no, sir. you can't enjoy the long life of the steel if on every cut you're trying not to chip. that long life will only translate into a long agony until the inevitable.

Maxamet doesn't chip, and it's easy to sharpen for me, in my experience. I use the hell out of mine too.

CSLFiero kzfaq.info/get/bejne/icVneLOmr8-sl2Q.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hqt8apOi2ryzfZ8.html

@@CSLFiero I've been using my maxamet for a year now. Once you figure out sharpen in it it's awesome. I cut tons of stuff with it and never was afraid of chipping

CSLFiero that is not the case at all with Maxamet. Idk where you’re getting that idea

Cedric & Ada Gear and Outdoors Excellent analogy. I’m not sure Spyderco gets the “tune” as right on Maxamet as often as Bugatti does on the Veyron, however. Most of the ones I’ve handled were most certainly not optimally heat treated. Apparently that has been a bit of an issue.

Over 800 cuts with the same model knife......incredible my friend.. your vids have changed my mind on maxamet, also the local knife store owner here in town is an expert in metallurgy, and he's been ranting and raving about how incredible it is for a few months now. Endgame super steel. The only negative is that does rust if you edc it in humid conditions.

It is HSS Cobalt tool steel. It is good but nobody cares to design sharpeners for these type of materials. I get jugged edge when I try to sharpen a ceramic blade, too. Probably a strop stick with a diamond compound would be the easiest way to touch up the edge before it gets too dull.

I’m so glad that I have the Native 5 in Maxamet. Once you got a Bugatti, you prob will never need another car, or in this case knife

i know im asking the wrong place but does any of you know of a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I stupidly forgot the password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me!

Chris Allison wow good job

On the worst of the knives, the apex came off at 23 degrees, 600 grit Edgepro stone, light presure, in the belly of a Native 5. On subsequent knives, some Native 5's and some Manix 2's, if I saw the apex break off at 20 degress, I just went to the convex method. This was the firs knife I tried this method on.

I've also heard great reports on the Mules in Maxamet, from credible sources. But in these folders, I'm 1 for 6, and the 1 you see here I was very gentle with.

I have not seen that and have been using Maxamet in custom knives long before Spyderco has used it, plus other similar steels like 121REX, CPM-15V (not 10V). There are many possible explanations for it, such as the blanks of the knives were cut with the wrong grain orientation. The first thing I would check is the steel cross-rolled, and what method is used to blank the steel. If the sheets have a distinct grain bias, and you blank parallel to it, well you would expect the exact behavior he has noted. If Spyderco (or whoever) doesn't have a method in place to prevent this, then you would just see it happen at random from batch to batch. But it could also just be a sharpening issue (stones/technique), though the fact that the apex comes off in strips is problematic to explain without an underlying steel problem. Random chipping is easy to explain by any number of factors.

I have noted used the EdgePro stones in a long time (more than a decade), but for very high carbide steels, I have found that you need really soft bond stones, the Naniwa Superstone series is a decent one, or even traditional Kings. Sintered stones, or any stone with a ceramic binder (hard bond), is likely to cause fracturing in grinding at a level way above the grit level. Plus you really have to avoid at all costs any movement parallel to the cutting edge, or at least minimize it because that just leaves a fault line. In any case, I hope you report this to Sal he is decent at trying to resolve problems and Maxamet should not have this behavior.

no it hasn't, you just saying it cause you need to justify buying a knife with fancy metal that's garbage.

And you know this how? If you are psychic I’d suggest getting a new job, have you even used maxamet or are you saving up for a skateboard?

MovieGuy666 why are you so upset that people are actually truly enjoy a knife they have purchased. I have had no issues whatsoever in the six months I’ve used my manix 2. Sharpening on my cemented diamond system is no more difficult than most other high end steels. I think the issue may, in fact, be your skill level.

Yes I’m replying to myself, thinking that a 3year follow up was worthwhile. My manix served as my everyday carry for two of the last three years. My experience with the steel has been great. Chipping only with steel to steel or concrete impact. I’m far more concerned with the lock on the manix as when wet the purchase on the ball cage is dodgy. The LW construction bars replacing the cage easily. The spring never weakened on my maxamet manix.

