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Steel, Told Straight: The Complete Knife Steel Guide
The Vault Guides · Dossier
Knife Steel Comparison Chart: MagnaCut vs M390 vs S90V vs D2
8 min read · By The Knife Vault Editorial Team
A knife steel comparison chart is only useful if the names on it are names you will actually meet. This one is The Knife Vault shelf plus MagnaCut — introduced by Dr. Larrin Thomas in 2021 — which we stock in a named folder, not as a rumour.
Read the tables, then read the steel that matches how you cut and how often you will stone. The M390 vs S90V vs 154CM dossier is the long titanium-shelf version; the kitchen steel guide is the board version.
01 The chart: steels on this shelf
Edge life is how long a working apex survives cardboard, rope, and onion skins. Toughness is whether the edge chips or rolls when you do something unwise. Corrosion is the care burden in a wet pocket or a wet sink. Sharpening is whether an ordinary 1000-grit stone is enough, or whether you need diamond and a Saturday.
02 MagnaCut vs M390 vs S90V vs D2
These four names are the comparison people actually type. MagnaCut was designed to stop the usual powder-steel argument: you no longer have to pick two of toughness, corrosion, and edge. M390 still wins raw edge life in the stainless powder class most of our titanium EDC shelf uses. S90V is the edge-life specialist. D2 is a high-wear tool steel that stains if you sweat on it and ignore it — a legitimate under-$100 daily if you will wipe the blade, not a failed M390.
03 Which steel for which job
Pick the column that is your bottleneck, not the one that looks most expensive. If you hate sharpening, do not buy S90V to feel serious. If you live in a wet pocket, do not buy D2 to save twenty dollars. If you cook, the kitchen row is VG-10, not M390.
04 Where to shop this steel in CAD
Prices on The Knife Vault are in Canadian dollars. Knives and small goods ship tracked at 10% of that merchandise, free over $150 CAD. Large workshop equipment — belt grinders, mills, lathes, fiber lasers — always ships at 15% freight and never qualifies for free shipping.
A MagnaCut folder on this shelf is the MagnaCut Invictus folding knife. An M390 daily is the Divinity Tree M390 titanium folder. S90V in titanium is the S90V titanium folding knife. The kitchen row is the Mitsumoto Sakari VG-10 Damascus santoku. D2, if you will wipe it, is the D2 carbon-fiber folding knife.
Adults 18+. Named steel, stated when the workshop printed it — we do not invent a mill or an HRC the listing omitted.
Sources & Further Reading
Frequently asked questions
Questions from the Counter
- What is the best knife steel overall?
- There is no overall. On The Knife Vault shelf, MagnaCut and M390 are the strongest all-round stainless answers for most folders; VG-10 is the kitchen default; 154CM and 14C28N are the easy-sharpen answers; D2 is the budget wear answer if you will wipe it.
- Is MagnaCut better than M390?
- MagnaCut is usually tougher and easier to sharpen, with corrosion that matches or beats M390. M390 typically holds a fine edge longer. “Better” is which bottleneck you actually have. We stock both; we will not pretend the forum settled it.
- Where does D2 sit against powder steels?
- Below them in corrosion, in the same neighbourhood for wear if the heat is honest, and well ahead of mystery stainless. It is a tool steel with a stain habit — oil it. It is not a failed M390.
- Does The Knife Vault ship named-steel knives in Canada?
- Yes. Prices are in CAD. Knives and small goods ship tracked, free over $150 CAD. Workshop machines ship at 15% of item price and are not eligible for free shipping. Typical delivery is two to four weeks. Adults 18+.
On the shelf
Pieces this page is talking about
From the Page to the Palm
Reading about steel is one thing. Holding it is the other.
Every claim in this guide is backed by a piece on the shelf — titanium edc steel, named and priced plainly in CAD.
Shop named-steel EDC →More in This Guide
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Kitchen Steel Explained: VG-10, Powder Steel, and High-Carbon Stainless
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Chef Knife Steel Comparison: VG-10 vs Powder, Stainless, and Damascus Cladding
VG-10, powder steel, high-carbon stainless, and Damascus cladding at the chef-knife job — a comparison table, not a forum ranking.