Manix 2 Maxamet - So good it doesn’t make sense.

[@priority2]

A true testament to the steel chemistry and heat treat, and to your sharpening ability. I agree, it’s hands down the best steel I’ve ever used

[@986C]

I have a PM2 in MAXAMET and it has been unbelievable. I don't understand what the youtubies are whining about and all of the 'nightmares' and 'struggles' some are claiming. This knife sharpens beautifully on a sharp-maker.

[@jdavis882]

I feel the same.

[@garrettferrell6821]

I bought my Native 5 in Maxamet a couple months ago and I fell in love with that steel kinda similar to the way I fell in love with LC200N,they are 2 of my absolute favorites..I really want a fixed blade bushcraft/camp knife in LC200N..it’s ridiculously tough,unbelievably corrosion resistant and still has pretty decent edge retention..Maxamet definitely wouldn’t be ideal for a bushcraft/camp knife but it’s about perfect for a EDC and/or work knife..it’s edge retention is unbeatable,it is decently corrosion resistant for a carbon steel and it is surprisingly easy to sharpen back up when the edge finally does start to wear down.its truly amazing what these steel manufacturers are coming out with in this day and age

[@jdavis882]

I agree, Maxamet is just an amazing steel for an EDC knife that you don’t abuse. I do like lc200n also. Been using it on a spydie chef recently with good results. 👍🏻

[@jdavis882]

You should try some of the new Seki city knives from spyderco in k390. IMO it’s the best k390 yet. It’s ran hard and holds and edge for a loooooong time. Give it a shot!

[@SoupyTurtle]

Would love to see an updated sharpening guide!

[@77superblahblah]

Waiting for my first Maxamet knife now. Can't wait to try it out after hearing your thoughts on it.

[@ronfaircloth]

A fellow out in California, who calls his business, Crazg Sharp, and who works with Ferrum Forge Custom Knifeworks reported major chipping problems. Just an FYI. I have great respect for J. DAVIS and have learned a lot from his sharpening videos. Thanks J. DAVIS! 🇺🇸

[@jeremyeagles3237]

Best thing about maxamet is you can gun blue it. Did it with my para 3 and the black blade looks incredible

[@FearNoSteel]

Hard steel all day baby, All day. Tell em dude! Nice edge

[@jdavis882]

Man. I am seriously blown away and this is a production knife with a production heat treat. I want to try a crazy thin blade with a high end heat treat.....if only I knew a guy who could do that. Haha.

[@FearNoSteel]

@@jdavis882 I tested my work and the Rex121 was the absolute champion for edge retention, I still use the Maxamet because it also gets into the 70 rc range but has finer structures, I like the 15V because it has the fine structure of Maxamet but with harder Carbides at more volume but cannot get as hard as Maxamet and Rex at a measly 67-68rc.

[@jdavis882]

Big Brown Bear one day I’m going to pick up one of your customs in rex121 at a crazy hardness. Just because I want something nutty.

[@stevebantersb]

Got maxamet, everything you say is true. I don't mirror polish. I use a course edge. Haven't stopped, sharpened, nothing in 11 months. Very aggressive and still cuts effortlessly. No it dosent shave but still flies thru paper, cardboard, most anything. I feel a coarse edge is the best.

[@jdavis882]

It’s nuts isn’t it?! Glad you’re enjoying it also.

[@stevebantersb]

@@jdavis882 yeah, always finds it way to my pocket. Tried to rotate other knives but I miss my maxamet, so I don't rotate any more and I'm happy all the time. Kinda sick but I'm always cutting!

[@gregoryburke2562]

Thank you for the advice about Maxamet.

[@pateralus9]

I just bought this knife & received it today. Dang dude, I think I'm in for a great knife! 😀

[@tomj0008]

Thats awesome. Crazy when people mention maxamet and chipping, but seemingly haven't actually used the steel. Just saying what they have heard. I found one on ebay for 105.with tax. Should arrive today! Seller answered my questions, should be good

[@jdavis882]

Right on

[@jamesmiller360]

Maxamet is good stuff. I had heard a lot of bad stuff about maxamet and was afraid to try it. Then I watched Big Brown Bear's videos on maxamet and picked up the Manix LW and have been carrying it for a while now. Initial sharpenening was done on the venev diamond stones and now I strop on bass wood with with diamond paste. Seems to last for ever. Enjoyed the video.