I agree with your statement and I don’t use the venev stones (yet). However I did just pick up the KO3 pro hunter with a set of the tsprof Diamond stones and they work beautifully. I had a hair shaving edge in 15-20 minutes Tops. I have heard so many in the knife community maxamet this maxamet that. Use the right tool for the job the right tool for maxamet is a decent set of Diamond stones and a little technique. Although I would not recommend a super low grit like 120. Rant over, stay sharp my friends!!!!

The camera is a bit of a fooler. There are fine scratches in mine too. I don't think they're the result of the last stone we used, but left over scratches we didn't see from lower grit stones. These large/high carbide super steels tend to give us these fits. That's why I micro bevel most of them, just to be sure the apex is really the result of the finest grit I use without residual scratches. Also, don't be too concerned with burr formation on steels like this. They're usually too hard to produce much of a burr. Let your eyes and fingers be your guide. Hope that helps.

Hi, what is your opinion on cts-xhp - is it tough enough to hold its edge decently?

Same here, I use DMT plates and strop with 1 micron on Para 2 without problem. I think they must have gotten the heat treatment fixed.

Maxamet is awesome

If you are trusting a video this old to avoid buying maxamet, you are missing out on the best steel I’ve sharpened and used. I’ve had no issues that the author has. I have found that there must have been an issue in early batches of this steel. It’s that or some serious flaw in his sharpening technique. I love it so much I have three knives in it. I most certainly would not have done that to “justify my spending so much money on a knife”. Try to do some digging on recent reviews of this steel. You will find that this author’s experience is most certainly in a tiny minority of those reviews.

ReloaderSPR Sounds like you got a good one. It’s interesting I think hat the knives I’ve worked on haven’t given me much trouble removing material, even with alumina stones, but they just haven’t been stable. After reading the comments, it seems guys are having either very good or very bad experiences with this Steel. It would seem that the heat treat process is not in control.

joseph linares CPM-M4, M390, CPM-20CV, CruWear and CTS-XHP are all good candidates.

@@TheApostleP thanks, just got done watching your sale video, a zt caught my eye as well as the Chris Reeves large sabenza 21,wow awesome knives

I haven’t experienced any of the brittleness he speaks of. I have owned my manix 2 maxamet for over a year and it is still amazing and sharp. I HAVE cut zip ties with no problem. I love maxamet so much i just bought a pm2 in maxamet. He is upset because he had to take a LOT of time to sharpen that knife.

It is similar but doesn't use the crappy omega springs that Benchmade uses and is all around superior to Benchmade axis lock. Not surprising because all Spyderco are superior to Benchmade 😂

@@mikewhite255 you ain’t lying. But the bugout bk4 is one of the finest “going out to dinner” knives I’ve ever owned. Def check it out it’s a fine looking specimen

@@GanjaGuy for sure , it's a beauty.

After a few years and several more Maxamet knives sharpened, I would agree with your baseball glove analogy. To continue the comparison… when I was a kid most of the gloves we could afford behaved as you described. But if you could manage to spend twice the price of most good quality gloves, you could buy a Wilson A2000 or Rawlings Wing Tip. Those gloves were made so well, from the best hides prepared the right way, that they felt broken in right out of the box. It’s like the difference between a $200 pair of cowboy boots and a $1,200 pair today. To bring it full circle, if I’m paying ultra premium prices for knives made of a particular steel, I don’t think I should have to “break it in” by sharpening away a significant amount of it for it to perform optimally. Also, for most users/sharpeners, we all have a sweet spot on the spectrum of wear resistance, toughness and sharpenability that we look for in a knife steel. It’s kind of like the “crazy hot spectrum” for women. In that context Maxamet is like a stunningly gorgeous woman who loves sex, with multiple personality disorder, who doesn’t take her meds, but drinks excessively and has a penchant for violence when she doesn’t get her way. Definitely not wife material. And Maxamet will never be the steel for me.

