The super steel rat race

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eveled said:
Is the knife hobby the only hobby affected by this?

I can’t think of one other item that I know exactly what steel it is made of.

Guns either stainless or blued

Hammers? Other tools? We just expect the manufacturers to use the right steel and methods.

I grew up with knives, they either rusted easily or they were relatively stainless.

I will admit MAGNACUT seems different. Maybe because there is a face and a story behind it. IDK
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Lol good point. Even if you’re building a $20k race car engine, the pistons are just going to be listed as “forged”. I’ve never heard of companies listing exact compositions and heat treats for engine parts, which can be WAY more expensive than pocket knives….
 
Kettleman said:
Ill beg to differ there. Im my real world everyday use (Yes I use knives for actually work everyday) Magnacut out preforms both S35VN and S45VN in every aspect I care about. I wont speak to the S30V as I havent used it side by side but I would put my money on the Magnacut.
Lots of folks don’t like new and thats fine but just because you don’t doesnt mean its not better.
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I use my blades everyday too, work, outdoors and some. No magnacut does not out perform anything like CruWear or M390 which is what I usually carry depending on the day and setting. S30V is a reference point due to marketing being a well rounded steel. It's not going to replace my s30v blades. Didn't say magnacut was bad in anyway. Just doesn't do anything for me is all. And no when you're cutting just cardboard at work magnacut is about the same as s30v.
 
Good discussion, but I think the bigger question is the heat treat and the geometry of the particular knives in question.

The choice is steel is significant and something I consider, but if the blade is thick behind the edge or comes with a questionable heat treat it becomes a moot point.
 
There was a time when I thought that, if I heard the word "MagnaCut" one more time, I'd stab myself in the ear.


As far as I can tell, the below (*MagnaCut) blade was designed to be a "camp kitchen" knife. Despite that, it has become my favorite house kitchen knife. It holds a great edge, and seems to be wonderful as a "larger" paring(?) knife.

Here it is carving some "chopped" ham slices for my fat little terrorist puppy-dog...



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Synov said:
So if it's not as tough as Z-Tuff or retaining an edge better than Rex 121, you don't get the point? Performance depends on the balance of attributes for what you're doing, not just one feature. Usually there's a trade off between toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance, but Magnacut achieves the performance of a state of the art high speed steel like M4 while being very stainless. It's not just another steel, it breaks through the limitations of stainless steel.
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That is highly false if you watch reviews on the steel actually being used. Not even close to the edge retention of m4 or it's toughness. Again s30v is a reference point. Nor did I say it was bad, just doesn't do anything for me and will not replace my s30v
 
I appreciate variety. I wouldn't say I have a fave steel but I enjoy getting to know each one in my possession.
 
I like trying out different steels, that's why I have a Maxamet blade, and a Farid in D3, plus a plethora of others. I gotta admit, my favorites have been Elmax or M390, usually a Kershaw/Zt. Oh, and my EDC for many years was Niolox!
 
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norcalAF said:
Clearly Sir, you have not experienced Cruwear with Spydercos heat treat 😁.
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I recently got a lil' native in cruwear. Within a couple of weeks I seemed to have rolled the edge and dinged the edge. I'm very surprised as it's used for very light EDC tasks. I used my Wüsthof kitchen steel to get the roll out. But the ding, waiting for my Work Sharp to arrive. I've had a few VG-10 Spyderco and dont' remember having this. It is blisteringly sharp though! Maybe a heat treat issue or the sharpening angles too acute?
 
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smithkzn said:
I recently got a lil' native in cruwear. Within a couple of weeks I seemed to have rolled the edge and dinged the edge. I'm very surprised as it's used for very light EDC tasks. I used my Wüsthof kitchen steel to get the roll out. But the ding, waiting for my Work Sharp to arrive. I've had a few VG-10 Spyderco as dont' remember having this. It is blisteringly sharp though! Maybe a heat treat issue or the sharpening angles too acute?
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My comment was mostly in jest, sometimes some knives have issues, I have a ZT0357 that is very chippy, and I tend to go fairly easy on my blades. I prefer to use dedicated tools most of the time.
 
mitchnola said:
My first few years getting into knives I was all about reading up on the next hot new steel but I have to admit, I’m completely over what steel I’m getting on any particular knife. It’s to the point that I don’t even consider or pay much attention to what steel I’m buying these days. If I like a knife I buy it. If I support certain makers, I buy them regardless of steel. At this point I know if I’m spending x amt of dollars Im getting a good steel.

The whole super steel rat race has just become ridiculous to me. It almost seems gimmicky to me so that people feel the need to own every pm2 in the next newest hottest steel for example.

There’s still no steel out there that wont dull, isn’t too hard or too soft and won’t be needed to be sharpened at some point. It will never exist until we figure out how to put a laser edge on a knife or come out with lightsabers.

I also find it amusing how quickly and suddenly the greatest steel ever becomes antiquated. It may only take a year or two. Magnacut will just be the next super steel to become antiquated. I really wonder how much all this steel innovation is solely just to sell more knives? It definitely seems to be the easiest innovation in the knife world, even more so then locking mechanisms.

So I’m just curious if I’m the only one and where or how I’m totally wrong. But otherwise I’m out the rat race. Just give me a great knife with a sharp edge that I can and will sharpen.
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I tried D2 years ago and found it more difficult to sharpen than other lesser steels (I was probably just useless at sharpening with my Lansky). That was disheartening. I tried expensive high-Rockwell Japanese knives like Global and really battled to sharpen them. So for kitchen knives it's all German Wüsthof or Victorinox - couldn't be happier. I've got a little adventurous lately (curious) – I've just got a cruwear knife and it's ridiculously sharp, so we shall see. My next purchase will be M390 so see how that goes. Then would love an LT Wright Genesis in 3V, which I think will be nicer than A2 or 01. So maybe it's different steels for different purposes, and knowing how to sharpen them. Or finding one that works for you and just enjoying that.
 
norcalAF said:
I like trying out different steels, that's why I have a Maxamet blade, and a Farid in D3, plus a plethora of others. I gotta admit, my favorites have been Elmax or M390, usually a Kershaw/Zt. Oh, and my EDC for many years was Niolox!
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Just got a fixed blade in Niolox. So far , so good 👍
 
I have pretty much all the steels and enjoy them all as they each have their own properties, I like the super steel rat race it would of been fine if we never moved past 440c or 1095 but why? Nothing wrong with tried and tested steels but competition breeds innovation.
 
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