Magnacut Thread - Photos and Advice

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I had a request to create a place for Magnact specific knives.
This thread is for photos of your Magnacut knives. Also, feel free to post tips, HT advice, etc. related specifically to magnacut.

 

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

I'll jump in with two kitchen knives recently completed. A large santoku with maple and an 8" Euro chef's knife with claro walnut.

 

[Daniel Carraher]

Finished this one up recently. Was easier to work with than I expected. Wouldn’t want to hand finish a large chefs knife in it to this level. Plan on using it a lot more in the future

 

[HSC ///]

I made 7 in a batch last year when the steel first came out. All belt finish

 

[HSC ///]

My Tim Wright fixed blade in MagnaCut

 

[DanF]

I posted this in the What’s Going On thread but since this thread is MagnaCut specific thought I’d share it here.

1.5” wide, ripped one bullet lengthwise for forging to see how this works under the hammer.

Heating and beating to get this

I love how this stuff works, looking forward to using this as my primary steel now.
Will post the finished knife along with the ht protocol and results once it’s complete.

 

[Signalprick]

These are my first 2 Magnacut builds. I finished a T. Bose pattern zulu spear yesterday also (still need to take pics). The trapper is my personal knife, ya know to test the steel performance. So far I think it is fantastic. It takes some effort to hand finish but I enjoy working with it.

 

[DeepCutsCutlery]

I've made quite a few blades with it so far. Pretty stellar stainless imo. I've primarily been running it in the 64+ range for smaller, slicey EDC blades with great results. Even at 65 HRC this stuff has very adequate toughness comparable to or greater than many other popular stainless steels in the low 60s. Doing some aggressive, nasty, abusive carving of antler and brass at 65 HRC, with a crisp 15° per side edge bevel from a controlled angle sharpening system, and about .007" behind the edge thickness did result in a small amount of microchipping at the apex. Once the edge was repaired and convexed just a hair I was not able to recognize any damage after repeating the abusive test.

I was also very impressed with how it performed cutting manila rope.


It seems to be a fairly versatile steel which can be run in the lower 60s for impressive toughness or pushed into the mid 60s for those who are looking for more strength and stability at the apex.

That's just my relatively inexperienced two cents on it.

 

[Signalprick]

Just finished this zulu spear yesterday.

 

[Sando]

Regarding Heat Treating advice:

I follow Larrin's recommendation pretty darned close with 2 adjustments:

One, in my oven I use 20 minutes at 2060 rather that the recommended 2050. I'm sure it's just a difference in my oven.

Two, I added a "precipitation strengthening" phase. (https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/04/23/what-happens-during-tempering-of-steel/). I'm not sure it's necessary as it probably happens during tempering anyway. But I can measure it and it gives me confidence.

Specifically, after a few hours in LN, the hardness is 61-62. I put the blades in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 300. They come out at 64hrc. This is where I confirm the heat treating is good, then I temper them for 2 hours at 350, twice.

I get a nice consistent 62hrc, as Larrin says I should.

PS I don't know how you guys get these beautiful had finishes on MagnaCut!

 

[Bunker Hill Blades]

How does Magnacut compare to s35vn as far as grinding and hand sanding go’s
I would think it’s pretty similar, no?

 

[Scaniaman]

What HT are you people using? I am thinking 2050, LN2, 350, 62 Hrc , for most and general purposes? I am ordering some of this steel for sure, looks very good on paper and users seem pleased too

 

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

How does Magnacut compare to s35vn as far as grinding and hand sanding go’s
I would think it’s pretty similar, no?

I think it is very similar. A fellow knife maker put this in my head, and I think it is very valid. It seems to grind/polish easily once hardened up to about 220 grit. After that, say 400, it gets more difficult when using AlOx paper like Rynowet. I think the diamond lapping films would help a lot, but I have yet to try them. The 2 kitchen knives in my post above are at 400 grit, I stopped there!

What HT are you people using? I am thinking 2050, LN2, 350, 62 Hrc , for most and general purposes? I am ordering some of this steel for sure, looks very good on paper and users seem pleased too

My oven tops at 2000°F, so I modified slightly. Prequench 1700°F (20 minutes) chilled plates/forced air, 2000°F (20 minutes), chilled plate/forced air, cryo, 300°F 2 hours, cryo, 300°F 2 hours, 300°F 2 hours. ~63HRC.

 

[Daniel Carraher]

What HT are you people using? I am thinking 2050, LN2, 350, 62 Hrc , for most and general purposes? I am ordering some of this steel for sure, looks very good on paper and users seem pleased too

Exactly what I used

 

[Signalprick]

I usually do a 600 grit handrubbed finish but man, magnacut to me looks worse the higher in grit you go. On the zulu I just did I sanded up to 800 grit then back down to 400 for final finish. I was very pleased with the result.

 

[Skiller1nc]

Regarding Heat Treating advice:

I follow Larrin's recommendation pretty darned close with 2 adjustments:

One, in my oven I use 20 minutes at 2060 rather that the recommended 2050. I'm sure it's just a difference in my oven.

Two, I added a "precipitation strengthening" phase. (https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/04/23/what-happens-during-tempering-of-steel/). I'm not sure it's necessary as it probably happens during tempering anyway. But I can measure it and it gives me confidence.

Specifically, after a few hours in LN, the hardness is 61-62. I put the blades in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 300. They come out at 64hrc. This is where I confirm the heat treating is good, then I temper them for 2 hours at 350, twice.

I get a nice consistent 62hrc, as Larrin says I should.

PS I don't know how you guys get these beautiful had finishes on MagnaCut!

3m diamond sandpaper

 

[Richard338]

I just finished this 5" hollow ground slicer (10" wheel) in Magnacut.
HT was at Peters', specified 62 HRC with cryo and tested at 62.
Scales are lightning strike CF.
One odd issue. I wrapped the blade in blue 3M tape while I did the handle.
I was dunking it in water to wet sand the CF.
It only took an hour or so, but the tape left a spiral of stubborn lines only on the bevel.
I couldn't polish them out and ended up doing a couple careful light passes on the grinder with a fully sharpened blade!

 

[Case_D]

4" Magnacut 62-63 HRC, Opal G10 and Copper tubes

https://imgur.com/a/oiRowRO

 

[Robert Erickson]

I've been doing quite a few blades in Magnacut and find it nice to work with. It's harder to finish than AEB-L, 440C and CPM 154 but easier than 10V, K390 etc.
Here are a few of my recent blades in Magnacut.

 

[Larrin]