There are diverse types of steel to make knives, such as stainless steel, steel alloys, and carbon steel. We will introduce and explain one of the most popular options here via the Maxamet steel review.
Among many other well-known sheets of steel with versatile usage, Maxamet has the top performance with the incredible ability of edge retention. You will also not need to sharpen a Maxamet knife often.
You can rest assured that its high price is a true value for the money. We believe this type of steel will be able to meet different strong demands, especially in knife making. Further details are right below!
What Is Maxamet Steel?
Maxamet is a powder tool steel created from mixing different types of finely ground metal powders. Carpenter Technology Corporation, the top leading steel provider, produces this special alloy for tool making.
Undoubtedly, Maxamet is super steel thanks to the superior ability of edge retention and wear resistance over extended uses. It receives a relatively high ranking rate in the luxury-rate super steel category.
Moreover, Mamaxmet is popular for its outstanding hardness level. It means the knifemaker can apply a hard edge to this steel blade with guaranteed durability. Not many steels can reach this hardness level.
Chemical Composition
- Tungsten: 13%. Enhances wear resistance and hardness.
- Vanadium: 6%. Strengthens hardenability and wear resistance.
- Cobalt: 6%. Helps boost other components and their individual effects.
- Chromium: 4.75%. Improves edge retention and tensile strength, also wear and corrosion resistance.
- Carbon: 2.15%. Mainly boosts wear/corrosion resistance and hardness, but a high amount may reduce strength.
- Manganese: 0.3%. Enhances brittleness and hardness.
- Silicon: 0.25%. Works the same as Manganese.
- Sulfur: 0.07%. Improves machinability but decreases strength.
Due to the low Chromium amount of 4.75%, Maxamet is not stainless steel. In contrast, its high level of Tungsten and Vanadium contributes to this material being a tough steel alloy with great wear resistance.
Maxamet Steel Properties
- Corrosion Resistance: The rate of Chromium defines the steel’s corrosion resistance, while the Maxamet contains a low 4% of Chromium. It means this steel does not resist corrosion well.
- Edge Retention: The combination of high Vanadium, Tungsten, and Carbon, along with over 65HRC of hardness, add to the outstanding edge retention of Maxamet.
- Sharpness: Unfortunately, it will be challenging to sharpen the Maxamet due to its hardness. If you are a knifemaker, we bet you would not enjoy grinding this steel either.
- Wear Resistance: What creates the amazing wear resistance of Maxamet is Carbon, Tungsten, and Vanadium.
- Toughness: High hardness often equals low toughness, so that harder steel may get broken easier. Maxamet steel breaks fast but is still strong enough to deal with some tough, damaging tasks.
- Machinability: Sulfur is an important factor that improves the machinability of Maxamet steel.
Is Maxamet Steel Good For Knives?
If you are looking for impressive wear resistance and edge retention in your next knife, Maxamet steel would be a brilliant choice. Keep in mind that it is not stainless steel and not good at resisting corrosion.
That is why you should take good care of a Maxamet steel knife in a humid environment. Apart from that, this type of steel is perfect for making an EDC knife.
Another question: Is N690CO A Good Steel Knife?
Maxamet Vs Other Steel
It is a tough competition in terms of choosing the right steel type for your blades. One steel will always outperform the others in certain aspects, and here is a comparison of Maxamet and its competitors.
Maxamet Vs S110V
Experts consider the S110V as the most intimidating opponent of the Maxamet steel. It includes the same properties as Maxamet, such as excellent wear resistance, edge retention, and incredible hardness.
However, the S110V has a considerably high price. Plus, a lot of knife makers are not fond of its low machinability, making it more difficult to sharpen the steel. It will not be ideal for commercial production.
Maxamet Vs M390
The M390 steel can never compete with Maxemet in terms of edge retention and hardness. But the good news is this type is stronger yet easier for sharpening with additional resistance to corrosion.
Maxamet Vs M4
You can never go wrong with the M4 steel if you need something that guarantees similar chipping resistance and toughness to Maxamet. Its edge retention is inferior to Maxamet, but corrosion resistance is better.
Maxamet Vs S30V
These steels offer the same rate of toughness. The biggest difference between them is the S30V on the lower side of the edge retention scale. Nonetheless, it offers high corrosion resistance that Maxamet cannot.
Maxamet Vs K390
Since Maxamet can stay sharp for a long time, it has an advantage over the K390. On the other hand, you can try abusing or thinning the K390 more as it is generally tougher than the Maxamet steel.
Maxamet Vs Cruwear
Despite having great edge retention, Maxamet is still less tough than the Cruwear steel. As far as we know, manufacturers run Maxamet harder than this opponent, though it is not as stainless as Cruwear.
Maxamet Vs Elmax
Elmax stainless steel offers incredible durability that often serves military purposes, like making knives in harsh environments (combat knives in the Navy Seals).
At the same time, a hard-wearing knife that is good at holding an edge will make high carbon steel like Maxamet a brilliant option. But you should not subject this item to a corrosive or damp environment.
Final Words
Now that the Maxamet steel review has covered all the necessary information on this type of steel alloy, we hope this article would be helpful enough for you to rely on and decide to buy your next knife.
Although there are certain drawbacks with Maxamet, we believe its extreme edge retention and superior hardness will impress you a lot. Consider this steel on your next purchase, and thank you for reading.
