What's the deal with MagnaCut?

L

LostCause

Joined
Apr 1, 2022
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Do manufacturers fail at heat treat or people abuse their knives?

I see plenty of pics of chipped MagnaCut blades all over knife groups and quick googling shows reddit posts and so on...

Some people swear by it, some just aren't amazed, and others just straight out bash it.

I'm curious to know what could be the reason for that. Enough people reccomended me MagnaCut that I want to get one... but I keep seeing other people telling me not to waste my money.
 
Welcome to the knife internet. Pick your steel, search for "knife people" opinions about it, and you'll get about the same mixed bag across the board.

MagnaCut is cool because it is a stainless steel with the toughness/wear resistance balance in the ballpark of CPM 4V.

It's great stuff but it's unlikely to completely revolutionize your knife use experience.

Here's some great reading on the stuff where the creator of the steel explains it: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/03/25/cpm-magnacut/
 
I think you answered your own question with all the above...?

I don't have a MC blade yet, but my one mentor swears by them, and I trust his opinion.....However.

You are right, ya Need a proper heat treat...... And that's probably not happening everywhere yet.

Also when something is Pumped up as much as this steel has been, I'm sure some are pushing it beyond its limits.
I'm thinking it's the "Gunslingger Syndrome"
When you are the biggest and baddest in town, everyone is looking for a fight. And bringing it....Ha!I

It's a great steal, if used accordingly
 
You have to look into what someone did with it that might have caused it to chip. Did they put a very thin angle on the grind? If so that could contribute to the chipping. As mentioned above the heat treatment would play into it as well. Maybe people are pushing the steal really hard to see how it performs.

I have some CRKs in it and I like it, but my use is limited so far.
 
I have a feeling people are expecting magic out of MagnaCut when in reality it's just another knife steel. It has some great qualities, but it's often being run quite hard and that will result in chips when abused.

The online/Youtube crowd almost always has unrealistic expectations of the newest "super steel". Anyone who has been around the hobby a couple of decades has seen this cycle go around multiple times.
 
MagnaCut is very tough at 60-61 Rc, but most people are taking it up to 64 Rc +/- because of the mistaken belief that higher hardness means better heat treat. At the higher hardness, MagnaCut has relatively low toughness.
 
I guess they found the limit to how hard they can push it. I remember some fellas saying that as tough as Magnacut is it should be run harder to get the most out of it.
In my opinion the toughness is one of the reasons it’s a great steel when done properly. If you forget that the harder it gets the toughness goes down then it will not preform as well as it should. I’ll give a little edge retention in favor of toughness for a general to hard use knife. If I want edge retention and don’t run into tough dirty stuff then I’ll go with s30v or s35vn or 20cv.
 
Nathan did a video comparing mc to 3v, watch it. Mc isn't mythical steel from a movie, it breaks and chips like every other steel in existence when pushed to its limits.

I'd take random internet gossip with a grain of salt. If it doesn't come from a source I trust here on the forum, I'm skeptical. To many liars and fools out there.
 
I forgot to mention that I have four knives in Magnacut done by Buck knives, the first stealth run 110 and 3 Larrin 501 versions and they all have performed extremely well with no chips or micro chipping or damage of any kind. The edge retention has been very good and sharpening is a breeze. Im very satisfied with Magnacut done by Buck !
 
Some cute but ultimately unhelpful posts have been moved offline.
 
It's a great steel, but it's a victim to its own hype. Dr. Larrin did the right thing in letting others test and review it, but manufacturers still took that and hyped it up as the second coming of Crucible.

Also, from what I can tell very few large batch productions come out with the "optimal" hardness, who knows if the rest of the process was followed too.

So far I have two blades with Magnacut, one from Manly from a small batch where they aimed for 62-63. For a fixed blade with a very thin BTE grind I believe is optimal. The protocol was followed to the T otherwise. The blade tested at 62.8 HRC average from 3 probes, and performed wonderfully with manila rope tests and general use expected of a small (10cm) fixed blade.

Second blade is a Pro Tech Mordax. Unlike Manly I'm not familiar with the people or their process, but the blade tested at 63.6 average from 3 probes. Tests using the factory edge were unsatisfactory, I highly doubt it was burned, but most likely a burr. It sharpened up nicely and seems to be holding up a lot better and on par with the fixed blade. Difference being the Mordax is noticeably thicker BTE so it takes more pressure to make the same cut => more wear.

While sharpening both blades I noticed somewhat of a secondary burr, like really tiny, barely perceivable. But it would not surprise me if it's that burr that is causing many of the "chipping" issues. You can take the best steel heat treat it to perfection, but a poor edge will make it perform like trash. I'm not the best sharpener, but It took me actual effort to deburr the blades unlike stuff I'm used to, like CPM-S--V, M4, M390... the usual stuff.
 
Thanks for responses.

So it so far seems to be bad HT (too hard), poor edge geometry (too thin) and maybe even abuse.

LionSteel has a reputation of keeping some steels softer, so if I go for a MagnaCut knife - I'll probs get LionSteel or maybe Bradford Guardian as some here reccomended.

I'm curious to hear more real life experiences tho.
 
I actually haven’t seen many chipped blades, and plenty of trolls have happily sent me MagnaCut problems of various types. There has definitely been a contingent of hipsters that don’t like anything that is popular. And some trolls that have gathered every reported issue a knifemaker or user has had so that they can prove the veracity of their hate.
 
Here is a thread in the CRK forum:

jjg6319

Thread 'Thoughts on MagnaCut'

MagnaCut steel has been around for a little while now and I was curious what your thoughts are on this steel versus the S35VN or S45VN blades for CRK? It looked to me that CRK has been using a heat treatment higher than others and if you have other brands do you think the CRK knives hold an edge longer? Any comments would be appreciated. I have some 21s and have not got a Magnacut model yet. :)

Use the search function and I am sure you will find many threads. :cool:
 
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I feel it's pretty solid. My only experience is from David Mary and Kershaw and both have been on point. Maganacut, aebl, and whatever SAK uses are really the only stainless steels I like. That being said, I'm a carbon steel guy myself so I have my biases.
 
I've used MagnaCut in a gyuto on most days over the last 2.5 years without any noticeable chipping whatsoever. In fact, I'm pretty impressed with it.

Only chipping I've seen has been on some factory edges on my Protech Mordax and Hogue RSK. Given how few people in the knife community seem to sharpen their own knives, I bet most people reporting excessive chipping are using knives with burnt factory edges.
 
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