Especially since this so very common in the sports world - Derek Jeter and the Marlins, George W. Bush and the Rangers (back in the day), etc.
But, professional sports teams print money. Most of the infrastructure is funded by tax payers. Salary caps (this includes baseball) keep expenditures down. Fans root for laundry, so rationality is out the window. Just look at baseball, you can pull down a healthy profit while having a dog-crap team (looking at you Pirates). As long as the team is a private entity, there is zero financial incentive to put a winning team on the field. Owning a sports team is a pretty sweet deal.
Sports teams' value is based on the brand. In terms of operations, they actually lose money for the most part, or it's not that profitable. I saw an interview with the Bucks owner Marc Lasry, who recently is selling his stake in the Bucks. The average NBA brand like the Bucks is worth around $3B right now. He bought his stake in 2011 for 150-300M.
I am highly skeptical of any claims made by owners/teams about their profitability. Here's a quote from a former MLB executive[1]:
"Anyone who quotes profits of a baseball club is missing the point. Under generally accepted accounting principles, I can turn a $4 million profit into a $2 million loss, and I can get every national accounting firm to agree with me."
There are all kinds of financial tricks one can play. I'm a baseball fan, so I'm going to lean on that sport, but I assume other sports do similar things. Let's say you are the Red Sox. Your parent company also owns 80% of the regional sports network (NESN) that broadcasts the bulk of your games. If you sell that TV contract to NESN for $1, then you just "lost" a hell of a lot of money. Except that money isn't lost at all. It just moves from the right pocket to the left pocket. Same thing with parking cars. Just start an external company to park the cars. Profits go to the company, not the team.
That's the real crux of the problem. Revenue not generated by the team isn't counted toward profitability. That's why most sports teams are advocating for mixed-use facilities. All of the profits from the surrounding businesses go to the owners, but are not reported on the teams financial books. This explains why the Red Sox and Cubs are investing so heavily in real estate around the stadiums instead of say locking up Betts, Bogaerts, and Devers to build a core around which to build. Or why the A's are balking at renovating their current location in Oakland instead of getting new land to build a mixed-use facility.
Then you see the expanded playoffs. Playoff games are sold as a separate TV deal, and all money (in baseball at least) is divided equally between the teams. It doesn't matter if your team is good or not, the owners share in bounty. The modern sports franchise sees profits independent of on-the-field performance. Separating revenue streams from the team itself means that you can paint a bleaker financial picture that isn't tied to reality.
A few teams (Packers and Braves) are public. Look at their financial accounts. Again, lots of legal (and commonly used) accounting practices will obfuscate the picture a bit, but these teams serve as a blue print for what is actually happening. The financial situation is never as bad as they say. Well, there have been a few exceptions like the Dodgers under McCourt or the Rangers at the end of the Hicks era.
I could keep going, but I'll end with this. Owners lie. The Cubs said they were facing biblical losses[2]. Yet, the same family was considering purchasing Chelasea FC. So much for being poor. More than just lying, the owners expect their colleagues to adhere to this lie. MLB owners are already angry with Cohen and the Mets [3] (I'd lump the Padres in here as well). Read the quotes from unnamed sources. The owners can afford to raise payrolls, but they don't want to. The party line is to cry poor. Owners who step out of line will face some sort of fallout from this.
I get your point about financial tricks. I've read the tax harvesting many owners use/do as well. Advertising and Real estate are also bonafide revenue streams, but arguably not good enough of a return by in itself. Also real estate, etc are huge projects, and not just bought for land to appreciate. A lot of it requires careful and strategic planning. It will not always work out.
But, it's missing my point that many owners are getting a 10x return on their investment when they flip the sports team mostly due to the brand going up in value, being a luxury item for the wealthy, or a status symbol, and hence growing 10x in Therefore, many new owners, and prospective ones at that as your example, the ones buying football or soccer teams...like the tech CEOs, hedge funds or Oil money, etc do so to either flip the trade to make 10x, or buy a brand to associate with for status.
Owners of teams like the As who do absolutely nothing to create a winning team get to live off the money made by other teams who are willing to spend on their teams and players.