[@jdavis882]

Venev diamond stones and basswood strop is my new go-to setup for maxamet as well. I just picked up some 16 micron CBN compound to see how aggressive I can keep this edge with just stropping. Hit it on the 16 micron strop, then straight to the .5 micron diamond on kangaroo leather to clean it up. I’m hoping that will make it even better, we will see!

[@jamesmiller360]

@@jdavis882 I've been using the 1 micron followed by .25 cbn paste. I'm curious to see how the 16 micron works for you. Might be a better way to go.

[@TheSebtrain]

Yea that’s impressive, how sick would it be if they brought the g10 dragon fly out in this steel. Still find myself using that little blade all the time, looses its edge kinda quick tho!

[@jdavis882]

I would literally buy 5 of them. I want a dragonfly in maxamet so bad. Even the lightweight I’d be stoked about.

[@jdavis882]

Have you tried the ZDP dragonfly? It’s actually pretty damn amazing. Their regular old seki ZDP is honestly one of the best edge holders available today. It’s no maxamet, but I’d take ZDP over S110v all day.

[@TheSebtrain]

Jdavis882 - Knife Sharpening and Reviews that’s a good call man. Love the racing green handle too! Do you have one ???

[@jdavis882]

TheSebtrain definitely. A ZDP dragonfly goes with me everywhere basically.

[@MetalRush666]

Maxamet is in my opinion the best steel out there for knives.

[@jdavis882]

Best steel that is currently in a mass produced knife, without a doubt. Nothing else even comes close in regards to edge retention!

[@RealAndyOriginal]

Except that it will rust. It’s not a very balanced steel. Just super hard.

[@jackchn23]

Nice review. On a different subject, have you seen those “Spydiebenzas”. This guy is making? He’s drilling Spyderco thumb holes in C.R Sebenzas and selling them.

[@jdavis882]

No! I need to check that out. What’s the guys name? I’d love to see those.

[@jackchn23]

Jdavis882 - Knife Sharpening and Reviews - he goes by mangearusa on eBay

[@jdavis882]

JKC cool I will check them out! Thanks.

[@jackchn23]

Jdavis882 - Knife Sharpening and Reviews - actually you can search KZbin for “spydiebenza” he has a channel under Man Gear.

[@kfach123]

Hi, how maxamet compares to 20cv and s110v? Love your movies from past! Best regards from Poland man!

[@jdavis882]

Neither s110v, and especially 20cv hold a candle to maxamet. It is far far beyond what either of those steels can do, at least in production knives with production heat treat. Thanks for the kind words! Always wanted to travel to Poland btw. Would love to see a lot of the historic WW2 sites.

[@kfach123]

@@jdavis882 Few days ago i ordered manix 2 in maxamet for 150$ from ebay. I will try it. Now im carrying 551-1 in 20cv. I really like it. I also had pm2 in s110v, but i sold it coz it had very bad edge retention, i measured hardness and it showed me 58.7 hrc :( Btw yeah, we have really long history.. Im living oldest city in Poland :) i wish someday go to USA ;)

[@jdavis882]

dmk dude, I think you’re going to be blown away by maxamet, seriously. Let me know what you think once you get it and put some use on it!

[@kfach123]

@@jdavis882 Sometimes im really abusing my knifes kzbin.info/www/bejne/p323nKqIed2XjsU Maybe someday i will rebuy pm2 (even with s30v), love it for ergonomics. But its really expensive in here!

[@jerseyknifeguy6382]

Yo Yo........... get it brotha!!!!!!!!

[@brettdavis5555]

Did you add the sharpening choil?

[@jdavis882]

Yep!

[@brettdavis5555]

Jdavis882 - Knife Sharpening and Reviews I thought about doing it myself. Would you do it again?

[@jdavis882]

Brett Davis on certain knives, definitely! On this knife in particular I’d do it again for sure, but I might make it smaller. On some, like the para 2, I’d rather just grind the edge back a bit so I can sharpen all the way to the ricasso, because I end up using that part of the edge a lot for some reason, and having a sharpening notch makes material catch there. But yes, I’d definitely do it again on this one! As for what I used, harbor freight sells a small pack of cylindrical diamond bits meant for a dremel. One of those bits is the perfect size to cut a choil. Takes all of 2 minutes, easy! Hope this helps.

