Why isn't Magnacut more available in production knives?

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Sid Post

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Looking at various steel options for a kitchen knife, I was surprised about what I saw with 14C28N and Magnacut. Magnacut seems to be a psuedo-M4/Vanadis 4E stainless steel with really good properties for fixed blades and folders.

Why isn't it more widely used in production knives?

TIA,
Sid
 
Uuhhh....what? Virtually everyone is releasing knives in it at the moment. It may just not seem that way, since those knives get immediately gobbled up. Just off the top of my head, I've seen knives from:

- Bradford Knives
- Hogue Knives
- Curtiss Knives
- Chris Reeve Knives (!!)
- Tactile Knives
- Hinderer Knives (!!)
- Case Knives (LMAO!!!!)
- Medford Knives

And a bunch more besides are all releasing folders and fixed blades in it and have done so throughout 2022. A lot of custom makers are doing so as well.

Edited to add: that said, I haven't really seen any of the Chinese OEMs releasing knives in it as yet.
 
Sid Post said:
Looking at various steel options for a kitchen knife, I was surprised about what I saw with 14C28N and Magnacut. Magnacut seems to be a psuedo-M4/Vanadis 4E stainless steel with really good properties for fixed blades and folders.

Why isn't it more widely used in production knives?

TIA,
Sid
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Availability as it is a very new steel. This also leads to companies possibly needing to retool to machine it. Give it another year or so, it will start becoming more popular.

I'm not sure how geared toward kitchen knives it is either.
 
Has anyone put this steel to actual work yet? Edge retention? Chipability? I’m curious to try it out in my work environment, but can’t find a model that I like with it. I’m looking for a large CRK in Magnacut if anyone has one to sell.

I’d be willing to test this steel out in a working environment for anyone out there lol.
 
Quiet said:
Uuhhh....what? Virtually everyone is releasing knives in it at the moment. It may just not seem that way, since those knives get immediately gobbled up. Just off the top of my head, I've seen knives from:

- Bradford Knives
- Hogue Knives
- Curtiss Knives
- Chris Reeve Knives (!!)
- Tactile Knives
- Hinderer Knives (!!)
- Case Knives (LMAO!!!!)
- Medford Knives

And a bunch more besides are all releasing folders and fixed blades in it and have done so throughout 2022. A lot of custom makers are doing so as well.

Edited to add: that said, I haven't really seen any of the Chinese OEMs releasing knives in it as yet.
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Hell, I just saw an article saying Ontario was releasing a pair of fixed blades in Magnacut. Not exactly known for staying on the, forgive the pun, cutting edge of modern steels.
 
There are a couple reasons.

Makers have to go through their old stock of steels. A lot of makers have a decent amount of steel that they buy months or years in advance and they need to burn through those first.

Secondly, Magnacut isn't really super understood by the masses yet. Cedric and Ada did a cut test, Dutch Butchcraft Knives did some videos on it, a few other channels like Outpost76 did some work with it. I think Big Brown Bear did some video with it, and I will link his because he is awesome.


It's a very new steel, and so once more people get a handle on it and test it, they will say what they feel about it. Also another thing is that makers do not know what to heat treat this to. Above 62, and the steel is not as durable. I suspect fixed blades will be below 62 HRC, unless they are smaller. CRK thinks 63-64 is the best hardness to have it at for folders. Time will tell if this is really the case. The data is out there, but real world use will probably determine the HRC makers will settle at.



I mean think about this as well. Like with anything, some will do it better than others, and there will be lemons with good makers. Until magnacut has been around for awhile, I don't think we will see it very widespread. I think it will basically replace most blade steels out there though in the long run. There is a reason why makers say magnacut is one of the most important knife moments in recent history. It is also easy to machine and grind according to CRK. It's as tough as 4v at certain heat treats, it's virtually rust proof, it's easy to sharpen, and it has better edge retention than s30v.
 
Slice O Life said:
There are a couple reasons.

Makers have to go through their old stock of steels. A lot of makers have a decent amount of steel that they buy months or years in advance and they need to burn through those first.

Secondly, Magnacut isn't really super understood by the masses yet. Cedric and Ada did a cut test, Dutch Butchcraft Knives did some videos on it, a few other channels like Outpost76 did some work with it. I think Big Brown Bear did some video with it, and I will link his because he is awesome.
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So what was the consensus on Maganacut?
 