Yeah, I was wondering about the particle metallurgy process (or the equivalent from other foundries). I know that AEB-L and similar Sandvik steels are ingot steels. Would the added cost be worth it? What about something LC200N (Cronidur 30)? Great corrosion resistance and toughness. Comments here talk about corrosion leading to micro fractures. Not sure if traditional toughness in terms of cutlery applies here.
My current boss (I'm guessing I'm 7 years her senior, not going to ask her age) later told me that she was nervous hiring a subordinate older than her. I'm grateful for her open mind. This is a fantastic job and she is a terrific boss. So yeah, there is probably some unintentional aspect to ageism. Not saying all of it is unintentional though.
I read that Victorinox regular tests their knives with a dishwasher. While knife people will cringe at this, to many a knife is but a tool. When the tool is dirty, throw it in the dishwasher with the other dirty kitchen tools. Makes sense, but I'd never do it.
The best part about the Victorinox line of knives is there handles. You can't ruin them with the dishwasher. Wood and other natural materials don't fare well in the dishwasher. Their steel (note quite sure what it is) is very corrosion resistant as well. It holds an edge long enough, and it is easy to sharpen. If you are a "knife is a tool" kind of a person, go with Victorinox.
Spyderco already announced MagnaCut in their 2022 catalog. However, they are backed up at the moment. I am not holding my breath for a release in the near future. Custom makers tend to be on the cutting edge (no pun intended) when it comes to using "odd" steels. I expect more and more people to use it. That said, will Crucible make enough for demand? There's not a ton of money in knife steel production. Right now, Crucible's latest cutlery steel is S45Vn. S35Vn and S30V are still widely used as well. 20CV has taken off a bit too. I don't think Crucible will start making large batches just yet. But, I could be wrong.
Spyderco, but I am a fanboy. Their forums are really insightful. If you do down the rabbit hole of knives and steel, Spyderco does a better job of catering to this market. They experiment with all kinds of steel that will never make it to another production company. It should be noted, Spyderco knives tend to be on the "ugly" side. It took me a while to get them as a company.
Benchmade, Hinderer, Chris Reeve, Spartan, Demko, etc. The list goes on and on. This is a great time to be a knife knut.
Intricate knives requires high precision manufacturing. There are lots of small makers out there. Sharp By Design[1] is a one-man knife shop. He operates a CNC machine out of his garage in New Jersey. while his designs may not appeal to you, he puts a lot of time and effort into his knives.
But his knives are expensive. He can only work so fast, and he has to charge a living wage for his time. Many people will scoff at paying several hundred dollars (perhaps over one thousand) on a knife.
The rise in high-precision manufacturing in China means that Sharp By Design can partner with Reate (a well known Chinese knife manufacturer who does very good work) and offer his knives at a much more affordable price. He doesn't have to simplify his designs either. Other Chinese companies like We and Kizer are doing similar work. More and more custom knife makers are getting a deal with a company that allows their designs to be purchased by more and more people.
Hell, there are people who are making a living as a designer partnering with Chinese manufacturing. They don't have the knife maker background. They have a good eye for design and understand the market.
Thanks to Larrin and other prominent knife people, knife users have a better understanding of knife performance. We now know that geometry and hardness are important. Companies are slowly responding, Companies across the board are upping their game. Civivi (owned by We Knives) makes budget knives. Their quality, fit and finish, and steel choices are great for what you pay. You don't have to spend a lot to get a good knife. Everywhere you look, people and companies are getting better and better at making knives. Titanium used to be an exclusive material. Titanium frame lock knives are everywhere, and they have a price that is not prohibitive.
Finally, Triple B Handmade Blades (Big Brown Bear on YouTube) is importing some of the highest quality diamond stones (not aluminum plates, but actual resin-bonded stones) available. They are very pricey (start at $350), but they allow you to easily sharpen high-hardness, carbide-packed steels.
The thing is, there's no such "best" steel. It all depends on what you want to do with the steel. I'm sure a custom maker will make a MagnaCut chef's knife, but I don't think you'll notice much of a difference. The corrosion resistance should be great, and that goes a long way with easy of maintenance, especially when cutting things like tomatoes. But most kitchen work is done on a cutting board (hopefully plastic or wood), and the material is quite soft. You can make a good argument that MagnaCut isn't needed in the kitchen.
