Great steel. Not stainless. You need proper stones to sharpen it well. I highly recommend it, but you need proper tools to work with it.
what do you guys use for pocket knives?
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In a word: Outstanding.
A modified K390 Endela is my workhorse and it performs so well, most everything else sits. I slip something smaller into my pocket for the office but for actually getting s**t done, the Endela is it. In fact, the only modern pocket knife I'm interested in now is the pending BBB/Spyderco collab.
I'm a Spydie fan of many years and I have a fondness for their Seki lock backs so that plays in. I got my Endela when they came out and like most of my Seki's I sanded the Hell out of the finger grooves and fell in love with the knife. Then Shawn convinced me to try the K390. I was EXTREMELY hesitant. I don't want to baby my pocket knives and the thought of carbon freaked me out. But Shawn's prodding put me over the top and I dove in.
And boy howdy was he ever right!
The steel is far more resilient than I thought it would be. Sort of like a SK or 52100, rust wise. And man does it take and hold an edge. I often just use a 300 diamond and maybe a diamond strop and it just sings through cardboard, tree limbs, etc.
Now, you're in a much higher humidity environment so you should consider that but K390 has spoiled me. I may pick up a K390 D'fly2 for a handy shop knife.
If you have any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer.
Great to see you back Mario. para 2 in M2, I’ve never realized one existed. M4 is pretty common and is an excellent choice, but I dont think I‘ve ever seen one in M2.
Keith Sinclair
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My old Spyderco delica zdp 189. Almost gave up on this blade as was hard to sharpen. When got extra shapton pro's went to work on it. Thinned it first with coarse stone then to 2k, 5k, stropped Murray Carter style on 8K. Think it is safe to say it is sharper than 99% of Spyderco Delica's zdp189 out there.
Of coarse if you use tactical knives a lot you don't want to thin as much as I did. But this old delica is back to my carry blade.
Of coarse if you use tactical knives a lot you don't want to thin as much as I did. But this old delica is back to my carry blade.
RRLOVER
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That was a Typo ....M4 steel
I haven't used SK or 52100, can you compare to 1095 or 1075? Used those a bunch for carbon field knives/machetes. I'm often using (improperly) my pocket/field knives to flip open well vaults, cut wet tubing, shotgun beers, cut limes/citrus at the beach, poke in mud to find monitoring well pads and more so I was pretty hesitant about something not fully stainless, even though I'm pretty diligent about my knives.
I usually use a shapton pro 320 and shapton glass 1000 for my field knives. The 320 can handle anything I've thrown at it so far so not really worried about sharpening but happy for any input.
Planning to get Endura later.
Not as rust prone as 10XX series.
Do yourself a favor and at least get one of these in 300:
https://www.bestsharpeningstones.co...name=Diamond Sharpening Stones&product_id=119
Diamond media of your choice on a strop as well.
K390 is no joke and if you want to save wear and tear on your ceramics and get the most out of the steel, you need diamond or cBN.
http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/k390.shtml
Keith Sinclair
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That's pretty high carbon content compared to CR. And high Valadium.
For your use and stones I would skip k390. It would be a waste. K390 excels at extreme edge holding and can handle thin edges when used for cutting. It requires diamonds or CBN for best results. It is also not stainless even though not as reactive as 10xx class steels.
I haven't received my CruWear PM2 yet, but I feel it should be the best everyday steel according to Larrin's test, unless you absolutly want stainless then MagnaCut. It has some Vanadium and Tungsten addition but not as high as others, so sharpening should be ok compare to others.
Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
The Endela K390 Spyderco is reasonable price. 142.00 for good size knife. So it comes sharp & holds edge long time. Clean & dry it after use like carbon. When it starts to lose its edge most folks that buy won't be able to sharpen them. That's what sounds like reading this thread.
Have atoma 140, 400, 600. Also JKI 1K diamond stone.
Have atoma 140, 400, 600. Also JKI 1K diamond stone.
Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
This is my entire folder collection most are well used over the years not fit for resale but still great knives.
Had another full size Spyderco. A older Tongan guy the rest of crew left him to work on my wall while they did other jobs. He dug all the trench & built part of the wall by himself. Did excellent job. The last day the whole Tongan crew came & finished the wall did terrible rush job. I showed the sloppy work to the old guy he said no worry I can fix the wall & also use grot in pastry bag to put in between rocks to make wall even stronger. So I helped him showed me proper strong cement mix, so I mixed cement as he fixed the wall, then I did most of pastry bag work smoothed it out as little dry with a brush came out good. I had lent him my Spyderco to cut open cement bags. He liked the knife so when I payed him also gave him the Spyderco. It was the least I could do.
The top 3 spyderco's have had for years. Also the blue ken onion Kershaw got years ago. The orange Hap40 delica my last one about 5 years ago. The black blade & body protech switchblade my last buy two years ago. I really like the protech top of the line auto knife. Thought my next would be another auto protech tactical knife. All the ones I like are sold out.
Also thought if I got another Spyderco would be para military 2 . Like the M2 steel.
