I have four customs in Magnacut, with another two on order. All from
David Mary
. Here's three of them with a Bushwacker Mistress:
MagnaCut is awesome. It's like elmax but tougher and more stainless.... and edge holding is comparable. IMO it's Elmax but better. Which doesn't make Elmax bad, it's still awesome. But if you love Elmax, why wouldn't you want elmax but with increased toughness and stain resistance?
My current personal preference for a 'knife combo' is INFI in big / hard use knives, and MagnaCut in small / sharp knives.
My thoughts on why Magnacut is worth considering, even for those whose favorite steel is INFI:
- The obvious reasons are the increased stainlessness and edge-holding. Magnacut is almost stain-proof (it is at the low end of 'saltwater steel,' close to H1 / vanax / LC200N). It's edge-holding is ballpark on par with 4V, elmax, m390, vanax, etc.
- It is the toughest of the high-edge-holding stainless steels, by a fair bit. Give Bussekin are all about toughness, this should get any Hog / Dog / Rat's attention. There are videos of makers testing magnacut - e.g. Shawn (BBB handmade knives) - doing things like cutting through steel bolts with minor damage.
- I like Magnacut in knives that I want to be SHARP. The very fine structure of the steel and high toughness mean you can get very thin edges that are still stable. I don't like to do that to INFI because at that thinness, it loses a lot of the benefits of its legendary toughness. A super thin edge in INFI will warp or roll. I think Jerry has said something in the past about INFI not being the best steel for super thin edges.
It isn't as expensive as exotic steels (e.g. vanax, LC200N) but it isn't cheap either. You can only get it currently through limited Spyderco runs or custom makers, as far as I know. But it's a new steel, so it's becoming more widely available as time goes on and, given the interest in it from large companies, I'd bet it will become pretty common in the future.
If I could only have two steels for knives, it would be INFI and Magnacut.
If Busse developed a custom heat treat and produced some thin-behind-the-edge sharp knives in Magnacut, I'd be over the moon.
Check out the thread
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/cpm-magnacut-–-the-next-breakthrough-in-knife-steel.1782546/ and Larrin's article
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/03/25/cpm-magnacut/ for more info, including on testing.
So, this all sounds good. I guess it really comes down to (1) what is your use of the blade?; (2) what is the cost of the blade? For me, stainlessness is at the very bottom of my scale of importance.
We talk all the time about how important it is to be stainless, how do we take care of INFI so it doesn't corrode, what surface treatments we put on it, what finish is the best or worst... and I've yet to hear of stain/corrosion actually being a problem. For INFI, or even for SR101. Unless you're saltwater kayaking/boating/fishing. And I actually haven't read, that I can recall, that really being a problem. I guess I just missed it. It DOES seem to result in SR101 blades being painted a lot instead of being bare... which IS a problem, IMO.
It being the toughest of the high-edge-holding stainless steels has captured my interest. Looking at the data sheet for it, and the second link above, I like what I'm seeing. Very much. Not so much because stainless is important to me, but because it is apparently VERY important to the knife manufacturer(s). I grew up with 1095 pocketknives. I never had a problem with rust. Or corrosion. For the longest time as an adult, I would not buy a pocket knife with a stainless blade. Any stainless blade (with the possible exception of INFI, which I consider stainless, in spite of what I'm told) is compromising my two most important factors (edge-holding and toughness) for my least important factor (corrosion resistance).
I like the idea it can take a much thinner edge and still be stable at the edge (toughness). That's very much a step in the right direction, IMO. And I'll admit that I didn't realize that a thin edge was a problem for INFI.
I DON'T like the idea of it being more expensive than S35VN, or SR101, or S90V, because all those fulfill all my needs with less expense. If it is MORE expensive than INFI? Well... you can guess my reaction to that.
Again, all the above is said not to argue... just to discuss. If suddenly Swamp Rat comes out with a Ratmandu, or Rodent Solution, or whatever small-medium blade with a properly thin edge, in ELMAX, Magnacut, or even SR101, I will be "over the moon," as you said. Definitely. I never understood why I had to properly thin out the edge on all my RMDs with SR101. Is SR101 supposed to be unstable with a thin edge, too?
Which one is your favorite, and why, please ?
Like I said, of the ones I know of, the TG Crusader would be my favorite, because (1) It says Crusader! How cool is that?! (2) I like the shape of the guards. I mean, really, to me, it just LOOKS cool. I've never even held one, though, so I'm purely going on looks.
Of the ones I have, I actually have (and I've used all the variations of steel they come in, reasonably hard), the TGULB would be my favorite. DCBB with micarta scales. Cuts fantastic, has held its edge through all reasonable use that I described above, is light and fast, easy to carry, and very comfortable in hand.
Second favorite would be the TG-P, because it takes the TG design and turns it up to 11. Literally. One of the best and most comfortable choppers I have. The AR9.5 may be a little more comfortable, with choppability being about the same.
But the TGULB would have to be my favorite. For regular cutting, it is less unwieldy (more "wieldy"?) than the TG-P.
