MagnaMax Steel vs. MagnaCut: What Changed for EDC Knives

Last updated: August 23, 2026 · Originally published: August 24, 2026

CPM MagnaCut is no longer the highest-performing stainless blade steel you can carry, and the man who proved that is the same metallurgist who designed MagnaCut. MagnaMax steel, announced by Dr. Larrin Thomas on January 19, 2026, carries roughly double MagnaCut’s carbide volume and matches the edge retention of K390 while keeping the corrosion resistance that made its predecessor a phenomenon.

The timing lands hard. On August 24, 2026, WE Knife ships the Elementum WE18062XA, the company’s first folder ground from CPM MagnaCut, at $217.60 MSRP. MagnaCut is reaching mainstream production catalogs in the same year the steel engineered to outperform it goes to wide release.

Updated August 24, 2026.

What is MagnaMax steel?

MagnaMax steel is a powder-metallurgy stainless tool steel designed by Dr. Larrin Thomas as a high-wear-resistance companion to CPM MagnaCut. It follows the same compositional logic as MagnaCut, keeping chromium in solution instead of locking it into chromium carbides, then adds carbon, vanadium, and niobium to build carbide volume. The payoff is a large gain in edge retention for a small give in toughness.

Thomas first proposed the idea in June 2019, in the same conversation with Crucible and Niagara that produced MagnaCut. He called it stainless 10V then. The target never moved: match the toughness and wear resistance of the non-stainless grades K390, Vanadis 8, and CPM-10V, and make it rustproof.

Getting there took seven years. The first heat ran at Crucible in 2023. A second heat came just before Crucible’s bankruptcy and overshot the carbon target, which is why the early prototype material shows slightly weaker corrosion resistance than the finished grade. Erasteel and Carpenter now supply MagnaMax steel, and Thomas has set wide release for the second quarter of 2026.

MagnaMax steel vs MagnaCut: what the test data shows

Thomas published CATRA slicing, Charpy toughness, and saltwater corrosion results on Knife Steel Nerds. Three findings change how you should think about your next folder.

Edge retention climbs a full tier. MagnaMax matches K390 and Vanadis 8 and sits in the same range as CPM-10V and CPM-S110V. It ranks above M390, ZDP-189, S60V, S30V, and CPM-M4. Against MagnaCut the jump is not subtle.

Toughness stays high for the class. At 62 Rc, MagnaMax lands just above Vanax, S35VN, CPM-154, and XHP, the four toughest powder-metallurgy stainless steels on the market before MagnaCut arrived. Measured against its non-stainless benchmarks, it equals Vanadis 8 and K390 and steps past CPM-10V.

Corrosion resistance did not move. In a 1% saltwater test, MagnaMax showed no rust spots. M390 and S110V each produced a few small ones. S90V rusted significantly.

Steel	Edge retention	Toughness	1% saltwater test
CPM MagnaMax	Matches K390 and Vanadis 8	S35VN class at 62 Rc	No rust spots
CPM MagnaCut	Well below MagnaMax	Highest in this group	No meaningful rusting
M390	Below MagnaMax	Below MagnaMax	A few small rust spots
CPM S110V	Comparable to MagnaMax	Well below MagnaMax	A few small rust spots
CPM S90V	Below MagnaMax	Below MagnaMax	Significant rusting

For context on where the old guard sits, we mapped how MagnaCut lines up against S35VN and M390 earlier this year. MagnaMax reshuffles the top of that chart without touching the bottom of it.

Carbide volume explains the whole trade

MagnaMax runs about 16% carbide volume. MagnaCut runs roughly half that. Carbides are the hard particles that resist abrasion, so doubling them buys wear resistance and slicing edge retention in a direct line.

Doubling carbide normally costs a great deal of toughness. MagnaMax dodges most of that penalty in two ways. Its carbides are vanadium and niobium instead of chromium, and chromium carbides are the large, brittle inclusions that make older stainless grades chip. Its carbide size also runs finer than K390 at a similar volume.

The microstructure photographs Thomas published make the point without a metallurgy degree. M390, S90V, and S110V show coarse, blocky carbides scattered through the matrix. MagnaMax shows a fine, even dispersion. That difference is why a steel with S110V-level edge retention can hold S35VN-level toughness.

WE Knife’s Elementum lands August 24 in MagnaCut

WE Knife set global release of the Elementum WE18062XA series for August 24, 2026. It is the company’s first model in CPM MagnaCut, and that milestone says something about where MagnaCut now sits. It is no longer exotic. It is the steel a titanium-framed production folder is expected to wear at this price.

Specification	WEKNIFE Elementum WE18062XA
Blade steel	CPM MagnaCut, flat grind, drop point
Blade length	2.96 in (75.3 mm)
Blade thickness	0.11 in (2.7 mm)
Overall length	6.98 in (177.4 mm)
Handle	6AL4V titanium, topo pattern, 0.38 in thick
Lock	Frame lock, caged ceramic ball bearing pivot
Pocket clip	Reversible tip-up 6AL4V titanium
Weight	2.39 oz (67.8 g)
MSRP / MAP	$217.60 / $184.96

Two finishes ship at launch: a black stonewashed blade on black topo titanium (WE18062XA-1) and a gray stonewashed blade on gray titanium (WE18062XA-2). Under three inches of blade keeps it legal in most jurisdictions, and the flat-ground drop point is the right partner for a corrosion-resistant steel. If you are weighing that profile against alternatives, our breakdown of drop point, tanto, and wharncliffe geometry covers the trade-offs.