The K390 is tempting esp. at the price for premium steel. Either way a new Spyderco semi stainless I'm in. + A fancy French carbon blade. Is being made.
Had another full size Spyderco. A older Tongan guy the rest of crew left him to work on my wall while they did other jobs. He dug all the trench & built part of the wall by himself. Did excellent job. The last day the whole Tongan crew came & finished the wall did terrible rush job. I showed the sloppy work to the old guy he said no worry I can fix the wall & also use grot in pastry bag to put in between rocks to make wall even stronger. So I helped him showed me proper strong cement mix, so I mixed cement as he fixed the wall, then I did most of pastry bag work smoothed it out as little dry with a brush came out good. I had lent him my Spyderco to cut open cement bags. He liked the knife so when I payed him also gave him the Spyderco. It was the least I could do.
The top 3 spyderco's have had for years. Also the blue ken onion Kershaw got years ago. The orange Hap40 delica my last one about 5 years ago. The black blade & body protech switchblade my last buy two years ago. I really like the protech top of the line auto knife. Thought my next would be another auto protech tactical knife. All the ones I like are sold out.
Also thought if I got another Spyderco would be para military 2 . Like the M2 steel.
The K390 is tempting esp. at the price for premium steel. Either way a new Spyderco semi stainless I'm in. + A fancy French carbon blade. Is being made.
Very cool knives. Para 2 doesn't come in M2 steel, but M4 or cruwear are very good. So is k390 of course. Out of these cruwear is the most stain resistant if you care about that.
Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
Sorry meant m4 steel. Have researched it don't mind that it is semi stainless many of the jungle para 2 are sold out. Like the black & green jungle scales & the arctic black & blue scales again most are sold out.
Just echoing what everyone else has already said. I got my wife a Spyderco Dragonfly 2 Wharncliffe in K390 over a year ago which she uses pretty much daily to collapse cardboard boxes from online shopping for the recycling bin (based on a specific recommendation from this forum
- thanks again guys, you know who you are). I’ve been really impressed with the edge retention of the steel. Over a year of use and it hasn’t needed to be sharpened yet. Sure, boxes and packaging aren’t hardcore wear and tear, but it’s held up way longer than I was expecting. With respect to care for the steel, we just keep it clean and dry, and it looks pretty much like when we got it.
Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
I got the para 2 with M4 steel. Found one for 199.00 less than most places that are sold out anyway. It has the jungle cameo green & black scales that I like. This will be my do everything hiking knife in style.
Good choice, congrats.
My sp 320 doesn't struggle with S30V and SG2, is the K390 that much rougher to sharpen? I have the CKTG 140 diamond plate as well but I just use that as a lapping stone
There is a world of research to be found out there friend on this very subject. Like I said, if you want the most out of K390, get diamond.
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Yes. K390 has a much higher VC content compared to s30v and sg2. It's 9% vanadium by weight compared to 4% in s30v for example. For that much vanadium carbide, diamond and cbn is a must imo.
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Also good excuse to post one of my new favorites. Shirogorov F3 aquatic, in Vanax. Hard to find steel these days, I believe this was old stock they had which is pretty cool. Vanax is among my favorite EDC steels.
It's nice to have y'all distill the answers quickly so I don't get lost in steel talk forums and end up with 3 new knives and a few hundred bucks worth of stones haha. Thanks for everyone's help
RRLOVER
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That is the exact knife I purchased...but it's my birthday next week so I also purchased a Endela in K390 and a Endura in Zdp 189...I will retiring my benchmades!
Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
Caught up in the Spyderco super steel merry go round. I was thinking of buying the Endela K390 too. I bought a Damascus knife this month posted on show your newest knife buy. Good handle but I'm going to change it to fit the Damascus can't believe I actually bought a Damascus knife. IMHO it's one of the nicest I've ever seen. If can't find handle I like may make one myself.
Not to mention awesome 240 Denka bought 4 months ago. Re handled it too. Same day I got it this month. Been using it to cook meals, haven't needed to sharpen it yet.
I really love this knife.
More knife & folder buying for me in short time ever 2022. What the the hell, I want the K390 for the steel know when it does lose its edge have the chops & tools to make it very sharp again it's the challenge. I'll get the K390 in 2023 so won't feel like bought too many knives in 22
Cru-Wear PM2 and it’s little brother
Keith Sinclair
Senior Member
You can Bro most folders come with V grind at the cutting edge. Depending on the type of steel & how refined that V grind is affects how sharp the blade is. Eventually of coarse any blade will dull with use no matter how tough the steel. You can't keep sharpening at that same angle, bevel will just get wider over time. I knock the shoulders off the V with coarse stone thin little behind edge with coarse stone till I get a burr. Then put on refined micro bevel. Sharper than any Spyderco I've had out of the box.Definitely the sharpest factory edge I’ve gotten from spyderco. I already know I’ll probably never get it this sharp again.
I need better stones and skills
Carbon steel is so easy to sharpen that's why love carbon steel. But with a little patience you can get sharp edge on these tougher semi & stainless steels too. At least folder blades are small
