Passaround: Xin Guo M390 240mm KS profile super laser

[blokey]

I've seen quite some enthusiasm for Xin Guo's knives in the cleaver chat thread, while I'm still waiting for the cleaver I have his super laser KS on my hand, I'd love to pass it around for people who are interested. His work is top notch, great fit & finish, excellent grind, while it is still hard to buy his stuff overseas I do hope he got more recognition, he's one of the most talented young knife maker in the world. I have leave for about couple months in April so I'm limiting this passaround to 6 person.

Terms as below:
-Participant is responsible for the shipping and packaging, the estimate value is $500 if the knife is broken beyond repair or lost. Please insure it, each person should check the knife after it arrived.
-Take a picture of the package before it shipped, and after it arrived to ensure if there is any potential damage.
-I would prefer the knife to be only touched on higher grit stone unless it is dull, M390 is high wear resistant and should last the passaround. The knife is only 45mm high I don't want to lose too much, thinning M390 would be pretty painful consider his beautiful finish.
-Each Person got one week with the knife. 7 days max.
-M390 is not exactly known for its toughness, and this is really thin, so please no risky tasks.

If you want to participate please leave a comment with your location, CONUS preferred at this moment. Members with BST experience preferred.

 

[blokey]

Darn I guess the interest is not as high as I thought it would be.

 

[jedy617]

I want one of those for myself, wish you could order somewhere besides taobao. I'm just gonna pass on this one because I already know it will be phenomenal, and I can't buy one anyway haha.

Really surprised people aren't jumping all over this.

 

[sansho]

well... i want to try it if the PA happens. i was holding back because only 6 slots, and i wanted to give others a shot.

 

[brimmergj]

I would definitely be game to give this a shot. I'm located in the sw corner of VT. I've never used M390. Look like a great knife

 

[Naftoor]

I avoid pass arounds because I’m too nervous to mess up other folks knives. That is one of the craziest choils I think I’ve seen. And in a super steel?

 

[Jovidah]

Not to take anything away from the knife - since it might be completely awesome - but unless you took 3-4 mms off yourself that's not really like a KS. KS tends to be 255x48-49.

 

[deltaplex]

Not to take anything away from the knife - since it might be completely awesome - but unless you took 3-4 mms off yourself that's not really like a KS. KS tends to be 255x48-49.

I've heard that's a gyutohiki because of how much distal taper there is...

 

[spaceconvoy]

Darn I guess the interest is not as high as I thought it would be.

I would be afraid to breathe on it

It looks gorgeous though! For someone who's not a klutz

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I think it's a great looking knife and very generous @blokey. It doesn't fit my individual preferences or I would definitely strongly consider it.

It could be the M390 that is keeping folks at bay.

 

[MSicardCutlery]

I think it's a great looking knife and very generous @blokey. It doesn't fit my individual preferences or I would definitely strongly consider it.

It could be the M390 that is keeping folks at bay.

I'm surprised too....hmmm....post-MagnaCut-PA-stress-disorder ???

 

[blokey]

Not to take anything away from the knife - since it might be completely awesome - but unless you took 3-4 mms off yourself that's not really like a KS. KS tends to be 255x48-49.

It's more of his interpretation of KS profile, since it is only 240mm real length the heel is correspondingly shorter too.

I would be afraid to breathe on it

It looks gorgeous though! For someone who's not a klutz

It's not that honestly, just no hard chopping.

I avoid pass arounds because I’m too nervous to mess up other folks knives. That is one of the craziest choils I think I’ve seen. And in a super steel?

He's a crazy good sharpener, in hindsight I should get one of his medium grind knife which is alot tougher.

I'm surprised too....hmmm....post-MagnaCut-PA-stress-disorder ???

Sadly their shipment of MagnaCut is still stuck in custom, tho he just moved his forging stuff to his new location so he's probably gonna make more forged stuff this year.

 

[Jovidah]

It's more of his interpretation of KS profile, since it is only 240mm real length the heel is correspondingly shorter too.

Yeah it's just a bit of a pet peeve of mine that all kinds of knives refer to KS while not really being like a KS. I've seen san-mai 'KS clones', knives with vastly different profiles being called KS clones... longer, less height, taller, etc.
That doesn't mean they're bad knives; they could be awesome knives or even better knives... just feels a bit weird to me to say it's 'like knife X' when it is only vaguely similar.