91bravo said:
Has anyone put this steel to actual work yet? Edge retention? Chipability? I’m curious to try it out in my work environment, but can’t find a model that I like with it. I’m looking for a large CRK in Magnacut if anyone has one to sell.

I’d be willing to test this steel out in a working environment for anyone out there lol.
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CPK has done some testing on it and gotten pretty cool results.

Nate does Magnacut

www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
Slice O Life said:
There are a couple reasons.

Makers have to go through their old stock of steels. A lot of makers have a decent amount of steel that they buy months or years in advance and they need to burn through those first.

Secondly, Magnacut isn't really super understood by the masses yet. Cedric and Ada did a cut test, Dutch Butchcraft Knives did some videos on it, a few other channels like Outpost76 did some work with it. I think Big Brown Bear did some video with it, and I will link his because he is awesome.


It's a very new steel, and so once more people get a handle on it and test it, they will say what they feel about it. Also another thing is that makers do not know what to heat treat this to. Above 62, and the steel is not as durable. I suspect fixed blades will be below 62 HRC, unless they are smaller. CRK thinks 63-64 is the best hardness to have it at for folders. Time will tell if this is really the case. The data is out there, but real world use will probably determine the HRC makers will settle at.



I mean think about this as well. Like with anything, some will do it better than others, and there will be lemons with good makers. Until magnacut has been around for awhile, I don't think we will see it very widespread. I think it will basically replace most blade steels out there though in the long run. There is a reason why makers say magnacut is one of the most important knife moments in recent history. It is also easy to machine and grind according to CRK. It's as tough as 4v at certain heat treats, it's virtually rust proof, it's easy to sharpen, and it has better edge retention than s30v.
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63-63 HRC is definitely fine for a fixed blade in Magnacut, according to Larrin's own charts for instance, Magnacut at 64 HRC is couple of times tougher than S35VN at 60 and even certain relatively commonly used high carbon steels like A2, M4 ETC.
 
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kafolarbear said:
63-63 HRC is definitely fine for a fixed blade in Magnacut, according to Larrin's own charts for instance, Magnacut at 64 HRC is a couple orders of times tougher than S35VN at 60 and even certain relatively common used high carbon steels like A2, M4 ETC.
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You are right, but there are still some makers like Bark River that think 62 is the optimal hardness for magnacut in a fixed blade due to increased toughness
 
jstn said:
I have 12-13 knives I it, both folders and fixed. I think it is as advertised: holds a good edge, at M4 to 4V levels of tougnness, and I haven’t stained it yet, even with lots of sweat. It seems like great stuff to me.
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Just the kind of feedback I was looking for, thanks for your input!
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Hell, I just saw an article saying Ontario was releasing a pair of fixed blades in Magnacut. Not exactly known for staying on the, forgive the pun, cutting edge of modern steels.
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Trust me, when I saw that Case had released that modern folder in Magnacut through SMKW at BLADE this (past) year, and it was like $150, I jumped. Blade '22 was absolutely awash in Magnacut knives, all being sold at a hefty premium. So, that price was great. And hell, for awhile, the Hogue Deka and the Case Marilla were the only easily obtainable Magnacut knives online. Now though, there are others.
 
Slice O Life said:
You are right, but there are still some makers like Bark River that think 62 is the optimal hardness for magnacut in a fixed blade due to increased toughness
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That's not to say 62HRC is a bad hardness for a magnacut knife, one of my best knives is a Bark River Bushcraft Scout Magnacut (I know I know save your outrage, I've since stopped buying from them), it holds a really really sharp edge decently well and has had no issues with chipping even when hitting bone or ceramic on accident, it just rolls and can be honed/stropped back easily. It's really just a question of a little more toughness or a little more edge retention, I'm willing to bet your average user wouldn't be able to tell the difference really between Magnacut at 62 and 64 HRC.
 
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Quiet said:
Trust me, when I saw that Case had released that modern folder in Magnacut through SMKW at BLADE this (past) year, and it was like $150, I jumped. Blade '22 was absolutely awash in Magnacut knives, all being sold at a hefty premium. So, that price was great. And hell, for awhile, the Hogue Deka and the Case Marilla were the only easily obtainable Magnacut knives online. Now though, there are others.
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I honestly plan to pick up one of the OKC ones. Haven't messed with it at all yet and my first will probably be either that or I'll bite the bullet and drop the $$$ for a Heretic Cleric, because that knife looks badass. Wish they would introduce a blade shape other than the double edged dagger, though.
 
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