Sharpening and using my MagnaCut Mule

[sharp_edge]

Sal - appreciate your encouraging word. I've decided to use this Mule on anything that needs to be cut - kitchen stuff, cardboard, wood, drywall, zip ties, bushes, copper wires, Zombies ... I am not going to baby it (I have another if I want to) though I will not purposely abuse it. I will continue to sharpen it and after the factory edge is completely gone, try once again a lower DPS to see where the limit is. I'll continue to share my experience of sharpening and using this Mule. I do hope more people will share theirs as well.

I am changing the title of this thread.

 

[Sal Glesser]

Hi Sharp_edge,

That's what I'm doing with mine.

sal

 

[tomsch]

Due to an amazingly gracious member here I was able to score a Magnacut. My plan is to do a light stropping and then put it to work. If it needs anything beyond that then I'll touch up with a SharpMaker. Beyond that I may reset the primary bevel with either my Gen3 WE or just jump strait to my free-hand stones that I use on all my kitchen gyutos.

 

[winnerone23]

How's yours making out T tomsch ?

After some factory edge use, I got to the Sharpmaker and diamond's..

I leaned in, on the 15dps and microbeveled at 15dps..

https://imgur.com/cJFRo66

https://imgur.com/97ffBEk

Then more testing..

https://imgur.com/VjQxMqs

https://imgur.com/vqGtvZC

Edge didn't start to show wear, till I started using the "cutting board".. which came off of a concrete job.

https://imgur.com/IMtirz0

https://i.imgur.com/jsboZTJ.jpeg
A handful of swipes on my worn diamond rods and back to sharp..

 

[CPM-ROCCO]

18° dps

 

[Alberta Ed]

I generally try to keep the maker's edge profile. My Mule in 20CV is beyond scary sharp. Just wave it and a tomato falls into even slices.

 

[CPM-ROCCO]

I generally try to keep the maker's edge profile. My Mule in 20CV is beyond scary sharp. Just wave it and a tomato falls into even slices.

Me too. My Mule was approx 14° At the trailing edge and 21° On one side near the tip. Factory edge was a mess on my example. My other one I received had a much more symmetrical factory edge.

 

[winnerone23]

I generally try to keep the maker's edge profile. My Mule in 20CV is beyond scary sharp. Just wave it and a tomato falls into even slices.

I'm with that! (Normally)... lol..

I'll touch up the factory edge, till it actually needs sharpened..
That's when I reprofile an get to fresh steel at the apex.
For testing, I skipped all the touch ups.. lol

 

[DeadboxHero]

First off let me make it clear that I don't mean to say anything bad about Spyderco Mule Team or the MagnaCut steel IN GENERAL - I am not extrapolating anything and I am only talking about one of the two MagnaCut Mule Team knives that I recently purchased directly from spyderco.com. Some of you may have read my post in another thread about my experience of sharpening this knife.

Just a few moments I decided to sharpen again the knife to fix the imperfection of the edge due to chipping from my previous sharpening session. This time I decided to start with the "red" stone in the Lansky Deluxe 5-stone system, partly fearing the diamonds are too aggressive and partly wanting to stick to the edge bevel that's already set from previous session (I used a sharpie to make sure that's the case). Soon after I progressed to the "green" stone, I noticed that portion of the edge did not look right again (see pictures and video below). I touched it with my finger nail slightly and carefully and a thin line of steel went off. As I have sharpened this knife at least three times, I am now very concerned with it. I am afraid something with it is wrong from the factory.

While I do not claim myself as a sharpening expert, I have used the same sharpening system to successfully sharpen many dozens of knives, some of which are Spyderco's. I also don't think I was shooting for a too shallow angle - I used the 17 dps setting on Lansky but we all know the actual angle depends on a few other factors. As a reference, I put a PM2 in one of the pictures below that I recently resharpened. You can see the PM2 has much smaller dps.

https://imgur.com/4VddaYQ

It's just the Burr coming off.

 

[DeadboxHero]

Here is a video of what happens when you don't fully remove the burr and just leave it straightened out on the edge (Wire Edge)

 

[RustyIron]

Here is a video of what happens when you don't fully remove the burr and just leave it straightened out on the edge (Wire Edge)

Very nice video and bit of microscopy.

 

[sharp_edge]

Today I used my Magnacut Mule to cut a whole chicken into small pieces. Was able to cut all other bones easily except the leg bones, which I tried but decided to leave as were. After that I cleaned up the blade. The edge held up pretty well - there is no shiny spot on it. It still sliced print paper with ease. I stropped it a few times and now it goes back to razor sharp. I did not take any picture (hands were messy).