[@brettdavis5555]

Jdavis882 - Knife Sharpening and Reviews thanks for the info.

[@johndferfr8450]

They need to make Spyderco maxamet in Manix 2XL or Stretch 2XL or Police 4. Tired of it being on small curved blades.

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

Would love to try one myself 😁 only heard lots of great things about maxamet 😁

[@jdavis882]

Definitely try it if you can!

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

@@jdavis882 yes sir

[@ThomasConnolly]

jdavis882, I really hope that before recently returned to KZbin that you cleared up all of that past drama!!!! I really hope that you have repaid all of the people who about five years ago you ripped off with your fraudulent knife making/PayPal pre-orders!!!!!! The online knife community still remembers what happened!!!!

[@larsrunehaugland5738]

Just jot one. Seems to be good, yes😊

[@seff2318]

What a time to be alive eh?

[@hidude2124]

Hell yeah

[@snakalw]

Maxamet is crazy stuff. My first one was from the first batch of Maxamet Manixes, and unfortunately the heat treat was way off. I bought another one about a year in, and oh my, it’s been excellent. It’s almost mirror polished and only at 1100 grit. The edge it takes is ridiculous.

[@jdavis882]

Interesting. I heard that some of them leaked out and had issues. I’m pretty sure mine is from one of the first batches, I got it years ago. What were the issues that you had with the first one? Regardless, I’m glad they got it figured out because this shit it insane. I love it so much I ordered some para 3’s in maxamet to use. I love this stuff.

[@hidude2124]

Hey man, I’m a 17 year old sharpener, and I’ve been sharpening for about 2 years now. Michael Emler taught me then michael Christy. I’m in a class called AP research where I devote a whole school year to one research question. I want my project to be on edge longevity. Most of my edges won’t whittle hair after the first cut, but I have gotten ONE edge (s30v) to cut 13 feet of cardboard and whittle hair in the same shot no stropping. I want to do my project on how to make that phenomenon happen every time. This maxamet phenomenon. I have been discussions the subject with a lot of sharpeners before I have started my research and I would love to get some insight from you. Would you be interested in having a quick discussion with me?

[@jdavis882]

Not sure I have anything valuable to add, but sure! I’d be happy to.

[@hidude2124]

Jdavis882 - Knife Sharpening and Reviews That would be incredible! Davis, you were the one who introduced a large part of the community (me) to edges that could whittle hair. You are no underdog here. Also I have never seen anybody get a year’s worth of use off maxamet and have it still whittle hair. I need sharpeners that can understand this stuff. Most people still believe the hair whittling edge passes after the first cut. My project is being graded by the college board. They don’t know anything about knife sharpening, so the purpose of this project, the impact of this project, and its importance will be hard to convey to them. This is advanced stuff, (for me at least) I think the best way to send this message is not to tell them, but show them. This matters more to sharpeners like you then the college board, so being in communication with you guys means a lot. How would you like to start this discussion? I talk to sharpeners with Instagram, Facebook, cell, Skype and email. I prefer phone calls but it’s whatever your comfortable with

[@jdavis882]

Hi Dude we can start off with instagram if that’s cool. @boostflux And I appreciate the kind words. I hope I can help!

[@813johnnfla]

Sharp means good huh So when you put it in your pocket and go out for 4th of July and come back tuesday to a rusted mess- you still gonna think it's soooo good

[@MrJbangoy]

He literally said he's carried it, used it, and hasn't had to really sharpen it in over a year. I'd assume a full year includes a 4th of July in the middle somewhere... Still looks in good shape.

[@brianminkc]

Glad your out of prison.

[@jdavis882]

Prison? Lol. News to me!

[@stevebantersb]

Half micron strop, so in fact you did sharpen it.

[@jdavis882]

I consider stropping more akin to honing. Refining the edge that is already on the knife. You’re not going to set a new edge with a strop.

[@stevebantersb]

@@jdavis882 did you put in that chiol? It's the perfect size.

[@stevebantersb]

My bad! I apologise.

[@jdavis882]

Steve Banter I did add the choil. Harbor freight sells a small set of cylindrical diamond bits meant to be used with a dremel. I took one of those and made this choil in about 2 minutes.