MagnaCut wasn't developed for the kitchen. Even though I am a self-professed "knife person" I just don't rely on a knife all that much where I would notice the difference between MagnaCut and VG10. So, on paper, MagnaCut is a big step forward compared to pretty much every steel. But that doesn't mean every steel is not obsolete. And, of course, we all have preferences. We like what we like, even if another option is "better" in some way.
52100 is a great steel. Sharpens like a dream. Sometimes, that's all that matters to a person.
A (probably) completely different question: are there good knives for a kitchen that doesn't require maintenance? (So, are the ceramic knives any good?) I cook once in a blue moon, mostly pasta; so I'd use it mostly to cut cheese and sausages. Can you recommend a knife for this? (Or maybe it simply doesn't matter on such a small scale?)
A remotely-decent stainless kitchen knife on non-fiberous materials will last long enough that you don't really have to worry about it.
Especially for such soft materials as cheese and sausage.
Vegetables are the problem for sharpness, and meat-with-bones the problem for toughness, assuming careful handling.
So, yeah, with care to not bend it, a ceramic blade will do well on things like carrots, while a simpler stainless steel blade handles your cheese and sausages just fine.
But even then, a very simple high carbon blade with a simple automatic-angle-keeping sharpening tool (10~20$) only needs to not see the dishwasher and receive oiling before storage.
Which is basically the extend of "have an oiled sheath to store the blade in".
French Opinel makes cheap (5~15 $) (but rather practical) pocket knifes out of (traditionally) such carbon steel. The wooden grip is more sensitive to water than the blade, in my experience.
No, there aren't. Knives dull over time; even the most durable steel formulations need sharpening eventually. Those ceramic knives are pretty robust, but they too will dull. More importantly, they're extremely brittle; my experience with them is that they chip very quickly and are really unsuitable for anything other than very light use. For your use, they might be ok, but I think you'd end up being annoyed when they break sooner than you want.
I recommend something from the Victorinox Fibrox line to folks like you who just want to cut stuff and not think about knifes. They're very sharp out of the box, quite durable, and will last a long long time before going dull. When they do, they're so cheap (like $25) that you could just get a new one rather than messing around with sharpening.
Although beware, those pull through sharpeners are notorious for doing a terrible job sharpening knives. They take off far more material than needed and tend to produce an edge that isn't very sharp. YMMV.
When I think of maintenance, I think more about corrosion resistance. Is the knife 100% dry when I put it away? Do I want to take the time to wipe down the blade when I cut acidic food items? Then I think about sharpening. How long can I wait between sharpening? How long must I sharpen the knife? VG10 is a good knife steel for the kitchen. It is a Japanese stainless cutlery steel. You can find this steel on mass produced knives (Tojiro) and on many custom knives, which can be quite expensive. VG10 has good corrosion resistance, decent toughness, sharpens well, and can hold an edge a decent amount of time. An inexpensive combination King water stone is up to the task of sharpening VG10. It also does not take an inordinate amount of time to sharpen VG10. As a comparison, Magnacut will do everything VG10 does but better.
Another benefit of VG10 is that you often find it in knives from Japan. They understand that geometry cuts, so they tend to use thinner blade stock (but their knives are not brittle) and they tend to heat treat to 59-60 HRC. I think these knives are a good all-around package. Again, Tojiro is a good brand to start with.
I have a $5 rectangular chef knife that I got in Chinatown. I'm sure knife nerds would consider it crap, but it works fine. I have to sharpen it now and then. Dunno if that counts as maintenance. The simplest way to sharpen a knife is with a slack belt sander. I don't have one of those so I just sharpen it freehand on a cheap stone. No idea what I'd do with a fancy knife if I had one.
I have a self-sharpening stainless steel kitchen knife made in Czechoslovakia with waved edge. It never sharpened, but it still works just fine for everyday kitchen needs, except for peeling (I have a ceramic peeler for that), because of the waved edge. However, I have no idea where to buy a second one. «Bread knifes» with roughly similar edge are large, thick, and non-flexible.
