First impression: Spyderco Mule 46 MagnaMax

[DeadboxHero]

AEB-L mules are still in stock.

They have the highest hardness of any production AEB-L available on the market currently.

Spyderco is very transparent about the high demand and gives ample warning to those interested in grabbing any particular release. That being said, I haven’t had any trouble picking up a particular Mule Team upon release after following their instructions. That includes this one. I grabbed one a few seconds after the drop and they were still available after I checked out.

Also keep in mind this was a limited run of an incredibly hyped steel produced by a factory that shutdown shortly after. It’s a prototype that had no ability to have expanded production. I sympathize with your frustration of not getting one this time, but if you’re interested in mule teams in general, there are plenty other non hyped steels readily available right now ready for testing.

 

[sgt1372]

Sal Glesser

Looks like there's some good testing going on in this thread.

If you want Sal to see/read the comments in this thread, it would be better to move the tread to the Spyderco Subforum where he is the moderator.

-------------------------------------------

Note: I suggested the move to the admins & it has been done.

There already is a thread in the Spyderco Subforum regarding the release, the difficulty of getting a MagnaMax & the greed of flippers already trying to sell it.
See: MagnaMax Release Date.

So, you might want to post your comments/complaints in that regard there & limit posting comments in this thread to "testing results" for the MagnaMax.

 

[Sal Glesser]

Thanx Shawn.

Most have no idea what it takes to bring a Mule Team to the knife industry.

"Just make more" is not a viable solution. The material is selected by me, searching foundry chemistry's, or from our customers. We order a custom batch of steel from a foundry based on the information we have. Let's say we order 1500 lbs. (it used to be 500 - 1000 lbs.) It might take a year or more just to get the run delivered. If it's from a foundry outside the US, add another few months for shipping.

Now we have to learn how to "work" the steel. Cutting, heat treating, grinding, polishing, sharpening, testing samples. We may have to do this several times to get the optimal results. Then we make the run, usually 6 - 9 months. plan the release. Ship the product. We're 2 - 3 years in before you get to get one. At very low margins I might add. We could not survive just making Mules. Then we find out the demand is greater or less than we guessed???

We get complaints for the number made or we have inventory sitting on the shelf for moths.

sal

 

[SpyderPhreak]

It's a bummer, I missed this too, by only a few minutes, but work has to come first sometimes.

I may try to get by the SFO tomorrow and see if they still have any on hand. I'll grab something else from Spyderco in this steel somewhere down the line otherwise.

 

[FreeDumb]

Looking on the bright side when things sell out like that, it certainly lets Spyderco know what the demand is and what the focus should be.

One of the things I've come to like most about Spyderco, kudos to Sal, is that their focus has not only been determined by "what the demand is".

 

[RCFL]

I ran a business for almost 50 years and am sympathetic to Sal. There are a whompzillion little bugs that creep in to gum up the works, and the public rarely sees any of them. Sometimes I marvel that anything gets done. Every time you think you are smart and have a handle on things, some little gremlin that you didn't see coming creeps in just to uh, screw with you.

Some days you are the pigeon, some days, you are the statue.

One of my main rules: When someone does it so well that it looks easy and you think anyone can do it, they are really, REALLY good at it. They deserve all the credit.

OTOH, I understand the Mule Team being a test bed, but it burns me up when there is a limited run of a desirable knife, not a contractual sprint run, and a week later, they can only be found at a scalper. For me, I'd like a Shaman in either K390, 10V, or another run of Cruwear/Zwear. And with a smaller hole like the Gayle Bradley. Alas, this mythical creature only exists out there with unicorns and honest politicians.

If it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

SFO hooked me up this morning when I stopped by on the way to a car show!

Will have to try one out tomorrow. Was amazed they had serrated still available!

 

[Skidoosh]

I really appreciate Spyderco bringing out mules and enduring through all the work. I'm very interested to watch the PE vs. SE cutting experiences.

 

[stillshot2]

Here's to waiting for this steel to appear in hopefully a lot of folders as well.

 

[InThePocket]

I was lucky to be able to get one of these during the drop. The PayPal option was really helpful to me. They didn't all go to scalpers! I've been interested in the Mule Team project for a while and the planets lined up on this release.

It's my first Mule though, and I think all of my impressions so far are about the Mule blade shape, thickness, grind, and so forth rather than the steel. Right out of the box, it's a killer utility knife. I love the way it feels in the hand. Absolutely zips through cardboard, shaves down pencils, opens things, cuts other things, etc. - all the little tasks I need a knife for. The one thing I don't like it for is food prep. I've cut up a bunch of veggies and other foods with it, in the spirit of using it as much as possible for everything, and it's like driving a wedge through the food. I don't know if a different grind would work better or if it's just a matter of wanting a thinner blade for those tasks. What I can say is, after a bunch of cardboard and some wood-shaving and a lot of time against the cutting board, the edge feels the same as it did out of the box. I don't have an accurate way of determining sharpness but I'm impressed.

I find myself in a small quandary now. Part of me wants to pull the edge back and see how it holds up at less than 15 degrees, and maybe grind the little finger guard nubbin down so it would be more useful against a cutting board. Part of me wants to keep it as is, enjoy using it as a utility knife, and take it hiking. And part of me wants to give it to my brother, in the spirit of the Mule Team, because his line of work would give him an opportunity to really use the hell out of it. It's the first knife I've purchased in a couple years, and probably the only one I'll be able to buy for a while, and as I use it I realize that as much as I enjoy it, it's probably not really what I need most out of a knife.

