I'll be the first to admit I like knives and I have several from different companies and individual's. Recently I've been hearing a lot about magnacut steel, and how it marks all the check boxes like the old Miller Lite commercial said taste great, and less filling. I thought I would ask you professionals what your impressions of it were.

Not a pro' here,

just an old fart that is a collector/user.

I like A2, S35VN and M4 particularly.

Dale Howe, Howe Mountain Knives has crafted numerous knives for me. The latest is of Magnacut.


He sez' Magnacut is the Schizzz.




Magnacut @ 63-64 RC. Weathered elk scales ( rough enough to give a non-slip grip)



I like it!

I suggested he call it an Upswept Hunter or a Sharpfinger Magnum!

ya!

GWB

Looks stupid, isn’t at all stupid.

Everything you ever wanted to know about it:

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/03/25/cpm-magnacut/

I've made a few knives out of it. I like it a lot. It's very expensive though, doubly-so because I burn through more belts too.

is it easier to sharpen then s30v and s90v.

Most of that went over my head. To me, I’ve always just looked at all as high carbon that will rust, takes an edge, and keeps the edge. Most of mine have been from some salvage industrial hacksaw blades.

Tougher than most, holds an edge about the same as S30V, easy to sharpen, very corrosion resistant. What's not to like.

Based on my experience with it I say no.

I’ve never had any difficulty sharpening my s30v or s90v pocket knives with my Spyderco SharpMaker.

I put a forced patina on my high carbon that I keep for myself and it keeps any rust from forming.

Interesting. I don't have any S90V but do have both Magnacut and S30V. I use a 4 stage Lansky system that finishes with a 1200 grit stone and don't find either steel to be problematic. The Magnacut seems easier to sharpen to me. As for a comparison i would say it is about the same as sharpening the CPM 154 blades that i own but holds an edge about the same my S30V knives. That being said i only have 2 knives in Magnacut and have only owned them for +/- 2 years. One is a filleting knife that done about 25 small fish and has yet to even need a touch up so no experience on that one. Other one is a hunting knife that has done 3 deer and 2 bear and was just touched up this fall - so limited anecdotal experience for sure but the touch up took less than 2 minutes to get back to hair popping sharp.

I also wanted to see if the anti-corrosion properties where for real so after one of the bears i left it covered in blood and some fat outside on the ground to get rained on multiple times for 2 weeks in damp humid weather. No effect.

The hunting knife:



My take is there are better purpose specific steels out there but that Magnacut is a steel that does pretty well everything a fair bit better than average and is pretty much marine grade where corrosion resistance is concerned and makes a good all purpose blade that can be abused and still maintain its functionality.

It’s very difficult to make a custom knife out of and they are typically production knives. There’s just nothing that gets as sharp as high carbon steel. It is supposed to be the best of all worlds when it comes to corrosion resistance and edge retention but I’ll stick with high carbon. It’s not difficult for a hunter who takes care of their equipment to keep high carbon in great condition. In a couple of years there will be some other new super steel to replace it.

NTX, what is “forced patina”?

Red rust is bad rust. High carbon steel is subject to it because it’s typically unprotected in any way except for oil. Putting a forced patina on high carbon is much like bluing a gun. It’s a good rust that’s controlled and protects the high carbon from bad rust. I made this knife from a 1800’s era sheep shear and forced a patina with white vinegar and yellow mustard.

Interesting read.