The first batch was given to smaller makers, often custom makers. Right now, Tactile Turn is offering a couple knives in MagnaCut (change the option in the drop down). I've seen people say they have used up their MagnaCut already. The steel will probably trickle into the market.
Spyderco announced that the Native 5 Salt will come in MagnaCut. No date has been given for that.
I was giddy over this article regarding the corrosion resistance. Was just eyeing a custom benchmade 20cv for a high saltwater exposure usecase; hoping this metal makes its way over there as well
Spyderco takes pride in their knives looking ugly. They're totally form over function. Comparing the handles, I'm pretty sure the Spyderco would feel many times better in my hand. Also, they have amazing fit and finish, and come razor sharp from the factory.
An expensive brand, to be sure, but I have only good things to say.
How do you sharpen those serrated blades? I get function on serrated but I don’t really want a 150$ + knife to be disposable because it can’t be sharpened
It's tricky. Typically you get thin rods and do each serration individually. Spyderco sells their "Sharpmaker" for this. It's a bit overpriced; you can find decent substitutes elsewhere.
Generally non-serrated edges are preferable unless you have a special requirement, like cutting rope. That yellow Native is part of their "salt" series for people who work on/around boats and water, and hence need to cut rope for sails, etc. Here corrosion resistance is obviously of paramount importance, which is why they use different steels for "salt" knives. There are also plainedge Natives around, for example: https://www.smkw.com/spyderco-native-5-lghtwt-blue-frn.
It’s lasted me now 3 ish years, I carry and use it daily.
I’ve gone through at least two cell phones in that time. (Three if I count a refurbished one that I shouldn’t have purchased).
If it’s a tool that you use everyday… the daily use cost goes way down.
I used to use Gerber Evos, and Evo JR. They were only about $20, but I could get maximum of a year out of them before they were falling apart and worn out. (Not to mention the pocket clip would often fail, and on a few occasions I snapped a blade…, once just trying to cut a small piece of pumpkin. )
Cardboard, cable, carpet, drywall, twine, plastic packaging and tape, letters, tags on pet toys, pillows, - a good knife made of a modern super steel can be a revelation. Get a good one and keep it handy, and you'll find situations daily where it genuinely makes life easier. For tech people, something like Leatherman skeletool is the ultimate every day carry because of the multi tool, and you can buy custom blades made from powder steel.
For real. I have a tiny swiss army knife that cost like $10. I use it to open packages, and I keep it in my pocket's pocket. (You know, the little flap thing that's in your right pocket for storing loose change or whatever.)
Carrying around a knife that large seems miserable. I already wince when I wear pants that don't have a pocket-pocket (lol, I should probably find out the actual name). Carrying around a 4.5" knife is like ... why? Where do you keep it?
Carrying around a knife with a pocket clip… you won’t even feel it’s there. I also have a leather man wave + in the same pocket. I sometimes notice that.
It’s more comfortable in Jeans vs dress pants, but both work.
The little pocket on the right side of many pants is called the watch pocket. It was originally used to carry pocket watches. Because people don’t commonly carry pocket watches anymore it’s not as big as it used to be.
Open packages, cut boxes… various projects. Strip wires in a pinch. Improvised tool if one of the motorcycles I own from the 1980s breaks down.
I do also commonly keep a leather man wave + in the same pocket.
Other pocket tends to have car key, chapstick, streamlight, and a mala.
Edit: I will say I’ve brought the flash II with me to at least 5 countries, and have used it to also once cut some chambira while on a boat on an offshoot off the Amazon river.
If you look at White/Blue/Super funny they will rust. HAP40 is a high-speed tool steel. CPM M4 is a good comparison to it. MagnaCut will offer corrosion resistance that you don't tend to see in Japanese steels. MagnaCut will have better edge retention than White/Blue/Super. Those steels are low-alloy and rely on high hardness for wear resistance. MagnaCut has vanadium and niobium plus it can get pretty hard as well. MagnaCut is so far ahead of White/Blue/Super in this regard. Japanese steels are known for being great to sharpen (even HAP40). From what I have read, MagnaCut sharpens well.
