Limits of Maxamet Steel - An Edge Too Far? 

May your health strop easily to a fine edge soon.

That's exactly what my PM2 in 52100 looked like after I sharpened it with my KME, except mine happened while on the sharpener and was actually shredding off the steel in little micro wires. Spyderco told me it was because you can't use diamond stones on 52100. Not sure if I buy that story.

Get better bro! Glad youre back doing these videos

The t-shirt 👌

It would be interesting to see (with Gabes permission)... if you were to put your own edge on that maxamet mule.. and retest it.. see if it is infact his edge style... or a "burnt edge".... anyway.. keep em coming champ... 👍😉

any updates?

@@vikeskie In my testing, Maxamet did not take a good dual grit edge (I think the apex sheared off when I applied the fine stone - too hard and weakened by the coarse stone): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KwZCSzj7pNY.html It did a little better, but not great with an experimental edge I tried to expose carbides intentionally on: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M6qYV195G2Q.html And it did REALLY well with a 250 grit diamond edge stropped on flat denim with Mother's Mag: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GqfDqTaD8XU.html This mule with the last (most successful) edge is currently with Pete, awaiting testing. Thanks for asking!

@@homeslicesharpening thank you for your response! looking for an M4 folder now, it’s slim pickings 😭

@@vikeskie Yeah bro - unfortunately M4 is not trendy atm. I think that anything with medium-high toughness and some decent carbides will do the trick though. I just think Spyderco Maxamet is a little too glassy at 67-68 HRC. To be honest, I've had the best performance improvement of all with MagnaCut, but I'm sure CruWear would also rock & roll with dual grit edge. Check out the video below for details: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-T1w7IQD3vrQ.html I'm fairly confident Rex45, K390, 10V, or Vanadis8 would take an absolutely gnarly awesome dual grit edge too. Most of your highly ductile/tough steels also see a pretty decent improvement, and I know 14C28N, NitroV, 4V, and 3V take a good dual grit edge. I'd assume LC200N would as well. You're not gonna get the edge holding of the high carbide steels, but you'll see big gains considering their normal performance. M4 is really solid though, so impressive for one of the first CPM steels ever created. Interestingly steels like S30V seem to struggle to take a good dual grit edge for whatever reason. Not sure about S90V, S110V, etc... Gotta do more testing. There you go, haha, all the information you didn't ask for. Cheers.

@@homeslicesharpening rex45 is a VERY over rated blade steel. not good. best blade steels. 52100. aebl. xhp. zdp189 if you want to avoid vanadium. otherwise. cruwear, 3v, 4v, m4, k390/10v. all in order of most tough to most abrasion resistant. I don't trust magnacut.

Me, for hours

@Patrick Henry „not using them is abuse” mmhhhyaaa word! but you will be easy on it when you love it, but you also have to treat it as intended, it’s a hard balance :) but if you keep it in the closet you can’t enjoy the power of the steel, and marks of usage are marks of the knives “life” so dare you, knife’s calling :)

Lets go one step further: you have to use your knives to master their features ;D. Finding the right edge angle and sharpening technique, careful cutting to prolong edge retention. We all know you want this ;D

@Patrick Henry How on God's green earth did you feel compelled to give unsolicited advice concerning the use of my Maxamet blades? Was I communicating with you? Regardless of your blunder, is not the abuse of my K-390's good enough for the time being? Please send a weekly itinerary to my secretary delineating the days and times for which I am to carry and use my various knives. Please indicate pocket vs belt EDC and which particular brand. The following blade steels are in my possession: Maxamet, Rex-121, Rex 45, CPM-3V, CPM-4V, K-390, M-390, CPM-154, Cru-Wear, Z-Wear, ZDP-189, CTS-XHP, AEB-L, A2, D2, O1, 1095 Cro Van, N-690, Vanax, VG-10, and ABC-123.

@Patrick Henry so! now you humble have to acknowledge, that: he has a secretary with an iPad, he will decide who is talking to him in a comment and which content is appropriate, and that’s important! he have the Longest! list of power steels from the knife nerds book in possession don’t aggravate, he may accidentally cut herself while karening *zwinkersmiley*

@Patrick Henry That's cute. I ask you to send an itinerary to my secretary and therefore my "knickers are in a twist". You tell me it's silly not to use my Maxamet but your knickers are somehow not in a twist? Weird. You must be special. What should I do with the $300.00 dress shoes that my wife bought me? I never wear those. Is that shoe abuse? Please, this is your stage now, regale us with your acumen and wit. That's how the internet works. It tips in favor of the guy who gives unsolicited advice but begs innocence if someone asks him "wtf?".

Art!

he is dead? when?!

@@joi777 Couple of weeks ago,,,

That is terrible terrible news. What a loss to the knife nerd community. ☹

What??!!??

IMHO, best Maxamet knife among the available 5 knives is Sage 1 hands down. You can’t go wrong with it. My second favourite is the pm2. The remaining 3 are OK but not as distinguished.

