MAGPUL's new knives.

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This seems like the latest installment of "Knives are easy to make (SPOILER: They aren't.), so it's the perfect get rich quick opportunity." (SPOILER: It isn't.)

Magpul probably wants to get in on the "cash cow" knife world but sought a quicker and cheaper way to do it. But the goal won't be to pass the savings on to the consumer. Instead, they'll think their goods are worth just as much as the next CNC manufacturer and pocket any profits.
 
J. Doyle said:
This seems like the latest installment of "Knives are easy to make (SPOILER: They aren't.), so it's the perfect get rich quick opportunity." (SPOILER: It isn't.)

Magpul probably wants to get in on the "cash cow" knife world but sought a quicker and cheaper way to do it. But the goal won't be to pass the savings on to the consumer. Instead, they'll think their goods are worth just as much as the next CNC manufacturer and pocket any profits.
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More makers isn't a bad thing, and Magpul definitely didn't take on this project with a "lets see how cheap and easy we can make these knives" mindset. That would probably be to come up with a simple, proven design, and pay some Chinese manufacturer to crank them out by the thousands. Tons of companies seem to take that approach and they're extremely popular and rarely criticized for it. I think Magpul probably pays the bills just fine whether or not they make knives. Their goods may or may not be just as good or better than the next CNC manufacturer, it's a bit early to tell. Pocketing profits is typically what happens when any company sells a product. I don't see why any of this is problematic.
 
DMG said:
I can’t imagine no machining. There has to be some.
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There are some cases in which simple parts that don't require much in the way of tolerances remain un-machined.

Likely not in the realm of firearms though.
 
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Other than novelty / bling interest , there's got to be a proven improvement in performance or significant price advantage , for me to get involved buying .

Seems like this MIM tech requires a lot of expensive equipment etc . Not something that the custom makers could ever use .
 
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Ilikesharpstuff said:
More makers isn't a bad thing, and Magpul definitely didn't take on this project with a "lets see how cheap and easy we can make these knives" mindset. That would probably be to come up with a simple, proven design, and pay some Chinese manufacturer to crank them out by the thousands. Tons of companies seem to take that approach and they're extremely popular and rarely criticized for it. I think Magpul probably pays the bills just fine whether or not they make knives. Their goods may or may not be just as good or better than the next CNC manufacturer, it's a bit early to tell. Pocketing profits is typically what happens when any company sells a product. I don't see why any of this is problematic.
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I didn't say any of was necessarily problematic. Only pointing out that cheaper parts/process is part of the sales pitch but none of that will return to the consumer.

You may be right about the rest. In knives/guns, "cheaper and faster" seldom translates to "better".

My bet is that magpul knives won't ever really take off........but I could be wrong.
 
Magpul could also be doing this to license the process and/or patents to other manufacturers.
 
SharpBits said:
Magpul could also be doing this to license the process and/or patents to other manufacturers.
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KAI/Kershaw holds the patent.

So, is Magpul licensing it from them?

Deadboxhero posted it on the 1st page.
 
Mk-211 said:
KAI/Kershaw holds the patent.

So, is Magpul licensing it from them?

Deadboxhero posted it on the 1st page.
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I have no idea, of course. I'd suspect that various aspects of the process are able to be patented without stepping on the other preexisting patent. But, I'll leave that up to the two companies and their patent attorneys. We can only speculate.
 
J. Doyle said:
I didn't say any of was necessarily problematic. Only pointing out that cheaper parts/process is part of the sales pitch but none of that will return to the consumer.

You may be right about the rest. In knives/guns, "cheaper and faster" seldom translates to "better".

My bet is that magpul knives won't ever really take off........but I could be wrong.
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I don't think we can read too much into the cheaper/faster comments because it is all relative. Is a molded Magpul blade cheaper in the sense that a molding machine doesn't get a paycheck while a skilled CNC programmer/operator does? Is it faster in the sense that a mold cycle time is likely measured in minutes while a machined blade's process is likely counted in hours? Cheaper and faster can be true in some senses without necessarily resulting in a cheaper knife at retail. I think they'll be highly popular among gun nuts that aren't knife guys. Plenty of dudes with high-end gun collections that wear 5.11 head to toe and spend their weekends at the range don't know or care that knives get better than Kershaw or Buck. When they see that Magpul makes another piece of kit they'll jump all over it just like they did with the frame lock a while back.

