I just purchased this, I know the benchmade hate is real cuz of pricing but I saw this in person and I thought it was a great knife.
Now I see it’s regular magnacut not cpm maganacut.
I also read that crucible filed for bankruptcy. So who tf is making our steels now?
The knife world is a little toxic too…
Also, is there a better benchmade steel I should have gone with? I liked the mini bedlam in S90V. I’m simply going to be using the knife at work in a warehouse. I personally don’t do a lot of the dirty work anymore. I have multiple minions that do all the box opening. I occasionally take a slash at some Amazon boxes here and there. I do however slice up some bait while I’m out saltwater fishing.
by Thicc-Gunz
9 Comments
All magnacut is powder formed. CPM is just the explicit designation for the process done by Crucible. Erasteel now makes magnacut, and by Larrin’s initial analysis, they’re making it better than Crucible did.
Magnacut is on of the best “all around” steels. It’s not the absolute toughest, nor has the absolute best edge retention. S90V will have better edge retention, but less toughness. So it depends on your use case as to what the “best” steel is, but magnacut is probably the best general purpose option.
Erasteel produces the steel in Sweden and it’s rolled by Niagara Specialty Metals. CPM was the trademark but since Magnacut was half owned by Dr. Larrin Thomas, he and Erasteel now own the Magnacut name.
Look steel and knives is a complex topic.
I will try to simplify it alot.
When looking at a knife first you want to figure out what you will use it for, edc, bushcraft, cardboard etc etc.
Then the geometry i.e the shape of the blade and the handle goes before steel choice. Its alot more important.
Then you figure if you need a stainless or ifntoy are willing to do sone maintanence to keep rust at bay.
And then and only then you choose the steel itself. The difference between steels arent THAT huge.
I mean sure 80crv2 vs s90v is huge difference edge retention wise and stainlessness and toughness but something like magnacut vs s90v is alot closer.
Also cpm magnacut isent made anymore due to crucible powder metallurgy went bankrupt so its made by a different company. Same recipe, supposedly a bit better and cleaner.
Tldr: choose geometry,handle,stainlessness,steel in that order.
I love Benchmade knives and do not love the pricing, it’s outrageous. I know built in America costs appropriate labour and material costs, however I suspect Benchmade’s Gross Profit margins are astronomically high
I stick to 3v, 10v, D2 [those arent stainless], 14c28n, magna, s35vn, s90v, maybe nitro v for stainless. Even 8cr14.
I couldn’t tell you a difference in experience vs performance because to see the difference you’d have to use it a hell of a lot.
You may not care about corrosion resistance until you see micro rust.
Id be happy with all of these. It all depends on what I plan to do with it, casual or hard work and how often im able to sharpen.
Look at knifesteelnerds chart, but realize that these steels above 8cr14/aus8 are all good. Consider that these dots move after heat treating.
Go right to the source on YouTube: Knife Steel Nerds
[https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by-a-metallurgist-toughness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/](https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by-a-metallurgist-toughness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/)
The edc utility knife is a better option for warehouse work or amazon boxes.
Benchmade makes a great product, fuck the haters. Steel depends on what you’re looking for. Magnacut is great all around but a pain in the dick to sharpen, and so not great for heavy use because heavy use is gonna fill a blade regardless of what kind it is. For this reason, I prefer 1095. Takes a fantastically sharp edge, holds it’s edge pretty well, but is very easy to sharpen. I sharpen/hone my knife every night, takes about 3 minutes to get it shaving sharp again. Truthfully though it don’t really matter. People go nuts over knife steel and half of em don’t use their knives for anything other than cutting packing tape. Go stainless if the knife is gonna get wet and you don’t feel like drying/oiling it. Go carbon if you don’t care. Regardless, it’ll start sharp, become less sharp, and you’ll eventually have to resharpen it.