@@TheApostleP Ok, so a little more of the story. Knife 1 - Chippy till the factory edge was long gone Knife 2 - Para 3 Used, sharpened and Zero problems Knife 3 - Para 3 second owner, Brand New factory edge I'm sending all 3 to Gerald at Outpost76 for cut testing. The first 2 knives are sticky sharp with the factory angle. The third Para 3 is a wild card with the factory edge. I sharpen 50-125 knives every year. Playing with super steel is a hobby for me. Thanks for the years and years of outstanding KZfaq videos! Much appreciated. : )

@@barkingspider2007 I've seen KZfaq videos that said Spyderco Maxamet was horrible in early years, but they improved the HT and now it is so much better. Do you agree with this?

@@JustStartingOut-nt8ve Out of 5 Spyderco knives 1 had a chipping problem. 3 have yet to be sharpened. I will know after I get the use them 2 are out on loan for HRC and cut testing wot Outpost 76.

@@JustStartingOut-nt8ve I have 5 Spyderco knives in Maxamet. 1 was very chippy right from the factory. 2 of the knives are out on loan to Outpost76 for HRC and cut testing (Para3) I have a brand new in box PM 2 and a brand new in box Para3. Sadly I can't say if they have improved the heat treatment at Spyderco. The point of buying so many knives in Maxamet was to see if the one poor example of the knife was a one-off. At the moment K390, REX45 and CPM4v are what I carry. In the stainless department, Magnacut is getting some pocket time. I tend to carry a knife for many weeks before stating any opinion. How they sharpen up is also a big factor. Magnacut is a great "Stainless" steel. I prefer the high carbon super steel over stainless. For the money, K390 is hard to beat.

Where are your videos!!!!!!????????

@@SharpThinkingKnives he's gone.

@@Mastermindyoung14 he wasn't back then 😂

Mt. Baldwin k390 is Bohlers version of cpm 10v. It's not a super tough steel but it's tougher than maxamet. 390 is usually ran to 62-65 hrc while maxamet is ran to 67-69 hrc which makes it harder but more brittle. K390/10v make a good knife if you cut up lots of cardboard for work. I haven't had any issues sharpening those 2 steels. Before you start speculating do a lil research.

K390 is not the answer to cpm 10v - it is k294 that has the same composition as cpm 10v ...

Vesselin Georgiev Re: What is K390 Comparable to? PostFri Dec 09, 2016 8:56 pm I have been using K390 from the start ever since it was introduced by Bohler and I got some small samples to try. A bit of history is that it is the European version of CPM 10V but not the exact chemistry (about 1% less V plus small addition of a few others). That is because the CPM 10V chemistry was protected by patent at the time. If you check the K390 data sheet it claims that the bit less V gives K 390 a little boost in impact toughness. It also can be heat treated at a lower temp. than 10v. So it is pretty much the same as the A11 grade but different in a few small details. It is hard to tell the difference between CPM 10v and BU K390 in the real world in my experience. I like both grades and they are the base line (along with Vanadius 10 and K294) from which I measure wear resistance. The 5 chrome is there to make them all air hardening among other things and does not contribute much to corrosion resistance. It is going to make a killer knife in the new offering and be another classic. Phil This was said by Phil Wilson who is a master knife maker and knows his steels. I know that K390 doesn't have the same exact composition as 10v(A11, Vanadis 10 or K294 like you said) but it's close enough and 10v is more well known. I should have said that k390 is similar to 10v instead if it's Bohlers version of it.

I can't be much help on the edge toughness under use, Dale. I don't own one and haven't carried one. The horror of sharpening the stuff ended my interest. That said, there are guys who love the stuff. Perhaps I got a couple examples of a heat treat gone bad.

EDC with Aaron there have been a bunch of people here on KZfaq that have gotten some great edges from maximet along with great results from testing it, I don’t agree with banning the steel. I noticed a guy up in the comments saying he didn’t have issues with his wicked edge which uses diamonds. Maybe that had something to do with the ripping out of the edge when using other abrasives but I’m not sure.