[@rileyneufeld7001]

Wow! I've heard negative reviews on maxamet from 90% of people. Very impressive.

[@cp1532]

90% of people don't know what they're doing, and 90% of that 90% still think they do, so they go around spouting a bunch of nonsense and misinformation. Knife manufacturers everywhere should be trying to catch up to Spyderco by figuring out how to produce blades in steels like Maxamet, but luckily for them, and unfortunately for us, Maxamet wasn't totally well received, at least not with the enthusiasm it should have been. Anyyyyywho, yea, Maxamet is good stuff.

[@rileyneufeld7001]

@@cp1532 I disagree. A ton of very good PROFESSIONAL sharpeners have problems sharpening maxamet. Maxamet is great for the people that know how to sharpen it. I think there is a balance between sharpen-ability and edge retention that the added edge retention doesn't outweigh the 3+ hours sharpening the knife back to a keen edge. JDavis and Big Brown Bear are 2 of a handful of sharpeners that have successfully gotten maxamet to sharpen without chipping to hell. It works for them so good for them but for me I wouldn't buy a knife in maxamet because my sharpening skills are slightly above ameatur level so I don't want a knife that requires a master of the art to sharpen it. I certainly wouldn't want to have to send it to a sharpener to do the work for me. As always YMMV, God bless.

[@cp1532]

@@rileyneufeld7001 Look, I hear ya, and I know my previous reply was a bit dickish, but I think you have it backwards. A handful of respectable sharpeners have had a problem with it, and jdavis and BBB are 2 out of a ton of other sharpeners that have had nothing but great things to say about it. Negative headlines draw more attention than positive ones. There are recent videos from outpost76 and tom hosang outdoors sharpening maxamet. And while Maxamet does require diamond or cbn stones to sharpen it, aside from that it is not much different than sharpening most high wear resistant steels. It actually sharpens very well. If try to sharpen it with a king 1k/6k, you will have issues. In this day and age however, I don't think it is unreasonable to own a set of diamond/cbn stones. Just like blade steels, abrasives have progressed and evolved. I agree with your point that an individual may have a point where they don't require or desire any further wear resistance and there is a real tradeoff between wear resistance and ease of sharpening, although maybe not as dramatic as some would make it seem, and that is a reasonable position to hold.

[@rileyneufeld7001]

@@cp1532 I forgot about Outpost76, but after seeing ApostleP's video on maxamet and the trouble he had and how many hours it took him to get a good edge on it... I'm good with D2, or 8cr13mov or *Gasp* 440C that takes all of 5 minutes with a white ceramic rod to get it back to a usable edge, even though my free hand skills are "Okay" at best. I like spending money on knives not diamond stones and all that jazz. To each his own though im not a sharpening nerd but I'm getting there slowly, D2 can be a real b*$&! to reprofile. The average person isn't going to have a wicked edge or 300$ in stones. Again to each his own but I'm more than fine with the lower end steels.

[@jdavis882]

Riley Neufeld with respect, I think the Apostle still has a lot to learn about sharpening. To my knowledge he only uses the edge pro, which is a good machine, but it has limitations. I can definitely see it being possible to stress the edge with the edge pro and have issues. Not sure what his issues were, but while the apostle can get good edges, a lot of his comments show how much he still has to learn about sharpening in general. I wouldn’t take his (and some others) issues and paint the steel in a negative light. I truly believe that the people who have had major issues are having them because they’ve developed bad habits (or use equipment that isn’t up to the task) that don’t tend to be issues on lesser steels, but causes trouble when sharpening something as hard (and carbide laden) as maxamet. Just my opinion, could definitely be wrong.

[@deanalbertson7203]

Lots of sniffling.

[@jdavis882]

Yep. That’s what happens when your nose is running. Haha.

[@stevebantersb]

I apologise for my comment on stropping.

[@jdavis882]

No need to apologize! I took no offense.

[@stevebantersb]

@@jdavis882 well, I removed that troublesome kick and put a very small chiol on my manix light weight maxamet. Truly happy now!

[@jdavis882]

Steve Banter good job! I was much happier with mine after doing that as well.

[@stevebantersb]

@@jdavis882 yeah, ruined my julers files. Had to use dremmal and a tiny diamond bit. Files didn't cut maxamet what's so ever.