Why MagnaCut is not going anywhere

MagnaCut remains the tougher steel, and toughness is what lets a maker grind an edge thin without inviting chips. Thomas built MagnaCut around that idea on purpose. A thin, tough edge cuts better on day one than a thick edge in a harder steel, and it survives the torque of a stubborn zip tie or a folded cardboard seam.

Sharpening is the other practical divide. More carbide means more time at the stone and a stronger case for diamond or CBN abrasives. MagnaCut takes a working edge quickly on ordinary ceramic. If you sharpen your own knives, that difference shows up every month. Our guide to keeping a folder clean and sharp walks through the abrasive choices.

Corrosion resistance is where both grades still beat the field, which matters more outdoors than most carriers admit. Blood, wet leaves, and a night in a truck bed have ruined more edges than hard use ever has. Our sister site covers that reality in its field dressing primer at Popular Outdoorsman.

Which steel belongs in your pocket?

Both grades are best for different carriers, and the honest answer depends on what your knife does between sharpenings.

MagnaCut is best for the person who opens boxes, trims rope, cuts food, and occasionally pries when nothing else is handy. It is the more forgiving steel, the faster one to touch up, and the one that tolerates a thin factory grind. First-time buyers working through how to pick an EDC folder should start here.

MagnaMax steel is best for the carrier who slices abrasive material all day and resents stopping to sharpen. Cardboard, carpet, drywall paper, and packaging tape wear an edge through abrasion, and that is the exact failure mode MagnaMax was built to slow down. Anyone who has carried K390 and wished it would not rust is the target buyer.

Where to find MagnaMax steel knives right now

If you are searching for MagnaMax steel knives near you this week, the shelf is thin. The steel has shipped to a handful of knife companies, and the first widely available production representation was Spyderco’s Mule Team MT46, a bare-handled fixed blade sold as a test platform for exactly this purpose.

One caveat worth carrying into a purchase: the Mule Team ran on the second heat, the one that overshot carbon. Corrosion resistance on that material is very good but not what the finished grade delivers. Judge the steel by the production knives that follow, not by the prototype. For the folders arriving in the meantime, our August new-knife rundown tracks what is shipping.

MagnaMax steel FAQ

Is MagnaMax steel better than MagnaCut?

Neither is better across the board. MagnaMax holds an edge far longer, matching K390 and Vanadis 8. MagnaCut is tougher and easier to sharpen. Both resist corrosion at the top of the stainless field. Choose MagnaMax for high-abrasion slicing and MagnaCut for mixed-duty carry with a thin, forgiving edge.

What knives use MagnaMax steel?

Spyderco used the prototype heat for its Mule Team MT46 fixed blade, a bare-handle test knife. Several other companies received material from the first commercial heat under working names such as MagnaX and ProjectX. Broader production availability follows the wide release scheduled for the second quarter of 2026.

When is MagnaMax steel widely available?

Dr. Larrin Thomas set the official wide release for the second quarter of 2026, with ingots delivered by Erasteel and Carpenter. Before that, MagnaMax reached only a small number of makers and companies. Expect production folders and fixed blades to appear in catalogs through the back half of the year.

Does MagnaMax steel rust?

In a 1% saltwater immersion test run by Thomas, MagnaMax showed no rust spots. M390 and S110V each showed a few small spots, and S90V rusted significantly. MagnaMax keeps chromium in solution rather than binding it into chromium carbides, which is the mechanism behind its corrosion performance.

Is MagnaMax steel hard to sharpen?

It takes more effort than MagnaCut. At roughly 16% carbide volume, MagnaMax resists abrasion, and that resistance applies at the stone as well as on the cutting board. Diamond or CBN abrasives make the job straightforward. Ordinary aluminum oxide stones work but ask for patience.

What is MagnaMax steel made of?

Thomas has not published the composition, pending patent clearance. He has confirmed the approach: the MagnaCut formula with increased carbon, vanadium, and niobium to raise carbide volume, and chromium held in solution rather than tied into chromium carbides. Full datasheets follow once heat treatment optimization finishes.

The steel Larrin Thomas started in 2019

Thomas pitched this steel in June 2019 and called it stainless 10V. Seven years, one bankruptcy, two suppliers, and a name change later, it exists, and a $217 titanium folder shipping tomorrow is running the steel it was designed to replace. The interesting question is not which one wins. It is what he proposes next.

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How we sourced this. Edge retention, toughness, corrosion, and microstructure findings come from Dr. Larrin Thomas’s published MagnaMax testing at Knife Steel Nerds, January 19, 2026. Knife specifications and pricing come from WE Knife Co. press materials dated August 18, 2026. Popular EDC has not independently tested MagnaMax steel; no BAM property received compensation for this article.

Reported by James Nicholas for Popular EDC. Updated August 24, 2026.