stop. Especially since some coats aren't food safe

 

[choochaw104]

60-61 hrc

I see multiple retailers listing it at 55-57 HRC. That's the one thing that kept me from buying it.

 

[jstn]

Just saw the news, and A2 knife is out first (still not available in Europe).

MagnaCut is soon to follow.

Do you think A2 will replace 1095 on most smaller models? Or possibly on all models?
Do you think MagnaCut will fully replace S35VN?


I really like carbon steels and I wanted to try out A2 for a long time (ever since Cold Steel announced it and then never delivered it). So as much as I'm not interested in ESEE at the moment - I can see myself buying one. Unless it'll cost arm and leg (1095 ESEE3 costs 220€ here). So, yeah, I'll buy one if the price is at least somewhat reasonable.

As for MagnaCut... I'm not gonna buy MagnaCut ESEE.

I don't think I'll buy MagnaCut any time soon. Reason is simple. It's spreading everywhere and it's here to stay, so I'm not in a rush. I can see MagnaCut replacing several steels in the future (S30V, S35VN, S45VN, CPM-3V, Cruwear...) so I'll just wait for price drop. And I got 3V at the moment, so I'm happy with that.

What are your thoughts?

Probably smart. It will soon be ubiquitous. I went the other way and bought a ton of MC as soon as it came out. I love it and it’s as good as advertised but it doesn’t necessarily represent a huge upgrade over s35vn and such. It will become more affordable tough and that’s the time to buy imo.

 

[Pr3inar]

I see multiple retailers listing it at 55-57 HRC. That's the one thing that kept me from buying it.

I haven’t checked the retailers, only quoted what the Esee rep wrote over at their own forum

 

[TC]

I see multiple retailers listing it at 55-57 HRC. That's the one thing that kept me from buying it.

FWIW, Chris Reeve ran his A2 One Piece Knife (OPK) line right at that hardness. See the card in the pic below.