Magnacut, Elmax, or M390? Which do you prefer?

bucsfan69 said:
I’ve had all 3 and my personal experience is I can get Elmax scary sharp relatively quickly, where as the others take more time. All 3 are great steels, but I prefer elmax
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My personal experience actually agrees.

Not that M390 and Magnacut are at all difficult to sharpen (using diamond), but I swear Elmax sharpens up like a low alloy for me.
 
MagnaCut has very similar edge retention to Elmax and S45VN but is about twice as tough. M390 has a bit more edge retention and a little less toughness than Elmax and S45VN. Magnacut will be the best for most applications because you can run it much thinner than the others without making it fragile and you will have even more edge retention than M390. People forget that the largest factor affecting edge retention is your edge angle, not the steel.

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Starmarion said:
I like Magnacut, Elmax and 20CV, but my issue with 20CV is how difficult it is to sharpen. Takes an edge for a while, but it's extremely difficult to sharpen. Magnacut has not been easy to sharpen, and Elmax is clearly the easiest to sharpen "for me."
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Diamond stones are your friend for any of the subject alloys. I sharpen both M390 and 20CV blades on DMT stones and have no problems.

Aluminum oxide does not work as well for alloys containing vanadium carbide. Vanadium carbide is harder than aluminum oxide. So you can crush the chunks of vanadium carbide on an aluminum oxide stone, but you can't shear them. So your edge contains shattered chunks. Using diamond, you can shear them. That gives a much better result.

Starmarion said:
What about Kershaw's heat treat of Magnacut. Take the Bel Air for instance. How do we compare that to Kershaw knives that have 20CV steel for instance like the old Kershaw Links? Does Kershaw have different heat treats for different steels? Thanks in advance!
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Different steels require different heat treats. Easily done if you heat treat in batch mode rather than in a continuous production line. You just change the controller. The volumes that Kershaw handles of it's upgraded blade steels could be handled by a large batch kiln.

I have a Kershaw Dividend in Magnacut and the heat treat seems fine to me.
 
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CPM-M4 is my favourite and also K390. Both take awesome edges and hold them! I just recently got a knife in CruWear (Military) and so far that's good, too.

In stainless steels, of the three you mentioned I'd say Magnacut but I only have one knife in that, a Para-Military. I think based on the science, Magnacut is probably the best all-round stainless and should replace all the others like M390, S30V, 20CV, Elmax, etc etc. That would be my hope, anyway. And simplify things a bit.

I plan to get another knife in Magnacut as soon as I can, with a longer blade so I can use it in the kitchen. Then I can really test it out.

I find its best to touch knives up frequently to maintain the edge but I have a great many knives and rotate them so they don't wear all that much.
 
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M390 used to be my favorite steel. Unfortunately, I have had some examples that I think were run too soft. It felt gummy when trying to sharpen and when I finally got a good edge, it didn't seem to last. Other knives from other makers in M390 were great. That experience, more than anything changed what makers I will buy knives from.

I only have one knife in magnacut, Buck fixed blade. I really like that knife, elite hunter, in magnacut. It seems to hold an edge about the same as the best of my M390 knives, but that could be due to the thinner grind. I doubt I'll buy another fixed blade in anything but magnacut.

My most used knives, folders, are in several different steels and I can't convince myself to upgrade any just based on changing to a different steel. Spyderco's S30V has always performed great for me in folders, which is why I haven't felt the need to upgrade anything into a magnacut model.

Back to the question, what's my favorite of the three mentioned? The one that comes from a manufacturere that I trust to do a good heat treat.

Grizz
 
Synov said:
MagnaCut has very similar edge retention to Elmax and S45VN but is about twice as tough. M390 has a bit more edge retention and a little less toughness than Elmax and S45VN. Magnacut will be the best for most applications because you can run it much thinner than the others without making it fragile and you won't really be losing out on edge retention.

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Where is Elmax ? Always amazed how the Elmax interweb opinions vary / how little data there is. Have yet to chip an Elmax knife. M390 has chipped on me often and it's a PITA to fix. Even S90v which I much prefer for a folder, chips much less in my use.
 
ferider said:
Where is Elmax ? Always amazed how the Elmax interweb opinions vary / how little data there is. Have yet to chip an Elmax knife. M390 has chipped on me often and it's a PITA to fix. Even S90v which I much prefer for a folder, chips much less in my use.
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Elmax is very similar to S45VN, same edge retention but maybe a bit less tough.

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Depends on what you are looking for.

M390 or 20CV is a great steel that is very available. Tons of makers have access to it and you can see it featured quite a bit. Downside? Well for the same reason, it is extremely available which means it gets in the hands of people that either 1. dont know how to property heat treat it above 62 HRC or 2. Dont care because they know the blade stamp of 20CV/M390 is sufficient to get people to buy the knives.

Elmax is fantastic and in my experience, chips far less than 20cv in hard use.

So... if i wanted a fixed blade or a folder that I expect to be using on harder material like wood or potentially hitting staples etc I would go for Magnacut first, Elmax second and 20cv last.

If all I am looking for is a solid pocket knife and rust isnt a concern, than 20cv (properly heat treated) is going to have an edge that lasts longer than Magnacut. Elmax is a nice middle ground again in my experience between the two in terms of attributes.


Its a cop out answer but it really is what you value and what annoys you most about owning a knife. I know there are non knife people out there that simply cant stand when their tools rust and for them, magnacut is exceptional. Leave that sucker out in the garage and dont worry about it.
 
knarfeng said:
Diamond stones are your friend for any of the subject alloys. I sharpen both M390 and 20CV blades on DMT stones and have no problems.

Aluminum oxide does not work as well for alloys containing vanadium carbide. Vanadium carbide is harder than aluminum oxide. So you can crush the chunks of vanadium carbide on an aluminum oxide stone, but you can't shear them. So your edge contains shattered chunks. Using diamond, you can shear them. That gives a much better result.


Different steels require different heat treats. Easily done if you heat treat in batch mode rather than in a continuous production line. You just change the controller. The volumes that Kershaw handles of it's upgraded blade steels could be handled by a large batch kiln.

I have a Kershaw Dividend in Magnacut and the heat treat seems fine to me.
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That is very helpful information. Thank you!
 
I’d choose MagnaCut. Hinderers 20CV has chipped, broke, and rolled more than any other steel I’ve ever used and it’s turned me off 20CV in a big way. Idk if it’s just horrible heat treat or what but even my S30V outperforms the 20CV I’ve tried
 
Of the three...I think Elmax.
Now my sample size of Magnacut is exactly one, and it's a Spartan folder with an edge that is thick as a brick, but the Guardian Tactical I have in Elmax is a lightsaber.

I have never warmed to M390 for some reason despite having multiple knives in it.
 
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