If we say that MagnaCut = stainless 4V and HAP40 = CPM M4, then HAP40 should have some more edge retention but less toughness when compared to MagnaCut. The differences aren't all that great. Corrosion resistance is the real difference maker.
Do you know how tungsten carbide with nickel binder stacks up in comparison? The usual cobalt binder of course isn't that good in terms of corrosion resistance, but for e.g. vegetable knife purposes, sharpness is very much required, toughness only so much as a brittle blade shatters if you look at it funny, and edge retention determines whether you have to (learn to) sharpen it at location, or can transport it to a service center.
It is hard to make comparisons like this. I know that is a crappy answer. But geometry by far the most important characteristic. How thick is the overall blade stock? How thick is the knife behind the edge? Those two things will matter more than steel composition. Then you have heat treat. A great steel with a crappy heat treat is going to make for a lackluster knife.
But, regarding tungsten. There is a steel called Maxamet, and it is used in several knives by Spyderco. It should be noted that I am a Spyderco fanboy, so take my recommendation of this company with a grain of salt. I like them more than any other production knife company, perhaps to a fault. Anyways, Maxamet is run really hard, like 67 HRC. Most production companies will run their knives in the upper 50's so the knives roll instead of chip. Quality production companies (Spyderco, Benchmade, Hinderer, Chris Reeve, etc.) will run most of their steels to around 59-60 HRC. Maxamet can cut for a long, long time. This steel has 2.15% iron (which helps with attaining a higher hardness), 10% cobalt, 13% tungsten, and 6% vanadium. I can't think of another steel used in cutlery with as much tungsten as Maxamet. The cutting numbers from this steel are near the top of the charts. So Maxamet will blow MagnaCut out of the water when it comes to edge retention, but it was designed as a high speed tool steel. MagnaCut was designed to be a "jack of all trades, master of none". Steels like Maxamet require skill and some special tools as a sharpener. It's all about choosing the right steel for the job. Often tradeoffs are involved.
I will say that hard, thin knives have a reputation for chipping. Triple B Handmade Blades is a custom maker that focuses on maximizing cutting performance. So he uses high-carbide, high hardness, thin (like crazy thin) edges. You would think that his knives would shatter, but they do surprisingly well in his testing. Here's a short video of Rex 121 (has the highest percentage of carbide volume) heat treated to over 70 HRC. He is performing twisting cuts with a hard wood. At the end, the knife still cleanly cuts paper. You don't see/hear any chipping.
Well, I was comparting to/with something like Durit's GD20N [0], which scores 1400 HV30 which should be like 83.6 HRC or thereabouts.
It's a WC-Ni powder metallurgic composite with 9% binder. Their website suggests that they make blades for industrial paper cutters, but I'd assume those use normal WC-Co due to paper not being particularly corrosive.
Sure, the geometry matters a lot, but that's also fairly orthogonal from the metallurgy.
That's an interesting material. I'm not a knife maker so I can't really answer your question. I would imagine that this material would, initially, pose a problem for large-scale production. You would have to learn how to work with this material as it is not steel. Their current set of tools and techniques probably won't work well with a fundamentally different material.
If anybody were to try this, I would suspect that it would be easier for a customer knife maker to do so. Kase Knives[1] has messed around with elastic ceramic before. He's always pushing boundaries. He might try something like what you suggested.
It would be incredibly expensive though. I wonder if you could laminate some slabs of mild steel around a carbide core. This is done with steel all the time (especially in Japan). Not sure you could do this with steel and carbide though. You only really need enough carbide to form the apex. The rest of the blade stock is there for lateral strength.
But, professional sports teams print money. Most of the infrastructure is funded by tax payers. Salary caps (this includes baseball) keep expenditures down. Fans root for laundry, so rationality is out the window. Just look at baseball, you can pull down a healthy profit while having a dog-crap team (looking at you Pirates). As long as the team is a private entity, there is zero financial incentive to put a winning team on the field. Owning a sports team is a pretty sweet deal.