 

[matto6]

I would like to know if anyone else is having difficulty?

I am having difficulty. I am using a TSPROF K03 and venev diamond stones. I decided to sharpen at 14.5 degrees per side. I thought this made sense because of magnacut's toughness. It seems to have been a terrible decision.

I started the F80 grit, then 150 and generally was not experiencing a bur like I'm used to. It seemed not as pronounced and more inconsistent than normal. I worked quite a long time before moving on to the next stone. I kept thinking that this seems slower to sharpen than my S110v manix 2 (which I had no trouble with whatsoever)

When got to the 240 stone it again seemed to take a really long time to get rid of the scratches from the previous stone (I always use a jewelers lense to monitor progress). I kept alternating sides and repeating and repeating, inspecting as I went.

Then I noticed a chip had come off! (picture attached). I am not a sharpening expert, but I've sharpened a good number of knives and I have never had the blade start chipping off like this.

I kept sharpening trying to work out the chip, and noticed another chip forming right next to it. That's when I gave up.

I'm really unhappy with this blade so far. I guess 14.5 could be too steep and I should go back to 17 or so. But I am having a hard time believing magnacut can't handle ~30 degrees combined angle.

Is it possible this knife isn't right? Is it an option to send it back for inspection? It's never been used at all, besides me sharpening it. I'm ready to junk it. I love all my other Spyderco steels, but not this one. And I was so excited about magnacut!

 

[winnerone23]

I am having difficulty. I am using a TSPROF K03 and venev diamond stones. I decided to sharpen at 14.5 degrees per side. I thought this made sense because of magnacut's toughness. It seems to have been a terrible decision.

I started the F80 grit, then 150 and generally was not experiencing a bur like I'm used to. It seemed not as pronounced and more inconsistent than normal. I worked quite a long time before moving on to the next stone. I kept thinking that this seems slower to sharpen than my S110v manix 2 (which I had no trouble with whatsoever)

When got to the 240 stone it again seemed to take a really long time to get rid of the scratches from the previous stone (I always use a jewelers lense to monitor progress). I kept alternating sides and repeating and repeating, inspecting as I went.

Then I noticed a chip had come off! (picture attached). I am not a sharpening expert, but I've sharpened a good number of knives and I have never had the blade start chipping off like this.

I kept sharpening trying to work out the chip, and noticed another chip forming right next to it. That's when I gave up.

I'm really unhappy with this blade so far. I guess 14.5 could be too steep and I should go back to 17 or so. But I am having a hard time believing magnacut can't handle ~30 degrees combined angle.

Is it possible this knife isn't right? Is it an option to send it back for inspection? It's never been used at all, besides me sharpening it. I'm ready to junk it. I love all my other Spyderco steels, but not this one. And I was so excited about magnacut!

I reprofiled mine at sub-15° and microbeveled at 15°. (Post #24)
I used a Sharpmaker CBN rod and was quicker then s110v.

Maybe the steel is softer and doesn't need such a course stone?
Did you end up with a wire edge, like the OP, and that's what's chipping off?

 

[DeadboxHero]

I am having difficulty. I am using a TSPROF K03 and venev diamond stones. I decided to sharpen at 14.5 degrees per side. I thought this made sense because of magnacut's toughness. It seems to have been a terrible decision.

I started the F80 grit, then 150 and generally was not experiencing a bur like I'm used to. It seemed not as pronounced and more inconsistent than normal. I worked quite a long time before moving on to the next stone. I kept thinking that this seems slower to sharpen than my S110v manix 2 (which I had no trouble with whatsoever)

When got to the 240 stone it again seemed to take a really long time to get rid of the scratches from the previous stone (I always use a jewelers lense to monitor progress). I kept alternating sides and repeating and repeating, inspecting as I went.

Then I noticed a chip had come off! (picture attached). I am not a sharpening expert, but I've sharpened a good number of knives and I have never had the blade start chipping off like this.

I kept sharpening trying to work out the chip, and noticed another chip forming right next to it. That's when I gave up.

I'm really unhappy with this blade so far. I guess 14.5 could be too steep and I should go back to 17 or so. But I am having a hard time believing magnacut can't handle ~30 degrees combined angle.