Mk-211 said:
KAI/Kershaw holds the patent.

So, is Magpul licensing it from them?

Deadboxhero posted it on the 1st page.
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KAI/Kershaw holds a patent. While I'm no attorney, Magpul's process could be different enough to avoid infringement without even trying. I highly doubt Kershaw's patent is encompassing enough to exclude anyone else from injection molding a blade in any fashion.
 
badmatt said:
MIM's (MEMS) is nothing new either.

We utilize for some parts we do, Not in house but sub contracted.
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The year was 2006
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The True North said:
Plenty of gun parts are just fine being MIM. Maybe not everyone does it well, but there are lots of successful examples. That's not the issue here. The issue is whether or not knives should be MIM (they should not).
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No. A few gun parts are "good enough" being mim. None are "just fine". Vast differences there. Not a single part is better for being made of mim.
 
If folks wish to make blanket statements pro or con, please state your expertise and credentials...otherwise please make it clear you are stating an opinion (and the basis). There's no point in simply posting "is" vs "isn't" if it doesn't provide any facts with which to support the claim.
 
Blues said:
If folks wish to make blanket statements pro or con, please state your expertise and credentials...otherwise please make it clear you are stating an opinion (and the basis). There's no point in simply posting "is" vs "isn't" if it doesn't provide any facts with which to support the claim.
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If this is referring to me (in part or whole) i have 25 years experience in metal casting (from iron, to aluminum) on an industrial scale, 4 years of 3d printing metal for the aerospace industry, and 15 years as a (hobby) machinist. That said, my input in this thread is as a knife hobbiest. Point does absolutely stand in that there is no benefit to the consumer here, as in firearms. MIM is a way to cheaply cast things that would be labor or material intensive to make from a forging or bar stock. Its a cost cutting measure, no matter how magpul tries to spin it.


And as said, it may well be "good enough".
 
crk1984 said:
If this is referring to me (in part or whole) i have 25 years experience in metal casting (from iron, to aluminum) on an industrial scale, 4 years of 3d printing metal for the aerospace industry, and 15 years as a (hobby) machinist. That said, my input in this thread is as a knife hobbiest. Point does absolutely stand in that there is no benefit to the consumer here, as in firearms. MIM is a way to cheaply cast things that would be labor or material intensive to make from a forging or bar stock. Its a cost cutting measure, no matter how magpul tries to spin it.


And as said, it may well be "good enough".
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Thanks for providing a basis for your comment. It helps the community to have a basis provided for opinions, pro and con.
 
crk1984 said:
No. A few gun parts are "good enough" being mim. None are "just fine". Vast differences there. Not a single part is better for being made of mim.
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I didn't say "better", did I? 🙄 If you read the rest of the thread, you'll see I'm not espousing MIM as the superior manufacturing method.

However, "just fine" and "good enough" mean the same thing. There absolutely, categorically, is not a "vast difference" between the two. Some gun parts are in fact "just fine" and "good enough" being MIM. For instance I have a Ruger Ranch Mini-14 (a gun that is largely made up of MIM parts) with at least 8000 rounds fired and have had no parts breakages or wear issues of any kind. That's good enough for my use.

Does that mean I think forged and milled parts are somehow worse? No. Do I prefer it when a manufacturer uses MIM parts? Nope. Is there a net consumer benefit to cast parts over forged parts? Likely not. Do I think MIM knife blades are a good idea? No, I do not.


But there are many applications where MIM parts are in fact, just fine. Otherwise no one would be doing it.
 
Setting aside the whole debate about MIM's suitability, the process does allow for some interesting stuff. The knife uses a new lock called the Lug Lock. Looking at BHQ's images, it appears the blade has semicircular lugs extending from both sides of the blade that act as both stops and locking surfaces apparently. It's a unique design. That kind of arrangement would be more costly and more complicated with traditional blade steel in sheet form, if it was even economically feasible at all. The jury is still out for me on MIM blades, but it does offer some neat possibilities at least.
 
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