Pic with my Persian for funsies:

 

[deerrockknives]

 

[InThePocket]

I decided to try putting a more acute angle on the MM Mule. Keep in mind that I'm not doing precise measurements and controlled tests here; I don't have equipment for that. I'm just jumping in. The only diamond sharpener I have right now is the standard Worksharp 320/600/ceramic attachment, with 1/2"x4" plates, which I figured would be a hassle, but I clamped it in and went to town.

I mulled over the clamping for a bit, because when I do a curved edge on the Worksharp I like to clamp it as close to "perpendicular" and symmetrical as I can, to keep the bevel consistent. In this case I decided that repeatability was more important, so I backed the knife all the way into the V grooves and used the grind line at the hilt as a hard detent. I then set the Worksharp at the lowest possible angle - all the way down below the measurements, probably 12° to 13° per side. The angle of the blade in the clamp made my grind at the tip very thin indeed.

About this process, I will say: if there's a different and faster way you can get good results, do that instead. It took a long frickin time, especially near the tip. I spent several hours on it yesterday and then another couple hours this morning. Went all the way with 320, then back over it with 600 and a quick hone with ceramic. Here's the edge last night, as I was approaching the apex:

Eventually I started to be able to get a burr along the entire length of the blade. This morning I finished the grind and got it shaving sharp. Then I took it downstairs and broke down a bunch of cardboard.

It started off zipping through everything like a razor, but after a few boxes I started to feel it dragging. This was just straight cuts through cardboard, no staples or other hard materials. I had a look at the edge and found two visible chips. Here's the larger one, near the tip:

It would be tempting to blame this on the very thin grind near the tip, but the other chip happened much closer to the hilt, where the angle was less extreme. It was small and I didn't get a good picture of it, but it was clearly visible.

In any case, for what I need out of the knife, this was too thin for me. My next step was a small bevel (probably too big to call a true "microbevel"), with the blade in the same clamp position and the Worksharp set to 16° per side.

Because of how thin the grind was, the 16° bevel took the chips right out. A few minutes with the 320 stone, and then some refining passes with 600 and ceramic, and it was back in cutting shape (you can still see a little bit of the chip in this photo, but it's gone now):

And the good news is, so far this bevel has held up great. I had more cardboard to process, and then I used it for some veggie prep (which was part of the reason I wanted it thinner in the first place). Thinning it behind the edge was a success in this regard; instead of feeling like driving a wedge through my food, it felt quick and slicey. Easier to control.

I'll see how well this edge holds up as I continue to use it. Shape and size don't make it ideal for most kitchen tasks, but now it's much more usable for that, and it's still an awesome utility knife. Also (against every instinct), I left citrus and onion juice on the blade for a while after cutting, and saw no discoloration. Hopefully this is of interest to some of you even though it's not a well-controlled and thoroughly measured set of tests.

 

[kasumi]

View attachment 2975338View attachment 2975340View attachment 2975341

You are a genius! “Son” of Phil Wilson ?

 

[RCFL]

Minor testing event:

I finally got to use the MT46 just a little. Bought a miter saw stand and the box was about 58x26x28, within an inch or so.

I cut the box into pieces about a foot square. Some a bit bigger, some smaller, but not by much. No time to cut it into bite sized little pieces, but a picture of the pile is below. Most cuts were push cuts, but some were slices. I was pulling pretty quick, so the blade got slightly warm to the touch.

Again, nothing scientific, just realistic day to day use of a blade. Light use, in this case.

I expect that if it was used for much longer, like to cut up several of these boxes in one session, then I'd be reaching for a box cutter and a couple extra blades. Not critical of the steel, the blade, or Spyderco, but a Light Saber it is not. However, I am pretty impressed so far. If anything, maybe a different sharpening would have prolonged the edge.

I put a pretty good edge on the knife before the destruction of the sacrificial box. I test by taking a piece of newspaper in one hand and the knife in the other. I pinch on the knife a little to hold it up, so that less than the weight of the blade is the applied force. If the knife cuts an inch or two, it is sharp enough. I figure if it goes that far, it will continue the rest of the way. Nothing consistent or scientific here, just approximations. I do strop the blade a little, but no fanaticism involved in the sharpening.

I made the pile of cardboard shown below. When I tested the knife afterward, I let the full weight of the knife touch the newspaper page. It didn't cut. I drew the knife toward me in a slicing move and it began to cut. It was easy to see that the edge had degraded some, but was still OK to use. I managed to hold both ends of the newspaper, and the knife cut easily, but not with one end hanging free as it would before.

I don't have any 10V to compare it to, but I have a Mule in K294, and this feels pretty similar in edge retention, as it should. Got some other high alloy stuff, but the spirit has not moved me to use them on dirty saw boxes, so there is not a fair basis of comparison from here. I will say this with confidence, though. It seems about as good for this as any steel available, so if anyone is straddling the fence on whether to get Magnamax, (as if it was available right now) I would sat that edge holding is about as good as any non custom, so worry about some other thing like toughness, suitability, or anything else.

BTW, I just noticed when the picture loaded, that is double strength cardboard, so factor that into the equation.


FWIW, YMMV, etc.