Which Spyderco Knives Would You Like To See in K390?

[Johnnie1801]

Sal recently mentioned on British Blades that Spyderco were thinking about using K390 steel on some of their models. I thought we could help him out by suggesting which models we would like to see in this steel :D

From the Bohler webisite:

BÖHLER K390 - is a powder metallurgical produced cold work tool steel with a high hardness, an extremely high wear resistance and high toughness.

Achievable hardness range: 58-64hrc

From Phil Wilson's website:

How do the BU grades compare to CPM 10V? They are all the A11 grade and the same basic chemistry
so It depends more on the heat treat and edge geometry than the make up. The BU particle process is
more refined but the particle size on all of them is so small that I am not sure the difference would show
up in a knife blade. I like all three steels. CPM 10V is about 40 years old since development and over this
time they have worked out all the potential problems. The BU versions are very nice indeed, they heat
treat easy and the finer grain and advertised cleaner mix are all welcome. Both companies have been
very helpful to custom makers. They provide good tech support and steel availability. They are also
willing to supply material in small quantities and thickness that work for a knife blade.
K390 has been tweeked a little with added tungsten and moly. Both these elements form carbides that
add to the vanadium carbide in the mix. The data sheet says a little less wear resistance than the std
A11. I guess that is because both moly and tungsten carbide are slightly softer than vanadium carbide. I
have not seen that K390 has less edge holding than 10V or K294. They are all very good, in fact in the
same top category and I think it would take a laboratory and very controlled conditions to see a
difference. BU has mentioned that they are going to do some CATRA tests with K294 and K390 so when
that information comes out maybe it will tell us something more. K390 does have the potential of
inching the hardness up a bit with a thin edge geometry or a more aggressive use with the same
geometry. We may be talking about marginal differences but as more makers work with all three we
should get some feedback.
Phil

[Liquid Cobra]

Okay, I'll be Captain obvious for the moment and suggest the Para-Military 2. There I said it so no one else has to

[bearfacedkiller]

Yup, military please. ^ and what he said

[TomAiello]

Sprig. :)

I have a Smoke Creek in K390 and I lack the words to describe it's awesomeness.

[Johnnie1801]

I have a Smoke Creek in K390 and I lack the words to describe it's awesomeness.

Hey Tom, if you get the time I hope you can post a photo, pity to keep so much awesomeness to yourself :)

What about using K390 in the Manix XL, Native 5 or Domino? We have PM2's coming in s110v and M4 and Militaries in s110v and 204p.

[tvenuto]

How about a medium sized fixed blade like a Ronin 2 or Street Beat?

[Lost]

I'm always open to any new versions of the Caly 3 and 3.5.

[BTG]

A G10 Endura with it would be cool, and yes the Millie and PM2 would be awesome also. I think I'd buy just about anything with it come to think about it, stretch, N5, Delica...I'm easy..

[bearfacedkiller]

I'm always open to any new versions of the Caly 3 and 3.5.

A G10 Endura with it would be cool, and yes the Millie and PM2 would be awesome also. I think I'd buy just about anything with it come to think about it, stretch, N5, Delica...I'm easy..

I doubt that we are gonna see it in a Japanese knife. Golden, yes. Taiwan, maybe.

[Evil D]

Manix 2 LW.

[bearfacedkiller]

How about a medium sized fixed blade like a Ronin 2 or Street Beat?

The street beat is made in Japan too so it's unlikely.

[tvenuto]

The street beat is made in Japan too so it's unlikely.

Duh, had it in my head that they were both made in Taiwan. Oh well...

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Native 5, PM2 and Military of course. I know we have several exclusives on the horizon for the latter two, but I would very much like to see a K390 Military. On the Taichung side, a Domino, Southard or Slysz Bowie would also be nice as a sprint/exclusive with K390...

[swigert]

Manix 2. LW and regular.

[BTG]

The street beat is made in Japan too so it's unlikely.

Duh, had it in my head that they were both made in Taiwan. Oh well...

I get a big DUH also, but when I see, what would I like to see, I start dreaming....reality be damned. But what ever they do put it on, I'm in. I really want to try this steel out.

[VashHash]

all of them

[Cliff Stamp]

k390 is one of those really curious blade steels because if you compare it to 10V and what people praise 10V for or want, k390 is inferior. k390 has a reduced vanadium content but an increased molybdenum and tungsten content. What this does is reduced wear resistance at the gain of secondary hardening response. The benefit this has for the maker/manufacturer is that by increasing the hot hardness there is less of an issue with heat damage in grinding, more coating options become available, and it is in general more forgiving to lower tolerances in hardening. However from the point of view of an ELU it is hard to see why any of these are of benefit and thus why you would prefer it over 10V.

[DougC-3]

Notwithstanding that 10V would be great, I'd like to see K390 in a Manix2 XL, Manix2, and Military. Also maybe a Serrata sized fixed blade.

[shabowie]

PM2

[NiallRiv]

Very glad to hear that k390 could be on the pipe line soon. Im sure it would be perfect on the Military or PM2 but my vote goes to the Manix 2. My k390 mule has held up fantastic since its release. I used it pretty hard at first, but the last year just in the kitchen. It holds an un-earthly edge and even living on an island of the coast of Maine, where a lot of my tool steels are more prone to rust, this one only gets a light patina and then seems to be ok. Its my personal favorite steel so far and would honestly love seeing it used on any model.