No issues here sharpening maxamet and I don’t consider my self an expert by any means. But dang you hear the majority of the knife community just regurgitating the same garbage. My experience with sharpening maxamet 15-20 minutes max with a decent set of Diamond stones you have a hair shaving edge. Although I would not recommend a super low grit like 250 or lower. Stay sharp my friend!!!

@@andrewjewell8209 The majority of the so called knife community are literal children or just man children. Not sure which is worse, the actually little boys or the grown as men with minds of little boys. The reason EDC bros are so obsessed over steel in the first place is... marketing, and ignorance. Classic combo. But whats more the reason they are so hyper focused on the one aspect of blade steels that probably matters the least, which is abrasion resistance, which they just blindly call "edge retention durrr" is because none of them actually know how to use or maintain a knife. They've never actually sharpened any knife. They think like children. Its like "my car CAN BEAT your car" "this beats that car" all that bs child like little boy brain bs. They're looking for magic. Magic steel that won't need maintenance, because they don't know how and they're too lazy and scared to bother learning. I've seen it carry over into abrasives too. They don't even know how to sharpen and they want to fanatically post about industrial/commercial grade specialty stones that aren't even available to the general pubic, because they think it's magic. They don't realize like you said, a $30 silicon carbide whetstone will work just fine. Even alumina stones work in low enough grits. They think it's magic. I need one of those magic "super" vitrified bonded diamond stones. Magic stones, which I don't know how to use, for my magic steel, which isn't supposed to get dull in the first place. None of it makes any actual sense. It's quite annoying though.

I LOVE that steel!!!

Scott G lol

There are videos of abusing this steel, and it holds up well.

Life & Nature how’s that para 3 LW workin for ya? I’m thinkin about buying one, definitely agree with the easier steels for edc

Sam I hope I never see it again! LOL!

Don't fall in love with that stonewashed look on maxamet spyderco's. It patinas and changes VERY easily. To the point that if you get almost ANY kind of liquid (besides water and alcohol) on it, you will see spots. I had steak juice leave a spot in my maxamet PM3 and it was only on the knife long enough for me to eat dinner while camping. I haven't done much with the blade for me to speak about the brittle/fragile nature of the cutting edge (like this guy did in the video), but the stonewash is anything but good. That much I CAN confirm.

For just opening boxes an Olfa knife can't be beat :) Partially kidding as I love my "fancy" steels but I've run knives over hidden staples once too often.

Big Brown Guy I think you’re missing the point, perhaps intentionally. The point is that a knife edge should be able to endure sideways force in moderation, at least that required to sharpen it, by deflecting and springing back slightly, without breaking. Maxamet, as processed by most of the Spydercos I’ve handled, will not. And I repeat, absolutely no other steel I’ve ever sharpened behaves like this. Also, this is not a one knife anomaly - five out of the six I’ve sharpened had this defect.

TheApostleP show us

With all due respect, regards -Shawn

Big Brown Guy I think if you read this comment section, and do a minimal amount of research, you’ll find his problem is real... or there has been a masterfully engineered conspiracy to trash Spyderco... by guys who love Spyderco. This video was not intended to prove the existence of a rather commonly known problem, but rather to give information on how to work around it. I think you should continue cutting up phone book paper, very carefully, with your Maxamet knives, and stop posting comments. You’re making yourself look silly... with all due respect.

TheApostleP we both know Empircal evidence is King nothing silly about that. Take it easy Rob. -Shawn

toxic flipper from (the) sharpening bench iirc

Maxamet is an excellent steel. This guy is crazy

@@Mastermindyoung14 having bought a maxamet knife since writing that comment all I can say is that I am glad that I own other knives. It's an interesting steel and I'd love to have a kitchen knife in maxamet but it won't be a daily carry.

Just an update… I’ve seen much better and more consistent sharpenability and performance over the last couple of years from Spyderco’s Maxamet. But the early stuff was very hit and miss, and when it missed, it missed ugly.