I've had a Rex 86 (z-max analog) rebladed Spyderco Q-Ball for the last year or so. 69.5 HRC. It sharpens harder, and doesn't hold an edge as long as Maxamet but the differences are absolutely minimal and I would never have noticed any difference at all if I wasnt hyper focused in looking for one. I haven't done any formal testing, as I value the long term use of my elbow and shoulder, but I would basically guarantee edge retention within 5% of Maxamet. It took literally sharpening them side by side to even notice a difference, and really it was just a "glassier" feeling with a tiny bit less feedback. Someone else doing the same experiment with the same blades may find no difference, or even the opposite since the difference is so small and, ultimately, subjective. The Maxamet I'm comparing it to is in a Manix 2, and hasn't been HRC tested. I'm thinking the sharpening difference can probably be attributed to a slightly higher HRC in the Rex 86. I'm glad I have both of them, but I never use them. Once I finally got a vanax folder in a usable blade length I haven't used much else, though.

Haha! I’m on it. Will post a response soon. I’m currently overhauling all my sharpening testing to start a new series experimenting with dual grit with the new information we now know. Bummer of a test though. It underperformed the burnt WorkSharp Maxamet Edge, lol. A good reason for me to stay humble 😅

@@homeslicesharpening I wouldn't say a bummer, Gabe. I think we might overlook many aspects of steels and just take for granted that though similar, they have their particular differences. And it's great to see them. Thanks Pete, thanks Gabe.😊👋

Making a choice based on your personal experience is called: style ;)

@Patrick Henry It is not about romance at all with me. I forgot to mention 52100 which actually started me with high carbon steels. I have two kitchen knives hand forged by a local knife maker. Man... those things get extremely sharp, incredibly easy. I was sold.

@@airpaprika I love 52100 customs, carbon steel in general takes a stupidly sharp edge very easily and loves being stropped which helps me too.

@@jameshealy4594 For certain applications, fast and easy sharpening is a must. Probably not for EDC, but I can't be bothered. My blurple Spyderco PM2 in CPM110V always feels a bit dull.

@@airpaprika I've heard they do, but then cut very well on harder material (say, not hair splitting but it will murder cardboard forever)? I carry a bunch of things but my 10 year old S30V PM2 is always looking jealously at the blurple model despite being a great steel in it's own right. It doesn't help that I've personally moved on significantly since buying that digicam variant...

You got your wish, Sage 5 in maxamet is available at a few retailers right now.

The first time I've dropped it I chipped it ..

Pretty sure he meant the Sage 1. Hope I’m wrong though. That would be awesome!

A Sage 5 in Maxamet🤩😍🤩 I dream about it too !

Pretty sure it’s the sage 2 in maxamet and liner lock. I have one.

@@jaysgood10 The Sage 2 is the one with the Reeve integral lock while the Sage 1 is the liner lock variety. (Sage 1 is the model currently offered in Maxamet.)

Sage 1 yes.

It was below 10c today, that's almost a war crime! 😅

@@jameshealy4594 you poor guys are upsidedown and backwards 🤦‍♂️ I didn't know Australia had a "winter" with actual cold weather

@@OsamaBinDarrel Depends on your perspective, I live near Melbourne at about 180m above sea level and I've seen snow fall at my house twice in 30 years, neither time did it stay on the ground for more than 15 minutes. But there's many nights it gets down to -5c or so.

He did a test on 15v a month before your posted comment.

Oh I forgot to add.....Bruzzzzzz

Dual grit won't work with this steel. Its around 70hrc and filled to the brim with rocks. Its not a steel that has much elasticity. If you watch the video where he explains how dual grit works, you could imagine it won't work with this composition. Also your maxamet on the para is fine. The steel is just picky about how you sharpen it and with what you sharpen it with. Big brown bear has done a few videos on the subject.

Yeah - I am currently outvoted 2 to one by Pete and Dr. Todd Simpson. I guess 3 to one counting you, TacticalCenter haha! They think it’s too hard and carbidey for dual grit to work, I think it might be possible if you experimented with different methods and gear. We’ll see. This test is not promising... Sorry to hear your experience was not positive Trent. If I find any ways of improving edge life, or discover dual grit doesn’t work on Maxamet, I’ll let you know.

@@homeslicesharpening I think I'll try it out on some lc200n and H1 next. I understand that maxamet is full of carbide, so is S110v .. I have observed so many people using a toothy edge on these steels instead of a progression of finer grit to use these carbides like the teeth on a saw blade. If not for experience empirically, how will I know this method won't work? I sharpen something just about every night, it's what I do to avoid going to sleep while watching RU-vid videos. I'm getting old and I bust ass all day! I'll try to keep track of some results maybe rex45 would be interesting, hard and stable with less carbide content. Off to work i go, I've finished my coffee.

​@@trentsapp731 Indeed. H1 could be interesting dual grit - Dr. Todd Simpson says that there's a small chance that the dual grit edge might be work hardened by the movement of the burr back and forth. Guys have been trying to give H1 some additional precipitation hardening for ages with little success. It may be a shining moment for dual grit (as this test was not, lol). Take care bro.

Congratulations Sir