Is it possible this knife isn't right? Is it an option to send it back for inspection? It's never been used at all, besides me sharpening it. I'm ready to junk it. I love all my other Spyderco steels, but not this one. And I was so excited about magnacut!

I am having difficulty. I am using a TSPROF K03 and venev diamond stones. I decided to sharpen at 14.5 degrees per side. I thought this made sense because of magnacut's toughness. It seems to have been a terrible decision.

I started the F80 grit, then 150 and generally was not experiencing a bur like I'm used to. It seemed not as pronounced and more inconsistent than normal. I worked quite a long time before moving on to the next stone. I kept thinking that this seems slower to sharpen than my S110v manix 2 (which I had no trouble with whatsoever)

When got to the 240 stone it again seemed to take a really long time to get rid of the scratches from the previous stone (I always use a jewelers lense to monitor progress). I kept alternating sides and repeating and repeating, inspecting as I went.

Then I noticed a chip had come off! (picture attached). I am not a sharpening expert, but I've sharpened a good number of knives and I have never had the blade start chipping off like this.

I kept sharpening trying to work out the chip, and noticed another chip forming right next to it. That's when I gave up.

I'm really unhappy with this blade so far. I guess 14.5 could be too steep and I should go back to 17 or so. But I am having a hard time believing magnacut can't handle ~30 degrees combined angle.

Is it possible this knife isn't right? Is it an option to send it back for inspection? It's never been used at all, besides me sharpening it. I'm ready to junk it. I love all my other Spyderco steels, but not this one. And I was so excited about magnacut!

Send it to me I'll fix it for you

 

[sharp_edge]

M matto6 thx for sharing.

 

[matto6]

Did you end up with a wire edge, like the OP, and that's what's chipping off?

This seems possible yes. But then my question would be - what am I doing wrong? It's happening while using relatively coarse stones, which I've never seen before.

I'm flipping the knife often and working it until the edge looks good (jewelers lens) and until it quickly forms an burr on both sides.

One thing that's was baffling me (and possibly consistent with a foil edge?) is that the burr often feels more pronounced on one side than the other. On one side I feel what seems to be a normal burr. But on the other side the burr feels very slight and hard to detect, even though the edge looks good under a jewelers lens. So I would keep sharpening trying to form a solid burr on both sides. I stared at it several times trying to understand why no burr was forming - and couldn't see any reason. So I would keep going.

So when I say it takes longer than S110v - it's possible that I was removing more material than s110v - and doing it for longer than necessary because the edge was folding over or breaking off asymmetrically? So I kept filing in search of a new burr?

I'm really not sure what is going on. Sharpening this knife has left me so confused. It certainly may be user error. I'm just an amateur sharpener. But I'm not a complete newbie or a complete moron. I've sharpened around 30 knives of varying steels, always with a satisfactory result - push cutting paper and an edge the looks beautiful. And what I experienced during sharpening made sense - (eg, if I don't feel a burr, I will look at it and see, oh yeah I need a little more time on this side, etc.)

But something about this steel is different. It's presenting challenges I've never seen before, leaving me confused about what's going on, and I'm clearly not responding to properly.

 

[matto6]

Send it to me I'll fix it for you

I'm not sure if that was serious or a joke. It if serious, thank you I appreciate it. However this is a hobby for me. I'm doing it for the enjoyment and to learn.

If I am screwing up the knife with my technique, I want to understand why and fix it.
If the knife is defective, I want to replace it.
If this steel is just brittle and miserable to sharpen, I want it get rid of it.

 

[DeadboxHero]

I'm not sure if that was serious or a joke. It if serious, thank you I appreciate it. However this is a hobby for me. I'm doing for the enjoyment and to learn..

If I am screwing up the knife with my technique, I want to understand why and fix it.
If the knife is defective, I want to replace it.
If this steel is just brittle and miserable to sharpen, I want it get rid of it.

I'm serious

 

[matto6]

I've always felt it odd that someone would get a brand new knife and change the original edge to something "they think might be better". I know a few "experts" that do that.

For me it was for two reasons

1. The sharpness of the factory edge was OK but not particularly impressive. So I decided sharpen it right away.

2. My reason for purchasing a magnacut mule was to experiment and learn. I wanted to see what happened if I put a slightly sub-30 degree edge on it so I could use the 30 degree setting on the sharpmaker to maintain it.

Everything I've read about sharpening says that to maximize edge retention you want the smallest angle that the steel can handle without breaking. And with magnacut being a big jump up in toughness (over say s45vn) it seemed like a great candidate to try shallower angles edges.