CPM MagnaCut

CPM® MagnaCut™ is a remarkable powder metallurgy steel conceived by Larrin Thomas, a Ph.D. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. MagnaCut challenges traditional stainless steel chemistry by reducing the amount of chromium in the steel to a precise range while adding vanadium and niobium. The result is a blade material that offers an extraordinary balance of wear resistance, toughness, and corrosion resistance.

Carbon

Chromium

Cobalt

Copper

Manganese

Molybdenium

Nickel

Niobium

Nitrogen

Phosphorus

Silicon

Sulfur

Tungsten

Vanadium

1.15

10.70

/

/

/

2.00

/

2.00

/

0.20

/

/

/

4.00

History, mentionings from the forums etc.

• In this post on the Spyderco.com forum, from 28 January 2022, Sal Glesser reflects on his experiences in the search for the best performing corrosion resistant steel:

Interesting to watch the development march forward in time. Just "Talkin Story", Gail and I began the search for a corrosion resistant edge back in the early '80's. Being sailors and divers we could clearly see the need. 440C was the best at the time and we felt better could be found. We tested a lot of materials; Titanium, Ceramic, Stellite, castings and a host of possible solutions.

I can remember dropping over the side with a "great corrosion resistant steel", as described by the maker in my hand. I watched it rust right before my eyes as I descended. By the time I finished the dive, it was completely covered. Some of our friends and associates in the industry knew of our quest and we eventually came across H1. Then other steels came onto the scene and the rest is history. Probably 40 or so years from zero to options. Watching the development of the "Water Ghost" makes me proud to be part of this industry and it's persuits.

I really appreciate all of the "Real-World-Testing" we get from the Mules, especially the OC guys like we have here.

• In this post on the Spyderco.com forum, from 5 January 2023, Sal Glesser shares some information on optimizing the heat treat of CPM Magnacut:

We worked with Larrin and Shawn to optimize the heat treat on MagnaCut. We nailed that down some time ago. The delay with the Native MagnaCut model was in tank testing materials that could work with MagnaCut as a salt (no galvanic reaction to materials) We did quite a bit of tank testing and we finally have that nailed down as well. Gail is testing a MagnaCut Native now, and they should be shipping soon.