I guess part of the lack of enthusiasm could also be the low blade height. But I actually have a 250x45mm and the lack of height is surprisingly completely unproblematic on that one. I guess it shouldn't be surprising since that kind of height is fairly normal on a 210... but I think too big of a deal is sometimes made about blade height being too low.

 

[sansho]

I actually have a 250x45mm and the lack of height is surprisingly completely unproblematic on that one.

the edge–handle angle matters a lot too

 

[blokey]

Also how the blade is installed, some of the knives start at the mid of the handle while some start at the edge. Kind like these 2.
https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...kurouchi-wa-gyuto?_pos=7&_sid=53d436476&_ss=rhttps://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...gyuto-with-machi?_pos=17&_sid=53d436476&_ss=r

 

[Jovidah]

Yeah it's funny how often that gets forgotten. It's a few mm's of difference. I actually prefer the stepped tangs (machi, but with no gap) because I prefer the spine to be in line with the top of the handle.

 

[Neutri]

Yeah it's funny how often that gets forgotten. It's a few mm's of difference. I actually prefer the stepped tangs (machi, but with no gap) because I prefer the spine to be in line with the top of the handle.

Hey, Sorry to ask a newbie question. The stepped tang is when the steel part of the knife between the blade and the handle is the length of the whole "radius" of the handle? Whereas no "machi" is when it's smaller than the radius? Sorry I might not be clear in my question :/

 

[sansho]

this shows a stepped tang:

shown is installation with a machi gap (not pushed in all the way). you could also do a flush install. @Jovidah is saying he likes a flush install where the diameter of the larger step matches the handle diameter. or at least so the knife spine is even with the handle.

 

[Neutri]

Thank you for clarifying

 

[Jovidah]

^ Sansho explained it better than I did. I'm not even sure 'stepped tang' is the proper term for it. But I don't know a better way of saying it; when you use the term machi that implies the gap (though people often say 'machi gap').
But this 'stepped' design is in comparison to a situation where the tang is the same width along the entire length, therefore requiring some extra width on the handle, resulting in the spine being slightly lower than the top of the handle.

 

[Neutri]

Thank you! That's what I was confused about when I looked it up as people referred to machi as the gap But now it's clear thanks

 

[ch_br]

I'd definitely like to try it.

And you could put me dead last as I could hand deliver it back to you since I'm in Los Angeles, not too far from you.

 

[deliyski]

Can you please post a link for the maker on taobao?

 

[blokey]

Can you please post a link for the maker on taobao?

https://m.tb.cn/h.UM9pk7l CZ0001 伯生活

 

[deliyski]

https://m.tb.cn/h.UM9pk7l CZ0001 伯生活

Thanks!

 

[blokey]

Looks like we got 3 person so far
@sansho
@brimmergj
@ch_br
If no one else want to join I will just start the passaround next week, @ch_br will be the first since he also lives in LA.

 

[blokey]

@ch_br told me will be out for a while so others will receive it first, still hope more people would sign up tho. M390 at 62 still have just slightly lower toughness than VG10 and SG2, and better than AS, so treat it as you will with Takamura R2 or any of the high hardness lasers there won't any problems.

 

[blokey]

The pass around is underway, if you wish to join there’s still time.

 

[sansho]

i know it was a while ago, but do you remember if you sent it to me fully sharp?

it seemed sharp but not like max sharp. when a knife is that sharp, ime i take it to the next level with a strop instead of trying to gently refine it more on a finisher. so all i did was strop it on a diamond-loaded leather strop. this might have improved it a touch, but not to the degree of sharpness that i can get other steels like hitachi paper, skd12, etc.

i have to believe it is possible to get super steels that sharp, but i haven't figured out how yet.

 

[blokey]

i know it was a while ago, but do you remember if you sent it to me fully sharp?

it seemed sharp but not like max sharp. when a knife is that sharp, ime i take it to the next level with a strop instead of trying to gently refine it more on a finisher. so all i did was strop it on a diamond-loaded leather strop. this might have improved it a touch, but not to the degree of sharpness that i can get other steels like hitachi paper, skd12, etc.

i have to believe it is possible to get super steels that sharp, but i haven't figured out how yet.

I haven’t sharpen it for a while, tho it didn’t see that much use after last sharpening by Jon, if you wish to try the sharpening rig or other method you are more than welcome to do so.